Finding out one another’s identities does not change the way Romeo and Juliet feel towards each other. Juliet believes it’s “too early seen and known too late!” and Romeo considers his life to be in his “foe’s debt”. Juliet’s view is that it is too late to change her feelings as she has already fallen in love with Romeo and he believes that he will always remain indebted to her father who has given him his love. Shakespeare’s use of paradox helps makes implications for the rest of the play, in that when Juliet says “my only love sprung from my only hate”, the contrast of “love” and “hate” implies that all will not go well. The audience have expected a tragedy from the prologue as the couple had been described as being “star-cross’d lovers”, now however their fate has been verified and made clear, and the audience now anticipate their early tragic deaths.
As scene 5 of Act 1 unfurls, the main themes and ideas of the play are introduced, which are vital for our understanding of the rest of the play. The four main themes that are raised in the scene as a whole are love, feud, violence and fate. Love is one of the main themes that is raised in the scene as well as throughout the play. It is first mentioned in the scene when Romeo searching for Rosaline sets his eyes on the exquisite beauty of Juliet hand instantly falls in love with her, forgetting his love for Rosaline. “She hangs upon the cheek of night…beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!” he chimes. This reveals to the audience that he easily falls in love; however his love for Juliet seems deeper than his love for Rosaline. Likewise, Juliet after her meeting and kiss with Romeo also feels the same way about him, even after finding out that he belongs to the family of her “great enemy”. When they meet, they speak in the form of a sonnet, which portrays how they feel, thinking that the love they have is chaste and pure in order for them to refer to themselves as being “pilgrims” and “saints”. They have strong faith in their love, as they choose to defy their parents and secretly get married, which consequently leads to their early and premature deaths. However, their death expresses the strength and potency of their love as they are willing to die for one another.
Another theme that is established in the scene is feud. The feud of the Montague and Capulet family has lasted over several decades, it began so long ago that they do not even know how it started. However, although the memory of how it began has faded, the hatred between the two households has ceased to weaken, and has instead increased in intensity as the years have gone by. It is raised in the play when Tybalt informs his uncle of the intrusion of a “Montague”, which he cannot “endure”. Tybalt only uses the excuse of the feud as means of throwing the “slave” (Romeo) out and causing trouble. The feud is again mentioned when Romeo and Juliet both uncover each others identities. Romeo says that his life in now in his “foe’s debt” and Juliet says she “must love a loathed enemy”. The ending of the feud is at the concluding scenes of the play, after the death of Romeo and Juliet. This refers back to the prologue of the play “Do their death bury their parent’s strife.” It is due to the ongoing feud between the “Montagues” and “Capulets” that Romeo and Juliet are not able to reveal their love openly, which causes them to carry on their relationship under secrecy, without anyone’s knowledge except “Friar Lawrence” and the “Nurse”, who earnestly attempt to help the young couple get married.
In Act 1 scene 5, the only time that the theme of violence is raised is when Tybalt speaks. The language used by Tybalt is full of hatred and violence. He uses words such as “foe”, “villain”, and “scorn”, this portrays his character to be violent and aggressive, and he even believes that “to strike” Romeo “dead” he would “hold it not a sin”. This implies that he is also arrogant, as it seems he is able to decide what is right and what is wrong and that it does not have to depend on God. Tybalt’s love for violence and trouble is displayed in scene 1 of Act 3, when he demands Romeo to fight. Tybalt kills Mercutio; Romeo (out of loyalty to his friend and anger at Tybalt’s arrogance) kills Tybalt, thus avenging his friend’s death. This is a tragic example of how violence is used in the play because this is the first time that the audience witness Romeo give in to his anger and committing a crime which is unlike his peaceful, romantic and tranquil character. Violence in the play is a factor which makes Romeo and Juliet's love harder to survive, making their situation worse. Like for example, when Romeo is exiled for killing Tybaly, Romeo and Juliet are no longer able to see each other, making their first few days of married life very difficult and miserable.
