What are your impressions of the opening scene in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?

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Sean Brook 10W

What are your impressions of the opening scene in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet?

The Prologue

The prologue is the first thing that is said in the play, and it’s point is to tell you what the play is about. It is written in sonnet form giving a brief outline of the play, that is the first four lines are leading you into the play, setting the scene, giving you the background information you need so you can understand the play. This is so the first scene is not spent describing life up until that point. The rest of the prologue is spent telling you what you should expect in the play, this is so you can understand it better when it happens. Then on the last line it says,

“What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.”

This means that what you have not understood from the prologue, the play shall try to explain, again this is a reason for the prologue. You have the basic outline in the prologue but it is explained fully in the actual play, so in the end you come out with a better overall understanding.

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Act One, Scene One

The play begins straight away with two of Capulet’s servants, Sampson and Gregory. The two are in good spirits, joking of how they are far more brave and superior to the Montague’s, the Capulet’s sworn enemy. Then two more servants enter, from the house of Montague, insults are flying around so the mood becomes very tense, and all it needs is a spark to set the whole thing into a big fight. This happens when Tybalt arrives (Juliet’s cousin, a Capulet), he has only five lines but in those lines we get a clear ...

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