“And quench the fire, the room has grown too hot.” Capulet is saying here that the room is heating up, what with all these people in it. He uses the word ‘quench’ as if the fire is thirsty; I feel this is fantastic example of personification by William Shakespeare.
“O doth teach the torches to burn bright!” In this quote, Romeo is describing Juliet, (which he has just met for the first time) as the thing that makes the torch burn bright. This is a very romantic and poetic line, if only he knew how this tragedy of a story would end.
“As rich as a jewel in an Ethiops ear” Here, Romeo is saying that Juliet stands out from all of the other women at the party, just in the same way that a jewel would stand out an Africans ear, (bright jewel on dark skin…). This is a fantastic simile from William Shakespeare, emphasising that Juliet is ‘one in a million’ and a rare find.
Another way Shakespeare makes Act 1 Scene 5 dramatic for the audience is the way he uses the phrase “To strike him dead I hold it not a sin” in the times this was written, to kill somebody was an awful crime, almost ungodly, therefore, for someone to say this, that person must really hate the person they want to kill, just as Tybalt hates Romeo.
In response to this, Capulet says “Content thee gentle coz, let him alone, ‘a bears like a portal gentlemen; and to say truth, Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well - governed youth.”, this is a strange thing for Capulet to say, because he is roughly saying that Romeo is a good person in the eyes of Verona and that he has not come here to cause trouble, therefore Tybalt should leave him alone, the use of the word ‘youth’ is quite important here as it emphasises that Romeo is young, and vulnerable in the conflict between the Montagues and the Capulets.
One of the things that made Shakespeare famous were his sonnets, often romantic poems of 14 lines, with many rhyming couplets and powerful language. Shakespeare uses a Sonnet to add even more drama to this scene, From line 92, all the way through to line 105, what makes this Sonnet special is that almost every other line is a rhyming couplet, which makes clear the point that Romeo and Juliet are interwoven in love and war, being on opposing sides of the conflict between the two families. Some examples of these rhyming couplets are; “Have saints not lips, and holy palmers too? Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do: they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”
This is a good example of a rhyming couplet that emphasises the drama of this scene, and also the analogy that is used for lips, Romeo and Juliet are talking about lips as if they were hands, being held together, i.e. kissing. The line, “They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair” is saying that they should kiss, or his love for her will turn to despair.
Shakespeare makes this scene even more dramatic when Nurse comes in and says, “Madam, your mother craves a word with you.”. this is important because Romeo and Juliet were in the middle of kissing, and were interrupted, which could be an analogy for the whole play; interrupted love.
Nearing the end of the scene, Juliet makes her feelings for Romeo clear as she says to Nurse, “Go ask his name.-If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed.”. This is a clear statement, ‘I will die if I cant marry him’ which is clearly quite a powerful love for someone, even though they had only known that person for mere minutes. It is also an ironic anticipation of events to come.
The final quote that makes this scene dramatic and exciting for the audience is “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and now too late!”. This is from Juliet, speaking to Nurse, about Romeo, this is a good quote to show drama because it again emphasises that Romeo and Juliet are on opposing sides in the family feud, and that she only hates the Montagues, but of those Montagues is the one she loves. The use of an exclamation mark shows fury, not at Romeo, but at the fact that she almost isn’t allowed to love someone, just because of the family or group they are in.
Act 3 Scene 1 is set outdoors, in the heat of a sunny Verona afternoon, and it starts off dramatic as Benvolio says “The day is hot, the Capels are abroad, and if we meet we shall not scape a brawl, for now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.”. This is dramatic because the use of the word ‘abroad’ does not mean away in another country in this sense, it means outdoors, so its like saying ‘the Capulets are out and about’. He then goes on to say, “And if we meet we shall not scape a brawl” which in this sense of the word means, ‘If we come across them, we shall not avoid a fight’, and those two lines make this dramatic because the audience can now tell that something is brewing..
Following this, Tybalt, Petruchio and others, (all Capulets) enter the scene, and immediately begin questioning the whereabouts of young Romeo to Mercutio and Benvolio.
Later on in the scene, just after Romeo enters, Tybalt makes a dramatic statement: “Well, peace be with you, sir, here comes my man.”. This is dramatic because it is like saying ‘I’ve had enough of you, here’s the one I want’ (Referring to Romeo), this makes clear that Tybalt wishes to speak with Romeo, about a certain Capulet whom he loves.
“Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done me”, is a way in which this scene is made dramatic, as it is saying, ‘What I am about to do to you does cancel out what you have done to me’, referring to him kissing Juliet. Following this, Mercutio ‘jumps in’ to protect Romeo.
This results in a swordfight between Tybalt and Mercutio, where Mercutio gets badly injured, and says the phrase, “Is he gone and hath nothing”, which means that Tybalt has escaped with no wounds, yet he has been stabbed, and is dieing on the floor.
In anger to this, Romeo is ready to fight, and when Tybalt returns, that is what he does. Romeo is victorious and slays Tybalt, much in the same way that Tybalt killed his dear friend Mercutio. Benvolio then tells Romeo to “stand not amaz‘d, the Prince will doom thee to death, if thou art taken.” Which is telling Romeo that if he stays in Verona, and is captured for the death of Tybalt, he will be sentenced to death by the Prince of Verona. However, if Romeo were to leave Verona, he would never see his one true love, Juliet, ever again.
One of the finishing lines of this scene is read by Prince, and basically sentences Romeo to a life outside of Verona, “Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio; Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?”. That line confirms Romeo’s worst fears: that he has been banished from Verona, and from seeing Juliet. It is saying that Romeo killed Tybalt, and Tybalt killed Mercutio, who does he owe his blood to? Which means, what shall we do about this?
“Let Romeo hence in haste, else, when he is found, that hour is his last. Bear hence this body, and attend our will: Mercy but murders, pardoning those who kill.” These are the last lines of Act 3 Scene1, and they are the closing, powerful lines that roughly read: Romeo you must leave at once, or if you are found in Verona again, you will be killed. Which is heartbreaking for Romeo as he cannot see Juliet again, but also heartbreaking for Juliet as she can never lay eyes upon her beloved Romeo again.
