Another technique which Shakespeare uses for making the play dramatically interesting for the audience is the use of conflict. Shakespeare uses conflict throughout the play to keep the audience on their toes. However, the audience would be expecting conflict from the start of the play because in the sonnet, it says “From ancient grudge break to new mutiny” and “The fearful passage of their death marked love.” This tells the audience that Romeo’s family (the Montagues) and Juliet’s family (the Capulets) have been enemies and that Romeo and Juliet go against their families wishes and embark on a relationship.
At the start of the play, a fight breaks out between the servants. Gregory and Sampson are servants for the Capulet family and look to fight Abraham, a servant for the Montague family. We are already told that the two families are old enemies from the sonnet so it is no surprise when Capulet and his nephew, Tybalt, join in on the fight even when Romeo’s good friend, Benvolio, tries to stop the fight. The audience would be emotional and on the edge of their seats from the sword fight and the characters pretending to die.
There is also conflict within Romeo himself because at the start of the play, he is madly in love with a girl called Rosaline who the audience never meets. However, he is unhappily in love because Rosaline does not have feelings for Romeo and is not interested in a relationship. He speaks at first what appears to be nonsense but can be identified as oxymorons. “Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health still-waking sleep, that is not what it is! This love I feel, that I feel no love in this.” These are expressions where two opposing ideas are put together to suggest something complete. Shakespeare uses these expressions to suggest Romeo’s state of mind and the confused and troubled feelings he is experiencing.
The use of humour and crude jokes is another factor which Shakespeare uses to make the play interesting for the audience. When a fight breaks out between the servants immediately after the sonnet, the servants use puns on each other such as “Do you bite your thumb?” When a fight breaks out between the servants, members of the Capulet
And Montague family join in. However, Capulet is restricted from joining in on the fight from Lady Capulet when she says “A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?” The audience would be amused by this because Lady Capulet is insulting Capulet by telling him that he is too old to fight. Also, the servants would be portrayed as comic characters in these scenes. The swift change from the formality of the sonnet to the informality of the servants banter would keep the audience engaged because they would be trying to keep in knowledge of what’s happening in the play.
Another example of humour which Shakespeare uses is clearly evident when Lady Capulet tries to arrange a marriage between Juliet and Parris. In this scene, the family nurse gives us an insight into Juliet’s upbringing in which she recalls on when Juliet once fell over and grazed her knee. The nurse’s husband makes a joke saying “Thou will fall backwards when thou hast more wit” Lady Capulet is disgusted by these jokes and immediately orders her to shut up as she doesn’t want Juliet to pick up on these jokes.
Overall, Shakespeare succeeds in making Romeo and Juliet dramatically interesting for the audience mainly through the use of a sonnet, the use of humour, and the use of conflict