Fate is a significant theme that is continuously repeated and foreshadowed throughout the whole play. Romeo and Juliet’s fate as said in the Prologue is “star cross’d”, meaning it is destined to end in tragedy. From this the audience are prepared for the events that are to occur in the play, whereas the characters in the play are not so equipped, although they do refer to their fate and what might happen in their future. They do not know that they will encounter with very early deaths. In scene 4 of Act 1 Romeo’s sense of foreboding as he makes his way to the Capulet party anticipates his first meeting with Juliet when he says “my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date”. Juliet mentions fate after she has met Romeo when she says, “if he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed”. This is ironic in that she dies shortly after her marriage to Romeo. Romeo’s final speech recalls the Prologue in which the “star-cross’d” lives of the lovers are sacrificed to end the feud, “Will I set up my everlasting rest and shake the yoke of inauspicious stars, from this world wearied flesh.” Their love has been “death-marked” from the beginning, meaning that Romeo and Juliet are destined for premature deaths. Although the audience are told of their deaths at the beginning of the play during the Prologue, the audience secretly hope for a happy ending, while knowing that the story will end in a tragedy.
Shakespeare’s use of dramatic devices in scene 5 of Act 1 assists in generating an effective atmosphere of excitement, anticipation, apprehension and love. When Romeo enters the Capulet household disguised in a mask, it builds tension in the audience because they anticipate his capture. They know the mask will fail its purpose and it does because Tybalt recognises him by his “voice”, which he fails to disguise. Tybalt refers to Romeo as having an “antic face”, not meaning his mask, but about his actual face. Tybalt believes Romeo has only come to the party to mock and “scorn” at their “solemnity”. By saying Romeo has an “antic face” he means that Romeo’s face is full of mockery and “spite”. Tybalt recognising Romeo by his voice is unexpected and the audience predict a brawl of some sort to take place. They are even more stunned when his uncle, Lord Capulet, refuses to cause Romeo “disparagement”, and instead tells Tybalt off. The audience relish the moment of Tybalt’s telling off, however they know that Tybalt is not a man who will forget an incident as this, so when Tybalt swears to get revenge they anticipate for a fight to take place between him and Romeo. The dramatic device that is used at the end of the scene when Romeo and Juliet find out each other’s identities, is that Shakespeare leaves it to the last minute (after they meet and can do nothing to change their situation) to tell them the truth about each other. He does this to play with the audience’s emotions; he takes the audience to a high and then lets them plummet.
The young lovers’ meeting makes the audience forget that they happen to come from rival households, and it strikes them unexpectedly when Romeo and Juliet find out each other’s identities. It grieves the audience to gain knowledge of the consequences that Romeo and Juliet will have go through for their love. Shakespeare did this because this makes the couple helpless to their love; they cannot change their emotions and cannot but love each other for who they are. It is “too late” to change anything. Dramatic irony is also used when Juliet after meeting Romeo says, “if he be married my grave is like to be my wedding bed”, which is ironic as she dies a couple of days after her marriage. They both realise the danger of their situation being from two rival houses. This creates tension and excitement, as the audience predict Romeo and Juliet to encounter with many difficulties in order to strive for their love. Knowing that the play will end in tragedy, the audience are disheartened, however they still have an ounce of hope for a different ending, even though it can never happen.
The language used by Shakespeare in scene 5 of Act 1 is successful in helping the audience understand the characters of the play better. Imagery, metaphor and similes are used to conjure up images in the audience’s mind so they’ll have a clearer picture of how a certain character thinks. Sonnets, rhyming scheme and iambic pentameter are ways in which to make the language in the play sound romantic and rhythmic. All these devices are included in Shakespeare’s language in order to make it effective. When Romeo first lays eyes on Juliet’s beauty, he is taken aback and uses imagery in his soliloquy to describe her as “a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear”. This demonstrates how beautiful Romeo thinks Juliet is, it also means that she stands out from the crowd. Romeo carries on this idea of her uniqueness when he compares her to a “snowy dove trooping with crows”. This conveys how Romeo is feeling; he is watching her with such intensity as if he has never seen a girl like Juliet before. In addition he also uses similes and metaphors to describe her saying that she is “like a rich jewel” and that she is a “snowy dove”. Using these is effective because the audience get an image in their minds of how Juliet appears to Romeo. They see her in a light that Romeo views her and realise how enthralled he is by her. This helps the audience to understand the thoughts and emotions of the characters better.
