GCSE Romeo and Juliet Essay Act One

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Explore Shakespeare’s Introduction of

Romeo in Act I of ‘Romeo and Juliet’

In the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Shakespeare builds up a vivid portrayal of Romeo to his audience during Act I by gradually developing his character. At the beginning of the play Romeo is illustrated as isolated and a character who seems to be wallowing in his ‘misery’. Shakespeare conveys this to the audience by manipulating Romeo’s language and making it packed with hyperbole, imagery and oxymoron. Additionally Romeo while in the middle of speaking breaks down and has to think, perhaps Shakespeare is suggesting that his use of elaborate language does not come naturally to him and thus the audience can conclude that Romeo is merely acting. In the last scene of the Act I Romeo behaves in a very different manner contrary to how he was conveyed in the previous scene, when Romeo first sees Juliet he proclaims a speech about her beauty, the way in which he expresses this love is much more externally focused than previously, suggesting that the love is genuine. Upon meeting for the first time they share a sonnet, for an Elizabethan this would suggest a pure, authentic love. Shakespeare also uses fate to subtlety suggest to the audience that Romeo is being truthful in his affection for Juliet; in the prologue Shakespeare writes “a pair of star-crossed lovers” this suggests to the audience that Romeo and Juliet are destined to be together, Shakespeare also in Act I often refers to fate implying that the couple are destined to meet. It is imperative that Shakespeare introduces Romeo as a character that the audience are concerned about and that they believe that his love for Juliet will eventually be pure and authentic, it is not tremendously important that Romeo is completely faithful, genuine and committed in his love for Juliet soon as the couple meet but rather that the relationship will develop throughout the whole play otherwise the consequent major events later on in the play will be meaningless. Contemporary Elizabethan audiences were used to hearing a play rather than watching one, this meant that they would be much more aware of the language that Shakespeare used, they would be more likely to detect changes in rhyme scheme and variations in characters use of language, Shakespeare even writes in the prologue to Henry V, “Gently to hear, kindly to judge our play” the likely reason for this is that society was a lot less visual than today’s society since the did not have the television or films and the theatre was relatively new to them.

Shakespeare creates an explicit atmosphere of hatred and conflict right from the opening scene; perhaps he does this in order to juxtapose the character of Romeo with the world surrounding him. By contrasting Romeo’s behaviour to the environment in which the play is set, Shakespeare is able to highlight the difference he has with the rest of society and his solitary demeanour to the audience. The opening dialogue of the Capulet’s servants portrays to the audience the violent and aggressive atmosphere and how much they detest the Montague household, Sampson states that he wishes to fight with the men and then rather crudely abuse the women “I will push Montague’s men from the wall and thrust his maids to the wall”. From this dialogue the audience learn to what extent the two opposing families despise each other. Shakespeare then introduces an enormous brawl in the city, as the Capulets and Montagues fight with each other; Tybalt a very aggressive individual exclaims “talk of peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee”. This reemphasizes to the audience the intense hatred both parties have for each other .In the first scene a very vicious world full of hate is introduced and the audience is possibly rather astonished at how bad the situation has become. Additionally because of this scene the audience have a brief understanding of the atmosphere in Verona, maybe Shakespeare did this in order to give the audience a better insight into Romeo’s behaviour because if they comprehend the world surrounding him they are more likely to emphasise with his actions and point of view. Furthermore the environment of tension and hatred is particularly imperative because at the end of Act V when the Montagues and Capulets reconcile, there has to be a significant transformation of the attitudes that the two families have for each other due to their children’s death for the play to be meaningful.

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 The first mention of Romeo in the scene is in ll-115 when Lady Montague his mother says, “O where is Romeo? Saw you him today? Right, glad I am he was not at this fray”. The use of the interjection “O” shows the audience the deep concern Romeo’s mother has for him, the fact that even his own mother does not know where he is provides an initial impression to the audience that Romeo is an isolated child. Lady Montague also expresses her delight that Romeo was not at the brawl, this could possibly mean that he is usually ...

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