How does Act 3 scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet create a range of different audience reactions

How does Act 3 scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet create a range of different audience reactions?

The play “Romeo and Juliet” creates a range of different audience reactions through the use of language, tone and staging. Act 3 scene 5 of the play is one of the most important and dramatic scenes, it marks the beginning of the events that lead up to the end of the play, we know that the end is coming because in the prologue it tells us that their destiny is to die. “Two star-crossed lovers will take their lives.” This means that two people whose destinies’ brought them together will die. In act 3 scene 5 of the play, Shakespeare makes another reference to death as. “Methinks I see thee now, thou art so low, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb.”

This shows that Juliet has a premonition of Romeo dead, which produces dramatic irony because we know that Romeo dies in the end.

This constructs a huge range of audience reactions such as sympathy, shock, and anxiousness for both contemporary audiences and Elizabethan audiences.

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare has used an array of different language to create a range of different audience reactions. From the very beginning in act 3 scene 5, he is already using language techniques to create effect , firstly he use the rhetorical question “Wilt thou be gone?” he does this by having Juliet ask whether he is going, this creates an audience reaction because we know that she really does not want him to leave. He also uses personification, “Come, death, and welcome!” death is being personified by Shakespeare through Romeo, Shakespeare does this to enhance the audiences reaction and give “death” human qualities, so death sounds more powerful. Shakespeare continuously uses opposites, like light and dark, “More light and light, more dark and dark our woes.” this creates audience reactions because usually light means happiness, but in Romeo and Juliet’s case light is unwanted because Romeo must leave at day break. He empathises the contrasts in the play by using oxymorons like “sweet division”, this is effective because the two words are contradictory terms but when they are put together they enhance a point.

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In the next part of the scene Romeo has just left and Juliet is in tears. Her mother enters and Juliet uses clever language to make her mother think she is upset about her cousin’s death. “I shall never be satisfied with Romeo until I behold him - dead- is my poor heart.” Juliet is saying the she is upset that Romeo has gone, but her mother thinks that she is saying that she wants Romeo dead for revenge over her cousin’s death. Shakespeare also uses language to create dramatic irony, when lady Capulet tells Juliet to marry Paris and Juliet says that she would rather marry Romeo who she makes her mother thinks that she hates. She says “I will not marry yet and when I do you know it shall be Romeo who you know I hate.” This creates dramatic irony because we know that Juliet is already married to Romeo.

In the following part he uses language to show how much power Capulet has and how angry he becomes. He shows that Capulet has lots of power in the way he speaks to his wife, “How now, wife.” He calls his wife not by her name, this is showing that he has power over her as if she was his property, but this was normal in Elizabethan society, but now that would not be accepted. Shakespeare also shows Caplet’s anger, when he calls Juliet a “mistress minion”. He becomes angry because she won’t do what he wants her to, so he is calling her a spoilt brat.

Once her parents leave the room, Juliet begs the nurse for help, and the nurse just tells her “it is best you married with the county.”

This shocks the audience because we expect the nurse to be more supportive of Juliet. Shakespeare also uses sarcasm through Juliet,” thou hast comforted me marvellous much.” Juliet says to the nurse that she has been great help, when really the nurse hasn’t offered her much help.

In the final section Juliet is alone she tells the audience, “I’ll go to the friar to know his remedy; if all else fail, myself have power to die.” This creates dramatic irony because we know she commits suicide, the audience also feel sympathetically because we understand her situation.

Shakespeare varies the tone throughout Act 3 scene 5 to differ the audience reactions that are created. At the beginning of the scene Romeo and Juliet are together in Juliet’s room, this creates a calm romantic tone. Then Romeo must leave because it is day, but Juliet tries to persuade him to stay. “Nights candles are burnt out…….. I must be gone to live, or stay and die”. “Yond light is not daylight.” Romeo says the night is over and he must go but Juliet is saying that it is not day yet in order to convince him to stay. This makes the audience feel sad.

In most cases the coming of light is symbolised to be a good thing, and the coming of darkness to be bad. But in Romeo and Juliet’s case light is considered to be bad and darkness good. Next in this scene Juliet’s mother tells her to marry Paris, she becomes angry with her mother. “I will not marry yet, and when I do I swear it shall not be Paris, it shall be Romeo whom you know I hate.” This makes the contemporary audience quite shocked by the way Juliet spoke to her mother, but Elizabethan audiences would have been even more stunned because the children in those days were very obedient and did as their parents asked, and wouldn’t have dared answer back or get angry with their parents.

Film directors of Romeo and Juliet have interpreted the play in different ways, and use stagecraft to enhance the audience reactions. In Baz Luhrmann’s version he has staged act 3 scene 5 in a way in order to create a range of different audience reactions.

In the film at the start of the scene when Romeo and Juliet are alone together, the director has put both of them in white clothing; this shows their loss of innocence, because when a relative dies people tend to wear black in a sign of respect, and not doing so usually shows that you do not care or have no respect all leading to a lack of innocence. In the next part Juliet is wearing white and her mother is wearing black, the director has done this to show that Lady Capulet is in mourning for the loss of Tybalt whereas Juliet is not.

In order for Shakespeare to create a wide range of audience reactions for both contemporary audiences as well as Elizabethan audiences he has used a variety of dramatic effects to achieve this. Throughout the scene these audiences react completely differently for example, in act 3 scene 5 part 5 when Juliet and her mother are arguing. I will not marry yet, and when I do I swear it shall not be Paris, it shall be Romeo whom you know I hate.” Contemporary audiences are very surprised, by the way Juliet spoke to her mother. This changes our views about her because at the start of the play we thought that Juliet was a king gentle obedient daughter. Elizabethan audiences would have been astonished by this because it would have never happened back then, because parent/child relationships were different, children were more obedient, and respectful.

Overall, in act 3 scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet a range of different audience reactions through the use of dramatic effects; these are language, tone and staging. This is done effectively by Shakespeare, and a range of different audience reactions are created for both contemporary and Elizabethan audiences. An example of one of the reactions he creates using language is emotion by using rhetorical questions and oxymorons. An example of one of the reactions he creates using tone is sadness and anger.

But in the film directors interpret the audience reactions that they think Shakespeare was trying to create and use music and staging to try and recreate them, but all the directors interpret these reactions differently and end up changing the reactions.

By Vas Panayi