Liz Hopkins
and asks Friar Lawrence for help, he gives her a sleeping drug, she returns home and apologises to her parents, that night she drinks the potion and is found ‘dead’ the next morning. The news of Juliet’s death reaches Romeo before a letter from Friar Lawrence explaining what has happened. So Romeo rushes back and buys a poison. In Juliet’s tomb, he drinks it and dies as he lay next to her; she awakens to find him dead and stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger. Their parents arrive and the fighting is stopped forever.
This is put across in not so many words by the prologue, the opening sonnet. So the audience is already aware of the major conflict and the love/hate theme of the play.
The audience already knows that Romeo is supposedly in love with Rosaline, we also know that Juliet is very close with her family. The audience also knows the families would never allow the two lovers to be together.
The audience expects quite a lot from Act 1 Scene 5 and in my opinion; it does not fair to deliver. Initially, they are expecting the introduction of Paris, and for Romeo to cheer up and find Rosaline.
The first major part in this scene is Lord Capulet’s speech. You can clearly tell for his speech that he is happy and excited and can’t wait to get the party started. This, in turn, rubs off on the audience, who are looking forward to the scene with great anticipation. This is a vast contrast from the mood at the beginning of the play, as it appears, if only for one night, Lord Capulet wants to forget about fighting, he shows this by saying to Tybalt, ‘this unlook’d for sport comes well. Nay, sit, nay, sit.’
Shakespeare uses Romeo’s speech about Juliet to yet again build up the tension. Mainly in soliloquy, this speech contains
Liz Hopkins
many romantic but mainly religious references such as ‘make blessed my rude hand’. It is both fluent and poetic. He also uses metaphors to effectively create drama, ‘she hangs upon the cheek of night’ and ‘ a snowy dove trooping with crows’ are very romantic views of how you may fall in love with someone at first sight and how someone just sticks out in a crowd to you. But Romeo’s language is again in contrast with Lord Capulet’s because his is light and fun to match the mood of the party whereas Romeo’s is serious and acts like no one else is in the room.
On the other hand, we have Tybalt’s speech which contrasts greatly with Romeo’s. Where Romeo’s speech is romantic and metaphorical, Tybalt's is full of anger and hatred; he wishes to ‘strike him dead’. Tybalt is arrogant and he thinks he is better than Romeo. The speeches are written as if to be oxymorons of each other, Romeo’s is of love and he, himself, is humble, where Tybalt’s is of hate, and he believes he is superior. Lord Capulet’s reaction to Tybalt wanting to fight is that he tries to settle him down and tells him to forget he’s even there. I think that at this point the audience would turn against Tybalt because he wants to break the peace.
One of the ways Shakespeare makes this scene dramatically effective is by using a sonnet woven cleverly into the meeting of Romeo and Juliet, the sonnet, a traditionally romantic consisting of 14 lines, with a rhyming scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, it exists in lines 96 – 109. Shakespeare again uses religious language to show Romeo’s respect for Juliet, ‘This holy shrine…two blessed pilgrims’ and she in turn replies using the same language, ‘Good pilgrim…pilgrims’ hands…holy palmers’ kiss’. I think that, although I don’t believe in love at first sight, this is for Romeo and Juliet. If it was not love, then I don’t think he would have agreed to marry her the next day.
Liz Hopkins
‘My only love sprung from my only hate,’ these words are hard-hitting to the audience and makes them think about the grudges that they, themselves hold with people. As Romeo leaves the party, he asks the nurse, ‘Is she a Capulet?’, for he has fallen in love with the one person he can never have. After
Romeo has left, Juliet asks the nurse about a few men at the party so as not to make asking about Romeo suspicious, ‘if he be married, my grave is likely to be my wedding bed’, this shows that she has fallen as much for him as he for her. For the audience, the tension and anticipation would be at a high point. There is also a high amount of uncertainty over whether they will end up together of not.
I think that Shakespeare has successfully created a dramatically effective and pivotal scene. For me, his use of metaphors is very important, the description in them is key to making the scene everything it needs to be. Romantic and fun, but with Tybalt's anger still fresh in the audience’s mind.
This scene is crucial to the rest of the play because it is where the main plot begins, and so does the love story. With its overall theme of love and hate, this helps make the play relevant today, as when Shakespeare first wrote it. This is because we can all learn to accept an enemy; we need not be friends with them but neither must we fight. I think this scene is incredibly well devised and I would say it is my overall favourite scene.