Romeo’s soliloquy plays a crucial part in the play as it expresses his inner feeling to the audience. The audience get a chance to delve into his mind and discover his thoughts and emotions. This is also the first time that Romeo sees Juliet. Therefore in this soliloquy he pours his heart out, which unfortunately is overheard by Tybalt. Nonetheless the soliloquy is vital in understanding his character, it includes a rhyming scheme “ear”, “dear” and “crows”, “shows”. This creates a rhythm to his speech, emphasizing the romantic and poetic language used. Romeo’s soliloquy is made up of iambic pentameter, which means each line is made up of words with 10 syllables. “The measure done, I’ll watch her place of stand”. This also contributes to the rhythm of his words, it sounds poetic and helps it to flow better. The use of contrast is also effective when Romeo calls Juliet a “dove” and the other women “crows”; this emphasizes Juliet’s “beauty”. After hearing Romeo’s soliloquy the audience understand the extent to which Romeo is besotted with Juliet.
Straight after the soliloquy, Tybalt recognises Romeo’s voice, and he immediately reports it to his uncle, Lord Capulet. The language used by Tybalt is full of aggression and rage; “fleer”, “scorn” and “villain” are the types of words that he uses in his speeches. This conveys the type of person he is, he seems to be very aggressive and always looking for ways of making trouble. When he swears to take revenge on Romeo he uses a contrast by saying that “this intrusion now seeming sweet convert to bitter gall”. This emphasizes the feeling that he has towards Romeo, which is pure hatred.
The sonnet at the end of the scene also plays a vital role, as this is the first time that Romeo and Juliet first speak to each other. It surprises the audience when they see the couple speaking with such tranquillity and harmony even though it is their first meeting, it is as if they are made for each other, the way that the sonnet is made up of their dialogue, portrays their unity as one. Religion and love are the themes to their sonnet, religion. They use words such as “saint”, “holy palmers” and “pray”. Religion helps them to bond because it shows that they both have spiritual devotion, and brings them both closer together as they are both serious about it. However it is ironic how they describe their love as being so chaste because at their time it would not have been unacceptable to have two young people of their status to be flirting, especially when they are from two rivalling families. Their relationship is not pure, however it is as if they are trying to convince themselves that is alright to “kiss”. Although they hardly know each other they compare themselves to “pilgrims and “saints” to make it sound pure although it isn’t. They know what they are doing is wrong but nevertheless they continue with their flirting. The audience however see this relationship as being romantic and sweet because the atmosphere and mood of the scene is different to the previous scenes of violence, making them forget the feud and believing the meeting to be love at first sight. This is a very effective dramatic device used by Shakespeare as it makes the audience a part of their ploy, knowing what Romeo and Juliet are up to. Paradoxes are also used in the scene, when Juliet says, “my only love sprung from my only hate” and “too early seen unknown, and known too late”. These imply to the audience that her love life will not go as romantically as she had thought, but she will have to undergo many problems and crises. She realises who Romeo is, but is too late as she has already fallen in love with him.
The way in which the characters verbalize and conduct themselves tells the audience a great deal about them. The first view that the audience have of Romeo is that is a romanticist, who falls in love very easily. The audience know this because Romeo had come to the Capulet party to see Rosaline who he has been yearning for. However as soon as he sees Juliet, he realises the artificiality of his love for Rosaline, and asks himself, “ Did my heart love till now?” This portrays the fact that his love for Rosaline was less real than his new love for Juliet. The language he uses to describe her is very poetic and beautiful, often exaggerating Juliet’s true beauty. Romeo’s use of religious imagery from this point on as when he describes Juliet as a holy shrine indicates a move towards a more spiritual consideration of love as he moves away from the inflated, overacted descriptions of his love for Rosaline. Romeo’s character is appealing to the audience because he is unlike many men; he has a love for poetry, and does not cause trouble, like Tybalt. This is conveyed in the third scene, when Tybalt demands him to fight, which he refuses. Romeo’s role first as a melancholy lover in the opening scenes of the play and then as a Juliet’s secret love is significant. Romeo belongs in a world defined by love rather than a world fractured by feud. Tybalt’s death in Act 3, scene 1, brings about the clash between the private world of the lovers and the public world of the feud. He only kills Tybalt because he killed his friend Mercutio, who was very dear to Romeo. Romeo is initially presented as a petrarchan lover, a man whose feelings of love aren’t reciprocated by the lady he admires and who uses the poetic language of sonnets to express his emotions about his situation. Romeo’s exaggerated language in his early speeches characterizes him as young and inexperienced lover who is more in love with the concept of being in love than the woman herself. However, during the course of the play, he begins to speak in blank verse, causing his love to sound less artificial.
