Prose is not only spoken by characters of a lower class, but also by higher status characters, such as Capulet, while saying his welcoming speech,
Welcome, gentlemen! Ladies that have their toes
Unplagued with corns will walk a bout with you.
Ah, my mistresses, which of you all/ Will now deny to dance? (I.v.15-18)
The exclamation mark he uses at the beginning of his speech and also the fact that he speaks in prose shows that Capulet is in a very good mood. His discussion with Cousin Capulet tells us that he is into his middle age. Also, in this part, he speaks in verse, this shows he is a high-status character. From my point of view, I think that their discussion was not only to tell us their age, and that they had not had a party in a long time, but also to make the audience’s curiosity last a bit longer, with what will happen with Juliet and Paris, and what is going to happen with Romeo, gatecrashing Capulet’s party.
Romeo’s first words at the party are about Juliet. The audience doesn’t need to know what he feels, to know that he is infatuated by her, although they soon learn it because of his soliloquy. His soliloquy clearly shows that Romeo has forgotten about Rosaline. It also allows the audience to feel more into the play, as Romeo’s words convey all the love he feels for her to the audience. During the earlier scenes in the play, the audience learns that Romeo is a very romantic character. This point of view is only strengthened, when he talks about Juliet. Later on in the play, he even admits to Friar Lawrence that he forgot about Rosaline when he saw Juliet, which emphasizes his character again.
With Rosaline, my ghostly father? no; / I have forgot that name, and that name’s woe.
(II.iii.45-46)
When he is talking about Juliet, Romeo uses hyperbole and Metaphors. Juliet cannot literally “teach the torches to burn bright!” (I.v.43) nor is she a “bright angel” (II.ii.26), this reflects again his romantic nature. At this point of the scene, I think the audience is even more curious as they will wonder if Juliet is going to choose Paris or Romeo. At the same time, they are happy for Romeo to see he is in such a romantic mood.
This is the moment when the play takes a turning point. The audience has only seen Tybalt once until now. They know that he is an aggressive character who hates peace, “all Montagues, and thee.” (I.i.61). Tybalt’s entrance, gives a worrying atmosphere, as the last time we saw him, he caused even more fighting among the people.
Tybalt’s lines contrast intensely after Romeo’s poetry. He is malicious and uses a lot of words such as “slave”, “foe”, and “villain” which shows his disdain for the Montagues, in particular Romeo. He is scandalized by the fact that Romeo dared gatecrash at Capulet’s party. This causes tension on the audience, and as a result, worry on Romeo’s fate, and on what will happen between him and Tybalt. When Capulet interferes, he is still in a very good mood, seeing how well his party his going. This releases a bit of the tension on the audience. However, later on, Capulet changes a lot. His attitude contrasts a lot with his character earlier in the scene. He is aggressive and shocked that Tybalt shows him such disrespect. This was important at that time as they were in a patriarchal society. Everyone had to obey the head of the household. The mood then becomes angry and worrying. This tells us a little bit more about Capulet, that he is aggressive yet an authority figure. We see this later on in the play when Juliet refuses to marry Paris, and he calls her a “green-sickness carrion”, “tallow-face” and “hilding” (III.v.156-168). Tybalt’s last words leave the audience feeling tense. He shows he is not going to leave Romeo alone, not before he has his revenge.
I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall, / Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall.
(I.v.90-91)
As a result of this conversation, Tybalt goes to talk to Romeo, but falls on his best friend, Mercutio. This leads to Mercutio’s death, and in the end Romeo’s banishment after having killed Tybalt for killing Mercutio. Of course, the audience does not know all this, but they know something will happen, and they want to know what.
It was very uncommon at that time to hold the hand or kiss the person that they liked, if they had not been wooed before. Juliet and Romeo’s first meeting happens without courtly love, and Shakespeare writes this meeting as a sonnet. Sonnets are poems of fourteen lines, and have a specific pattern. The first twelve lines rhyme alternately and the last two lines are a rhyming couplet. This type of poetry was a popular verse form in Elizabethan England. Also, sonnets are usually written as love poems. The way that they finish each other’s sentence, using the same type of imagery, shows that they are really attracted by each other. Both use this religious imagery, Romeo as the Pilgrim and Juliet as the saint, using words like, “holy shrine”, “sin”, etc. Also, the reason why Romeo uses this type of imagery is because they were very religious at that time. We know that it was love at first sight for Romeo, but we do not know if it was for Juliet. At first, Juliet is flattered but makes the conversation last longer as he is just a stranger. At last she let’s Romeo kiss her. This religious imagery and the sonnet show the audience that they are in love. I think that it is love at first sight for both of them, and that Juliet does not want to speed things up, so she can see if it is love at first sight for him as well. Romeo, however, does not seem to think that there is a possibility that Juliet is not the love for him.
