In addition to the main characters, there is Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin. Tybalt is a Capulet and leader of the Capulet gang who normally fight the Montagues. In this scene, he displays hatred. This is because he spots Romeo, a Montague at the Capulet feast thus he is hungry for revenge, Tybalt is very angry at Romeo’s presence at the celebration and instantly wants to fight:
“Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe;
To scorn our solemnity this night.”
Tybalt’s hatred is clarified as he calls Romeo a ‘foe’ thus showing his hatred for him. Furthermore, he accuses Romeo of trying to ruin their celebration – “To scorn at our solemnity”, the alliteration is used to emphasise his anger and to make what he accuses Romeo of doing sound worse. This indicates that he truly despises Romeo as he automatically accuses Romeo without actually realising or knowing what his actual motive of being there. Tybalt is made more furious when he is told by Capulet, his uncle, that he cannot confront Romeo and fight. This implies that he is a violent character as he wants to fight and that he encourages the fight and the tension between the families. Tybalt is a Capulet, thus he speaks in blank verse and rhymed verse –
“Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting
Making my flesh tremble in their greeting.
I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall,
Now seeming sweet, covert to bitter gall.”
This shows us that although Tybalt is an aggressive character, he is a sophisticated as he uses rhymes in his speech; ‘meeting’ and ‘greeting’, ‘shall’ and ‘gall’. Here, a repercussion of Romeo’s action is clear as he plots revenge on Romeo for coming to the feast and later on in the play he will get revenge. In this scene, Tybalt presents the theme of hatred as his hatred is just as strong as Romeo and Juliet’s love. Shakespeare contrasts these themes to show the audience something bad is about to come and to keep them interested in different aspects of the play. If I were to direct Tybalt, I would make his appearance and behaviour match his personality. For example, he would wear dark colours to show his as the evil character in which the audience can automatically see him as the antagonist. Furthermore, I would have him talk in a husky voice when he is angry, and have his voice boom louder when he is furious. This would be effective as it would show his anger clearly. In addition, I would have Tybalt sneer Romeo’s name to show his deep hatred for him and to further this I would have him grind his teeth whilst his uncle tells him off. Also I would have him clench his fist when he talks about fighting Romeo to show that he is a violent character and to show his hatred for the Montagues.
Another character is Capulet, Juliet’s father. In this scene he is the host of the feast. He talks to guests and greets people. He is displayed to be a patient and calm man in this scene as he tells Tybalt not to worry despite a Montague being at the feast. Due to his actions, Tybalt is made more furious.
“I would not for the wealth of all this town
Here in my house do him disparagement.
Therefore be patient, take no note of him;
It is my will, the which if thou respect,
Show a fair presence, and put off these frowns,
An ill-beseeming semblance for a feast.”
Capulet uses the words ‘my house’ to show that he is in charge, also he tries to calm Tybalt down by saying ‘be patient’ and ‘take not note of him’. Furthermore, he does not use direct imperatives to order Tybalt as he is his nephew but he does question Tybalt and his respect for him: “the which if thou respect”, this shows that he expects to be respected and followed as he knows he is in charge but doesn’t not want to anger Tybalt further by ordering him about. This may suggest that he cares about his family’s pride, so the theme of family is represented in this scene. In Shakespeare’s era, pride respect and honour were very important, therefore this is showing that Capulet doesn’t want a fight at the feast as he wants to protect the family name. As he is head of the Capulet family, he is of a higher status thus meaning he talks in blank verse and rhymed verse. If I were to direct Capulet, I would have him wear royal blue clothing to represent him to be serious and important. I would have his tone stay calm and firm throughout this scene but make it change slightly to an angry tone to show his frustration at his nephew. I feel that this way the audience then and now would be able to see clearly who is in charge and important.
The last main character is the Nurse. She is very close to Juliet; however she is not actually a Capulet. In this scene she is portrayed to be caring.
“Madam your mother craves a word with you.”
She uses the word ‘madam’ when she talks to Juliet and this shows her to be polite. Furthermore she does not judge Juliet’s love for Romeo. This is may be because of the fact that her relationship with Juliet is very close and that she trusts Juliet to make her own decisions. On the other hand, she can be seen as concerned for Juliet:
“His name is Romeo, and a Montague,
The only son of your great enemy.”
She uses the word ‘enemy’ to perhaps warn Juliet of what she is getting herself into, she also uses the adjective ‘great’ to perhaps show how serious this matter may turn out to be; however she does not question her love for him. This shows that she is concerned about how things may turn out and this means that she cares for Juliet. The Nurse speaks in blank verse which shows her to be of a higher status. Although she does not belong to the Capulet family, she still has manners and is polite. I were to direct Juliet’s nurse, I would have her wearing a pale blue dress, to connote her motherly attitude towards Juliet, put also to show how she knows her place in the family. This will also represent her to be calm. I would have her speak in a soft concerned voice to show that audience that she cares for Juliet and about the family, but altogether to show that she is a peaceful character who may not be in favour of the tension between the two families.