The heroin of the play, Juliet comes across to the audience as an intelligent young girl. This is because of the language she uses such as “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much…” it is very sophisticated for a girl of the age of 14, but the audience also know that she is a Capulet, the daughter of a very rich man, which means that she is educated and brought up well. Her confidence is also what the audience notices, after meeting Romeo for the first time she does not hesitate to flirt with him. She even allows him to “kiss” her twice. She is very clever in entwining her words with his, continuing the subject of “pilgrims”. Her use of language makes her sound very mature for her age. Brave is also a word that can be used to describe Juliet, she believes in her love so much, that she is prepared to defy her parents and marry Romeo in secret. In her relationship with Romeo, she is loving, witty, loyal and strong. When Romeo and Juliet kiss at the party, Juliet teases Romeo for using popular imagery of love poetry to express his feelings and for kissing according to convention rather than from the heart, “You kiss by the book”. This establishes a pattern for their relationship in which Juliet displays greater maturity, particularly in moments of great emotional intensity. At the end of the play Juliet is resolute in her decision to die rather than enter into a false marriage, “If all else fail, myself have power to die”, Act 3 scene 5, this demonstrates that she is willing to die for her one and only love. At this point Juliet is most isolated from her family; even the Nurse betrays her trust by advising her to forget Romeo and comply with her father’s wishes to marry Paris
Lord Capulet in Act 1 scene 5 seems to be humorous, welcoming and a portly gentleman. This is because he says, “Welcome” to his guests as he ushers them into the house. He is jovial and talks aloud using Exclamation marks, which portrays his pleasant mood. He also sides with his enemy’s son Romeo, when he is refusing to listen to his own nephew, Tybalt, he says that Romeo is a “well-govern’d youth”. This illustrates his wonderful mood, which he will not have destroyed with one intrusion. However later in the play in Act 3 scene 5, we see Lord Capulet in a very different light. He is no longer humorous and understanding, he instead demands his right as Juliet’s father to marry her to Count Paris, threatening her with disheritance and public shames if she refuses. This is another side of his character that the audience are permitted to see.
Tybalt’s behaviour and thoughts remain the same throughout the whole play until his uncalculated death. From the beginning he has been violent and aggressive, in Act 1 scene 5 although he didn’t act violently, his language was aggressive and hostile. His hatred for the Montagues is intense; he cannot stand it when Romeo intrudes into his party. It is just in his nature to cause trouble. This scene is tranquil, apart from the times that Tybalt speaks raising the themes of violence and feud, when he calls Romeo a “slave” with an “antic face”; this conveys Tybalt’s paranoia, which leads to his early death. His heart is set on thinking that Montagues are only alive to mock and “scorn” him and his family. He has an arrogant personality. This is known when he says, “To strike him I hold it not a sin”, he believes whatever he does is right and is not a “sin”. His arrogance, paranoia and lust for violence are what lead him to his early death.
Romeo and Juliet is a remarkable piece of writing by William Shakespeare. The techniques he uses in order to maintain the tension and excitement is incredible like the way that he makes the audience forget all the bloodshed, hatred and problems, then brings the topic back up when the audience least expect it, startling them but drawing their attention closer to the troubles and plights lying ahead. It is a tragedy loved by all people, even knowing the ending; people still have hope in their hearts while watching that Romeo and Juliet’s love will survive. The use of imagery in Romeo’s soliloquy is absolutely astounding, the rhythm and rhyme all fit in together to create the perfectly romantic speech. The romance, violence, feud and fate all piece together to generate a play of excitement, tension and apprehension. It’s a play suitable for genders, violence and feud to suit males and love and fate to suit females. This makes people realise how strong love can be and how lucky they are if they have it, it gives people the chance to appreciate love for what it is. The themes that are mentioned in the play will always be relevant to people no matter what century they are in because they are universal, and therefore the audience will be able to relate to the play.
