The Elizabethan audiences were familiar with sonnets, as they went to the theatre regularly. They knew the subject matter would be either love or death. But conventional sonnets were always spoken by the males who were in love with the females, not by the male and female together. Shakespeare however, divides the sonnet between Romeo and Juliet, which shows that their feelings of love and emotion are equal, not one-sided.
On stage, there were no curtains to come down to mark the end of an act or a scene. Instead, scenes were ended with sonnets. The audience would then recognise the rhyming couplet which indicated the end of a piece of action.
There were few large props on stage, because actors were always entering and exiting the scene. The props were basic, things like a table and a couple of chairs were about it. The plays would need to be performed during the day, as there was no light in those days and there weren’t any spotlights to shine on particular actors for emphasis either.
Also because there were no curtains, actors had to announce when they enter and exit, and they also had to announce they were ‘dead’ and then stand up and leave the stage. The audience were used to seeing and hearing this in a play, so this was not unusual for them. This affects the drama because as Shakespeare was writing this play, he needed to keep in mind what the expectations were of it.
Shakespearean plays are not like modern plays. In modern films, the audience are expecting to be persuaded that what they are watching is realistic. Shakespeare did not make his plays like that; he does not use persuasion very often. For example when Romeo and Juliet first meet, we are expected to accept they had fallen in love with each other.
Going to the theatre in Elizabethan times was communal and interactive. The audience did not keep quiet and passively watch the play, but there was still no communication between the audience and the actors on stage. The light shone equally on the stage and audience, and the actors and audience were similarly dressed.
Shakespeare’s use of language differs across the scene. For each characters part, Shakespeare writes differently. This could be to give them more personality. An example is the difference between the choice of language between Romeo and Tybalt; Romeo uses soft and romantic words, whilst Tybalt is always speaking very violently and rough. How the mood changes starts from the beginning, with the bustle of opening lines, the servants running about the stage preparing for the party, trying to make everything perfect; this is shown immediately when the act begins when the first servant says “Where's Potpan, that he helps not to take away? He
shift a trencher? he scrape a trencher!”. This makes it seem very lively, with the exclamations, shouts and running around. It gives a small feeling of excitement, like you can tell something interesting is about to happen, but also a small feeling of anxiousness.
Capulet, who is playing the part of a cheery host; welcomes his guests as they all enter the stage and music starts playing, he encourages them to dance as much as they can, he speaks to them in an informal way to make them feel relaxed. There is dancing and a lot of movement as the party is ongoing. Capulet then engages in a conversation about youth and age. The conversation about youth is relevant to the theme of the play, which is about young love.
When Romeo enters the scene; he is masked. This is because he is not invited to this party as he is a Montague; this creates the mood of danger and tension. Romeo was persuaded, rather against his will, to attend the Capulet party by his friend Mercutio, who hopes that he will see other women and Romeo will then forget about his infatuation with Rosaline. As Romeo then spots Juliet in the crowd, there is a total change of mood, and he begins to speak in highly poetic language, which is full of imagery about Juliet’s beauty, he is instantly besotted with her. He says ‘Did my heart love till now?’ he forgets about Rosaline, and wonders, if he ever loved Rosaline if he felt so much more love for this girl he just saw. This part is then followed by the contrast of Tybalt’s aggression and dislike when he sees Romeo. There is a threat of violence coming from him, because he wants to start a fight, he says “Now, by the stock and honour of my kin, To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin”. Romeo is now in a dangerous situation, as Tybalt can start a fight with him to attempt to kill him, and Tybalt will also have the Capulets to back him up. There is also a dramatic contrast of language of Romeo and Tybalt, Romeo is speaking about love in a poetic way, then Tybalt talks about his detest towards Romeo when he says “A villain that is hither come in spite, To scorn at our solemnity this night”. When Tybalt then tells his uncle Capulet that Romeo was at the feast, Capulet isn’t too bothered about this, he says that he can stay as he heard Romeo is ‘a virtuous and well-govern’d