How does the prologue and act one interest the audience and prepare Romeo and Juliet for the events of the play?

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how does the prologue and act one interest the audience and prepare Romeo and Juliet for the events of the play?

The play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written in the year of 1593. The play includes a number of universal themes such as love, hate, death and loyalty so as to capture the imagination of a range of audiences.

Shakespeare includes a prologue for ‘Romeo and Juliet’. A prologue is a kind of blurb that can give you a vague idea on what the play is about and what is about to happen. It would decide if the play was to be a success or a failure. A sonnet was the form in which Shakespeare wrote his prologue, a short, fourteen-line poem that was made up of quatrains.

The prologue of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ gives us an idea on what the story is about. We are given nearly all of the key points about the play. We know, from what is said in the prologue, even before the play begins that the two lovers, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ will die.

‘Romeo and Juliet’ are immediately set across to the audience as star-crossed lovers. This seems to suggest that the lovers will be ill fated. In the prologue there is the quotation of ‘death marked love’. This adds to the speculation that the lovers are doomed to die whatever happens. The thought of love and death put together would really get the audiences excited meaning they will be more interested and would like to know what really happens. Also an Elizabethan would have been very interested in astrology and that fate was laid down by the stars, so the language used seems to represent what the people o the time believed.

In the prologue Shakespeare also includes a number of other themes, two of which are hate and war. The audience in Shakespeare’s time seemed to react very well to the thought that they may see a fight along with a death. This was one of the key points to Shakespeare’s success. You needed to keep the audience interested if you wanted your plays to succeed.

It was very common in Elizabethan times for children to do what their parents told them but here the audiences are told that ‘Romeo and Juliet’ do not. This would of startled the audience but would of got them interested as it was very bad if you did go against your parents wishes. What would happen?

There is also a great use of Dramatic irony, as the audience knows that the two lovers are fated to die but the actors don’t. From this there may be a feeling of helplessness but also that of power, as the audiences know more.

In Scene i, we see an ever-increasing use of language so as to keep the attention of the audience. To do this Shakespeare uses a number of references towards the subject of sex. For example: When Sampson and Gregory, the servants of the Capulet family decide to look for trouble with the Montague family, the conversation that they have is full of crude and sexual references. Almost immediately, the scene breaks out into a fight between the Montague and the Capulet families. Shakespeare has done this so as to provoke a reaction of interest from the audience. Had he not of done this he could of easily got the audience bored and the play would have been a failure. It is clear that the Shakespearian audience would have taken great delight in hearing the smutty comments frequently made by Sampson and Gregory. The comments, made by Sampson and Gregory about woman and their relationships with men are only good for one thing, sex! This is in spark contrast to the powerful love that is to happen between ‘Romeo and Juliet’. We also see a great sense of loyalty between the servants of each house. As they also hate the servants and family of the house.

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The fight that occurs in this scene seems to progress very quickly into full out street warfare. Benvolio, who comes across as a peacemaker, tries to stop the fight that is occurring. Benvolio in Italian means peacemaker so this seems to be very good role for him. The fight is also interrupted by the Prince of Verona, who comes up with a statement that will haunt the children of both families forever. He says that if anyone interrupts the peace of Verona again they will pay the price with their lives. This is another intriguing part of the play; what ...

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