Furthermore Romeo in the opening scene is very confused he says “ O heavy lightness.” This is due to Rosaline. This shows that he is confused and not thinking straight because what is he trying to say, the words ‘light’ and ‘heavy’ are completely opposites and cannot mean the same thing. When Romeo says this he is thinking about him and Rosaline, he is trying to mix love and hate. The viewers will not think much of Romeo at this point they will think he is just boring and confused. Romeo uses a lot of oxymoron he says “Bright smoke, cold fire, sick health.” All of these words do not go together, like you cannot have a cold fire. This is the point where you know Romeo is seriously confused.
At the start of the play Romeo is very poetic, he speaks so poetic that he sounds very feminine. Romeo says, “ Love is a smoke made with fume of sighs…” This shows that Romeo is speaking poetically. The way he talks about love is very feminine. The audience will feel that Romeo is more feminine then the other men characters in the play. Romeo is a man of words. Some of the audience may think this could change later on in the play if Tybalt is around.
Juliet is a Capulet. She is another main character in this play. Juliet at the start of the play is very polite and quiet. She says “Madam I am here, what is your will?” She says this to the nurse. It shows that Juliet is polite and she asked the nurse ‘what do you want?’ in the nicest way. The audience will like this character because she is much more politer and obedient then the Romeo and Tybalt. They won’t feel worried for her because she is not violet unlike Tybalt. Juliet mentions the word ‘Madam’ a lot it shows Juliet is very pleasant.
At the start of when Juliet enters the play she shows herself as unromantic. Her parents arranged her to marry a man called Paris and when she gets told the news she says “It is an honour that I dream not of.” This shows that she is saying no thanks but in a polite way. It shows she is not romantic because she does not want to get married and she not interested in that. At this point the audience may be thinking that might change after the party.
When she enters the play Juliet is an honest character, when she gets offered to marry Paris she says, “I’ll look to like, if looking liking move. But no more deep will I endart mine eye.” This means that she is saying I will look if I like but no more deeper will I look, it shows that Juliet is honest she telling the truth. She is saying what she thinks up straight, to her mother, Lady Capulet. Juliet’s character is she says what she thinks she will not keep it to herself. The audience may feel something will happen if she always says what she thinks.
Next I am going talk about how the characters were during and after the party and how the audience will be feeling at that point.
Firstly, Tybalt, during and after the party is still very revengeful. He says, “Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting makes my flesh tremble in their different greetings.” It shows that he is still so revengeful and he has not changed, he will always be looking for a fight. He says this to Romeo, so the audience knows something’s going to happen between them, they know Tybalt won’t let it go. The way Tybalt speaks shows that he is violent and not a nice character. This makes the audience tense and worried about the next part in the play.
Secondly, Romeo during and after the party has changed a little, he does not talk a much. Romeo becomes more romantic when he sees Juliet he says to himself “Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” He is talking about Juliet, when he first saw her and how he has never she true beauty until this night. This shows he is romantic and he thinks its love at first sight. The viewers may start liking this romantic side of him. The audience may feel Romeo is a better character like this.
At the party Romeo is a little impulsive. When Romeo and Juliet are together he says to her “Make blessed my rude hand” this can be found as a bit impulsive, it shows that he does not care what he is saying. When he says bless my rude hand it does not sound nice, which the audience may not like, they may also think he is too involve. On the other hand the audience may think it okay because Romeo truly loves her. Adding on Romeo is being rude he is kissing Juliet with out permission. This could cause a riot later on in the play if Capulet finds out. He could also be angry because he has already arranged Paris and Juliet to get married.
In addition, after the party Romeo becomes very brave. He becomes brave because when him and his mates are running away from the party Romeo says “How can I go forward when my heart is here?” Then Romeo runs back for Juliet. This shows he is brave because his life on the line but he still wants to go back for his true love. It shows that he truly loves Juliet or he would not have gone back. Romeo has shown that he is madly in love with her. The people watching will realise how much he loves Juliet and they will realise how brave he has become. At the same time the viewers may feel worried for Romeo because he is not safe going back especially when Tybalt there.
Finally, Juliet during and after the party was very clever. She wanted to know Romeo’s name but she knew if she just ask about him someone will suspects something, so she asked the nurse about a couple of guys. She said, “What is yond gentlemen?” Juliet is clever for doing what she did and the viewers will think that too. If Juliet did not do that it would have caused a big seen because Romeo is a Montague, the son of Juliet’s great enemy.
