Romeo and Juliet Explore the ways Shakespeare makes Act One, Scene Five dramatically effective. One of the many reasons as to why Shakespeare is regarded as one of the most talented playwrights

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Shakespeare Essay

Romeo and Juliet

Explore the ways Shakespeare makes Act One, Scene Five dramatically effective.

One of the many reasons as to why Shakespeare is regarded as one of the most talented playwrights to have ever existed, is his extraordinary ability to make many aspects of his plays so dramatically effective, to beguile and enthral the audience.  Many playwrights have often tried to encompass this element of Shakespeare in their own work, but many without succession, finding themselves incapable of capturing that very essence that makes Shakespeare’s work so effectual. The play “Romeo and Juliet” is a prime example of Shakespeare’s great talent for creating a work of immense dramatic achievement, by using many techniques to further accentuate the raw emotions of the storyline.

        On a basic level, “Romeo and Juliet” tells the story of two young lovers, from opposing sides of two families that have shared a life long conflict, and how they strive to be together. The story culminates with the tragic death of both young lovers, and it is this death that eventually ends the feud between the families. However, the many dramatic devices, which Shakespeare uses, serve to intensify the very simplistic storyline, and to present it on a level of greater depth, in a way that increases the enjoyment of the audience with great effect. We can learn this basic outline of the plot from the prologue, which is designed to introduce the story anyway, beginning with the establishment of the two rivalling households, of equal social status, and the “star-cross’d lovers” (Romeo and Juliet), who emerge from these opposing sides, and with the taking of their own lives, “bury their parents’ strife”, e.g. end the ancient family feud.

        The prologue is fundamental in introducing the plays focus on the themes of contrast, Capulet and Montague, order and mayhem, and most essentially; love and hate, the pivotal element of the play. The contrasting themes are present throughout the entirety of the play, and build up in proportion to each other, in order to make the play more dramatically effective, and the theme of hate and love is essential in the development of the play.

        The scenes prior to Scene Five are imperative in establishing a basis for the scene in which Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time. The audience needs to establish a basic understanding of the central characters in the play, in order to build expectations for when the scene commences, and Scenes One – Four serve this purpose. The sonnet form of the prologue, unusual in the sense that is a form of poetry usually reserved for a lover to give to his beloved, presents the idea of structure and order, being a very structured form of prose, and this initial order is used to create contrast with the immediate scene of disarray that follows. With the arrival of the Capulet servants, and the fighting that ensues, the sharp contrast is shown, and thus we are set up for the rest of the play, which deals with conflicting images, as represented in the initial scene by the way that it is the servants who lead the noblemen to fight, how the violence takes part in broad daylight, as opposed to night, and how the more senior members of the family try to deny their old age and amalgamate with the youths. This first scene is satiated with sexual innuendo, which is present throughout the play, and serves to underlie the love affair of Romeo and Juliet, and how it was forbidden.

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        Scene One is used primarily to introduce the rivalry of the two houses to the audience, and serves to give an impression of many of the characters that are of substantial significance in Scene Five. For example, we are introduced to Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, as a violent man, proud of his family name, and always looking for a fight. In contrast, we are introduced to Romeo at the end of the scene, as a lovesick boy, who believes himself to be in love with Rosaline, (although we do not yet know this to be her name), and that this love ...

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