In all, this part of the scene changes from Tybalt and Capulet’s argument. The mood has gone from angry to romantic again. This lets the audience release the tension they have from Tybalt’s last worrying words and to focus on this passionate moment. The audience does not think that this will lead them to their miserable death.
The intervention of the nurse cuts this romantic atmosphere and it looks like the nurse is stopping Romeo and Juliet from starting a new sonnet. This emphasizes the fact that they seem completely unaware of what is happening around them, where nothing else matters than each other. However, when Romeo learns that Juliet is a Capulet, he is shocked, and at the same time terrified because he doesn’t know what to do and where all this will lead to. He also uses this imagery that he owes everything to his enemy for his love with Juliet. I think that this imagery referring to money is linked with the fact that marrying for money was more common than for love, because it sounds as if he had to pay the Capulets by giving them all he has for Juliet’s love, although he does not know that Juliet was meant to be with Paris, not Romeo, “my life is my foe’s debt” (I.v.116). As a result of this, the audience feels sorry for Romeo because this contrasts sharply with the sonnet they have said just before.
So far, Romeo doesn’t know that Tybalt and Capulet know he is there. When Capulet stops them, thinking it’s not too late, the audience stops to think about Romeo’s misery and starts to be anxious. They do not know if Capulet is going to do something about Romeo now, or if he will let them pass through. It is a moment of suspense. Capulet however, acts as if they were Capulets too, and this is when the audience relaxes a little. Capulet’s speech also tells us that it “waxes late” (I.v.125), is also tells us that Capulet is back to a happy mood. This is important, especially to an Elizabethan audience. The reason for this is because at that time, they played in outdoor theatres, so it was important for Shakespeare to include in the speeches what time of the day it was, so the audience could follow the play more easily.
I think this scene is one of the most important scenes of the play, because it is the main base of all the events following later on. For example, the meeting of the two lovers or the argument between Tybalt and Capulet, leading to fighting and death. The Structure of the scene is done in a way that makes the audience try and take everything at the same time. This change from good mood, to bad mood, to good mood again, gets the audience more into the play and will always end up with tension, and us wanting to know what will happen next, as a result of each part of that scene, giving out different moods and feelings.
At the end of the scene, only Juliet and the nurse are onstage. I think it is because Shakespeare wanted us to focus on this dramatic moment. When Juliet learns Romeo is a Montague. However, Juliet does not ask directly who Romeo is, she asks the nurse indirectly by asking the name of other characters. She does not want to make it obvious that she likes Romeo. In addition to this, I think it is also done for the audience to endure a little bit more of suspense on how Juliet is going to react, when she learns Romeo is a Montague. When she learns he is a Montague, she is dumbfounded. At this moment, Shakespeare uses a lot of antitheses, such as “love” and “hate”, “early” and “late”, and “unknown” and “known” (I.v.137-138). After Juliet realized that the nurse was listening, she said it was “a rhyme I learnt even now/ Of one I danced withal” (I.v.143-143), because she doesn’t want anyone to know about her relationship with Romeo, as it could lead to even worse events.
I think the nurse heard what Juliet said. When the nurse says “the strangers are all gone” (I.v.146), It also sounds as if she is saying that the strangers were gone and hopes that Juliet would be with Romeo in peace. This is effective for the audience because they feel sorry that this love story is going so wrong. They know that Juliet doesn’t want to tell anyone yet, in case things go wrong, and they want to know what is going to happen. They are also a bit suspicious on the nurse’s last words, trying to know If she heard Juliet or not.
Overall, Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet is indeed, an effective piece of drama. It leaves the audience with suspense, increasing during each part of the scene, as the play goes along. The dramatic device affecting the audience the most is the setting in which the scene is structured. Shakespeare structured the scene in way to make the audience, try to catch all the things being said at the same time, and end up stressed with an event, and happy for another, all at once. Also, Shakespeare’s use of language affects the audience’s view of the characters, that they are aggressive or romantic. It also tells us a lot about the characters too, and the way they act towards other characters, causing the audience to be more worried about certain characters than others. At the end of the scene, the audience finishes wanting to know what will happen next with Romeo and Tybalt, what Tybalt is going to do to take his revenge, if Capulet will learn about Romeo and Juliet, and how he will react and what will happen to Paris. But overall, the most important question will be about Juliet and Romeo, how will their love story end?