In addition, at the party Juliet was also emotionally when she realised her lover is her great enemy. Juliet said, “My only love sprung from my only hate.” This shows that she is sad and emotionally. The audience may feel emotionally too and they may feel sorry for both of them, lovers who cannot be together.
Now I am going to talk about the dramatic scenes at the party.
At the start of act 1 scene 5 when everyone is at the party, to get the party going Shakespeare starts with a funny joke from Capulet who says “she that won’t dance. ... I’ll swear hath corns.” He is saying if the women do not dance it is because they have corn feet. Capulet wants to get the happy mood going and he wants the party to be a laugh. Shakespeare creates a happy atmosphere at the party so the audience are excited about what will come next. This makes it more of a contrast when Romeo and Juliet find out they cannot be together at the end of this scene.
Now the viewer’s emotions will change when Romeo comes in the scene. It changed to a more romantic atmosphere when the first time Romeo sees Juliet he says to himself, while he is looking at her, “She hangs upon the cheek of light as a rich jewel.” The speech that Romeo says is very poetic. There are lots of rhyming couplets. This shows it is like a romantic poetry. It shows that they are falling in love and Romeo is saying Juliet looks as rich as jewels. In this simile Romeo is comparing her to jewels which show he must feel something strong for her because jewels are very precious. So now it’s suddenly changed to a romantic atmosphere.
The next dramatic moment in this scene was when Tybalt sees Romeo at the party. He says, “Fetch me my rapier boy.” He is saying get me my sword, this shows that Tybalt wants a fight, he sees a Montague and now he wants to kill him. Tybalt is always looking for a fight and now he sees someone perfect to fight with. The language Tybalt uses is very violent “Strike him dead.” He is also very controlling and demanding saying “fetch.” The people who are watching will feel tense because they feel something’s going to happen and the atmosphere is going to change. They may also be worried because if anything does happen everyone is there at the party. As soon as Capulet hears Tybalt wanting to fight with Romeo Capulet stops him and said “Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone ‘A bears him like a portly gentlemen.” This means he says leave him alone and Capulet says I do not want any fights at my party, whoever he is. Tybalt insults Romeo too and says, “It fits when such a villain is a guest” Tybalt is saying its right to be insulting when a villain is a guest. Shakespeare has gone from a romantic atmosphere to a tense atmosphere. Before Romeo was uses compliments to make it romantic. Now the words are opposite they are insults so the atmosphere is tenser.
Furthermore when Romeo and Juliet start speaking to each other they rhyme to each other “hand…stand,” “much…touch” and “this…kiss.” They rhyme to each other 14 times. 14 lines mean a perfect sonnet, which means its true love. They from a good couple just like the words do in the rhymes. This is how it is a dramatic scene. The viewers will be happy for them, but sad at the same time because they are enemies and they don’t even know.
The last dramatic scene was at the end of act 1 scene 5 when Juliet finds out that the man she has fell in love with is her families greatest enemy. When she realise she says to herself “My only love sprung from my only hate!” At the point Juliet shows herself as very emotionally and the audience may feel the same too. The atmosphere has changed now to sad and emotionally.
In this scene Shakespeare creates different moods, so the audience feels different feelings in different parts of the scene. First he creates a happy mood with Capulet jokes, then it became a violent atmosphere with Tybalt when he saw Romeo, next mood was romantic and love with Romeo and Juliet. Then the last dramatic scene in act 1 scene 5 that Shakespeare created was a sad atmosphere, when Juliet finds out she loves her enemy.
In the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ I think the main theme was ‘Love’. The main characters for this were Romeo, Juliet and Paris. Paris loved Juliet, Juliet loved Romeo, and Romeo loved Juliet. It was like a love triangle. The main scenes in the play relation to love were, meeting at the party, the balcony, Romeo and Juliet getting married and them running away together. The theme ‘love’ is linked to act 1 scene 5 because that is when Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time and they fall in love. That is when Paris meets Juliet and he falls in love with her. The message that Shakespeare gives relation to the theme ‘love’ is, that love is not everything it seems to be. You would think love is when two people who love each other be together but that not always the case. Act 1 scene 5 is important for getting across Shakespeare’s message to the theme ‘love’ because he is saying love can be dangerous and it can cause a lot of harm not just to yourself but to other people you care about, just like it did to Romeo and Juliet.
