How would the two families stop their hatred against each other? Why do the couples die? These answered questions encourage the audience to stay and watch.
The prologue is written as a 15-line poem with an iambic rhythm of
A B A B C D C D E F E F G G with rhyming couplets of the last word of the last two lines, ‘attend’ and ‘mend’.
Shakespeare names some of the characters e.g. Cupid and Diane, in reference to classical mythology, which ties up with the theme that their lives are controlled by external forces. Act one scene one starts of with a lenient argument that leads on to a battle in the streets, which is a consequence of a rude gesture, a bite on the thumb. Benvolio (means goodwill) who is a friend of Romeo is a peaceful character and does not like fighting. We know this because on page six line 65 he says,
“I do but keep the peace. Put up thy sword,
Or manage it to part these men with me.”
Tybalt on the other hand is a quick-tempered, territorial character that always wants to fight.
“What! Drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. (page 6, line 67-69)
Have at thee, coward.”
Capulet who is young at the heart hears the battle and insists of joining the fight,
“What noise is this? Give me my long-sword, ho!” (page 6, line 73)
Montague character is the same as Capulet, wants to join the fight. The prince enters and warns every Capulet and every Montague that if they fight again they would pay with their lives. The princes warning gives us a hint of what’s to come because the Prince says that lives would be taken away so when Romeo and Juliet get exposed there’s going to be a lot of lives taken away. This scene would have been very exciting for the audience because the audience stand all the way round the stage and close to the action that was going on set. The way Shakespeare describes a character when his in love makes the audience a little confused because he writes in a technique called oxymoron e.g.
“O loving hate!” (Act 1, Scene 1, Page 10, Line 174)
Describing something that you hate using the word love is unusual and that’s what makes the audience stay and speculate.
In act one scene five Capulet arranges a party for Juliet to meet Paris. Romeo and Benvolio both hear and go decide to go. That’s where Romeo first sets sight on Juliet. The point of the party was to allow Juliet to meet Paris so that she can marry him excluding the fact that she is 14. Those days it was normal for young women from the age of 14 to get married because they believed that the younger the marriage the better it would be for the couple. Romeo grabs Juliet by the hand and describes his hand to be not good enough for hers but Juliet has a different opinion and describes Romeos hand as having proper respect for what it does.
“If I profane with my unworthiest hand” (Romeo, page 28, line 92,act 1, scene 1)
“Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy
Palmers’ kiss.” (Juliet, page 29, line 95-99, act 1, scene 5)
Romeo then moves on to his lips. He tells Juliet to let lips do what hands do