In this scene, Shakespeare has incorporated all the themes found in this play. This will answer some of the audience’s questions from the prologue. If I were to direct this scene, I would use colours to connote whether they are good or bad and what their personality is like. Furthermore, I would use stage levels to show the status is the characters, for example, the servants at the beginning of the scene will be on the lowest level and Capulet would be on the highest. Juliet would come under her father, as would Tybalt and Romeo would follow as this shows his equality to Juliet. For props of the characters, I would have Tybalt carrying his sword with him at all times to promote the idea of his being violent and aggressive and perhaps to take it out when he mentions fighting Romeo in this scene. Also, I would have Juliet carry some flowers in her hand or have them in her hair to show her to be angelic and natural as the flowers would imply this to the audience. When Romeo and Juliet first see each other, I would direct the lights so that spot lights would appear on both of them and null out everyone else. This would underline the importance of this moment and show the audience that they have fallen in love. As the feast is supposed to be a masquerade ball, I would have Romeo and Juliet wearing eye masks which add to the effect of the fate theme as it is ironic as they both find each other in a sea of masks. In addition to this, I would possibly use pink/red lighting to highlight the theme of love at this point so that the audience can see clearly how strong the love is between the two teenagers. For music, I would have silence to emphasise how great the love is. Further on I would have soft and slow violins playing whilst Romeo and Juliet are talking. If I were to direct the section that Tybalt sees Romeo, I would also have a spot light on Tybalt. This would show how greatly affected he is as he sees Romeo. I would darken the rest of the scene and show only him so the darkness will promote the idea of antagonism from Tybalt. I would also have silence, but I would have heavy breathing from Tybalt to draw attention to how angry he is. This concept would be furthered by the use of a serious low beat drum playing whilst he says “Fetch me my rapier, boy…”, this will make his threats seem more deadly and will help the audience understand that the hatred that he is performing is just as strong as the love in this scene and that it acts as a direct contrast. This will ultimately show that there is a fine line between love and hate. This concept shows the audience that some thing tragic is going to happen as Shakespeare is trying to show that love can’t exist where there is extreme hate, which makes this play into a tragedy.
‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written by Shakespeare in the Elizabethan era, the themes in the play related well to the audience then as Shakespeare wrote this play to mirror real life events at that time. For example, Shakespeare displayed the concept of the Montagues and Capulets fighting as gang war fare; something that was common at the time. However, gangs can be found today and this can be seen as relevant to today. Romeo and Juliet are both teenagers in this play. They can be considered very young to the audience now as Juliet gets engaged to Paris at a mere age of 13. This would surprise the audience in the present because how different this is to now, however this concept would be quite normal for the audience then. People at that time got married at such a young age mainly due to the fact that the life expectancy was much shorter than now. Also, many people nowadays don’t get married at all and just live with a partner. This would not happen during life then as marriage was considered to very important; this is because marriage meant that the family line would be carried as children would be born who will inherit the family money. Also, nowadays the status of your partner would not be considered as love is more important in the views of people today although during Shakespeare’s time, the parents would decide who their child would marry and this would be decided on status and wealth. Love would be considered irrelevant and also children would have to follow their parent’s wishes whereas nowadays many people move on from their parents and become more independent. This links to the concept of children lying to their parents as they fall in love with someone who they know they won’t agree on. Although arranged marriages were more common then, love did happen and Shakespeare conveys this in this play and he also conveys what could happen due to this problem of the parents not accepting your partner. This can be common today and as well as in the past and it may shock the audiences from both eras or on the other hand it may relate to them. Furthermore, unrequited love does happen today as well as it the past; in this play Romeo first loved Rosaline but she didn’t love him back. This can happen today as can relate to the audience, again from both eras. Moreover, when Romeo and Juliet commit suicide because they could not be together, the audience in the past may have been more shocked then that audience now as suicide was considered to be thought as a sin. Now it may be more common as religion may not be as big a factor in people’s lives as it used to be. Also, people in the past believed in fate, this is one of the themes in this play as Romeo and Juliet were a pair of ‘star-crossed lovers’. Most people then thought that what ever was to happen was due to fate, and again fate may be considered less relevant to people’s lives today as they this aspect has changed over the many years through experience, modernisation and independence of people’s lives. Shakespeare has included problems and real life events in this play that would have related to people back then. This may be because of his own views on how marriage and love worked or perhaps to make the play dramatic and really draw the audience in as it may relate to them or seem absurd. Furthermore, you can see that as Romeo and Juliet’s love grows stronger, the hate grows as well as the tension, and ultimately this leads to the loss of many lives.
Overall, Act 1 Scene 5 is a vital scene in the play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as Shakespeare answers the questions of the audience from the prologue. He has entwined all the themes into this one scene, so that you can see the contrast and perhaps guess what is to happen. The play tries to make you feel shocked and emotional as it aims to try and make you see how Romeo and Juliet feel and how they want to be together. Shakespeare makes it so that the themes get stronger from the beginning to the end. Shakespeare did this to show that love can’t be where hatred exists; Romeo, Juliet and Paris die for love. Thus the young lovers’ lives must have been taken to show that they died due to their fathers’ hatred and need for family pride and status. Moreover, Shakespeare may have wanted to have this act as a warning; these things do happen and this is what hatred can lead to. He wants to put across the reality of life and show people what tragic things can happen and that maybe this would make them think twice as it may happen to them. All in all, the whole play could have been considered to be a metaphor – To show the futility of hatred and that it all leads to a tragic loss. Shakespeare’s plays often contain a moral that tries to teach the audience, the moral for this play may have been that there is a fine line between love and hate and that either can overrule each other and can cause a tragic loss as in this play the hatred is stronger.