youth’ in Verona. Capulet does not hold anything against Romeo because of his good reputation in their town, he assumes he is a well behaved boy, so he does not take too much notice that he is there. Tybalt now reacts and insists to get Romeo out of the party, but Capulet wants to host a good party where nothing will go wrong and everyone is having a good time, he doesn’t want anything to go wrong. He knew if Tybalt started a fight with Romeo; this would change the mood of the evening and make it unpleasant. Capulet is now angry; this is a contrast with Tybalt’s anger conflict of opinion, as Capulet’s anger is rising. This is a dramatic impact, because at the beginning of the scene, Capulet was happy, welcoming and jolly and he greets all his guests and says “Welcome, gentlemen! Ladies that have their toes Unplagued with corns will have a bout with you”. But now you can see the contrast to that with his fury here. You can see from this that Capulet does not tolerate being questioned or challenged, as he answers his nephew, Tybalt by saying “You are a saucy boy: is't so, indeed? This trick may chance to scathe you, I know what: You must contrary me!” This is anticipated with his fury with Juliet later in the play because she refuses to marry the County Parris because she is in love with Romeo (Act 3 Scene 5). After the small argument between Tybalt and his uncle Capulet, Tybalt makes an ominous comment ‘now seeming sweet convert to bitterest gall’. Gall is a poison. This will fester and something bad will happen, because Tybalt is neither satisfied nor calmed down, this gives anticipation for later drama when they fight on the streets of verona.
When Romeo and Juliet meet, it is a quick yet special moment of the play, as they pour out their feelings for one another very fast. This exchange between Romeo and Juliet is a sonnet, a popular form of love poetry in Elizabethan times.
The sonnet between Romeo and Juliet is quiet, calm and uses religious imagery like 'holy shrine,' 'gentle sin,' 'pilgrims,' and 'saints. 'Romeo describes his lips as 'two blushing pilgrims’. A pilgrim is the word used to describe a person that visits a holy place to worship. For example, pilgrims visit Bethlehem to worship Jesus. So in this sonnet, Romeo is the pilgrim who is devoted to Juliet. By saying that his lips are 'two blushing pilgrims,' Romeo is using a metaphor. The word 'palmers,' is another word for pilgrim. When Romeo asks Juliet 'have not saints’ lips, and holy palmers too?' he is asking her 'Are you not a saint who is worshipped by pilgrims?' He says this because he is in love with her, and he thinks she is worshiped because he sees all the beauty in her. Many lines including the final two of the sonnet are shared between Romeo and Juliet; this was very uncommon in Elizabethan plays, because normally the male is the one saying this to the female. Romeo and Juliet share their sonnet on a separate, private area on the stage
There is a contrast when Romeo and Juliet discover each others identities, there is a feeling of depression and they feel like because their families don’t get on well, Juliet responds when she finds out and says “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy”. Romeo also finds out which family Juliet comes from, the nurse tells him, he says to her “Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe's debt”. That is a barrier to stop them from loving each other. Love and hate seem to be the central theme of the play, as Romeo says in Act one scene 1 “Here's much to do with hate, but more with love”.
Romeo now discovers what he thinks is real love. He thought he loved Rosaline, he speaks about her in the first scenes of the play before he sees Juliet he talks about Rosaline to his friends “For beauty starved with her severity Cuts beauty off from all posterity. She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair, To merit bliss by making me despair”. But he only realises once he meets Juliet that his feelings for Rosaline was just infatuation, he didn’t really love her. We do not read any conversation or see any connection between Romeo and Rosaline, this could mean that Rosaline was not really anything to Romeo; she was just an image he admired.
The Nurse appears with the news that Juliet's mother wants to speak with her. Juliet obediently turns away, and Romeo asks the Nurse who Juliet's mother is. The Nurse informs him that her mother is the lady of the house, and that she herself is Juliet's nurse. He is now worried because he had just fallen in love with Capulet’s daughter. The change of pace is now slower, and there is also a contrast here, when they didn’t know each others identities and were revealing their love for each other, they were happy and excited, now they know and they both feel sad, and trapped, because they want to be together but their families are in the way. They also made a quick decision, to both please their families and stay away from each other, or to go for love, they chose love.
