We learn a great deal about Juliet’s relationship with her parents and the nurse in this scene. For example, we learn that Capulet and Lady Capulet, while they want the best for their daughter, they mainly want to make themselves look like good parents, for instance, Capulet is proud of himself when he arranges Juliet’s marriage to Paris - ‘To have her match’d’ (L179). Capulet is saying here that he has sought to arrange a marriage with Paris always and he is so pleased with himself that he has. Juliet also does not have a good relationship with her mother, due to the fact that Lady Capulet does not dare to stand up to Capulet - ‘Talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word.’ (L203). Juliet also thinks she has a good bond with her nurse but this is proved not to be as she also turns her back on her, and does not want tot be out of her job - ‘Marry, I will; this is wisely done’ (L233). Therefore she goes to the last person that she thinks she will get good comfort from, and one who is out of her family; Friar Laurence. This sums up how helpless she feels, and also that she feels she almost caged in the household.
The audience also learns a great deal about family life in the Elizabethan era, as the audience finds out that women have no influence on what goes on in the household, whereas the head of the house, the male, dictates everything that goes on and makes all the decisions that need to be made within the family life. We see that in Elizabethan times, people considered marriage as a lot less important than we do now and a way of making money and getting daughters off the fathers’ hands. Women were considered as property to be bought and sold and in this scene we see that Juliet’s is a common case and that most females of this age were forced into arranged marriages. However, most would not argue with the decision. An Elizabethan audience would have watched this scene and have been horrified at Juliet’s refusal, as this goes against the Elizabethan’s whole way of life. A modern audience, though, would have sympathised with Juliet because most, if not all, in the audience will have had a dispute with their parents and would have been bullied into going somewhere or doing something they really did not want to do. Overall, this is an important scene in the play because we see how Juliet makes her mind up and how strong her love is for Romeo - she will even go against her parents wishes to stop from marrying another. Also, we see how Juliet withstands the pressure of her ever contradictory father, but also how Capulet is always in control of the argument.
Act 3 Scene 5 L64 - end is very dramatic for a number of reasons. At the beginning of the extract, Lady Capulet enters into Juliet’s chamber and we see how she is calm and willing to talk to Juliet sanely, and explain the decision that Capulet made. Lady Capulet seem quite warm toward Juliet here as she asks politely how she is - ‘Why, how now Juliet?’ (L68). This shows that Lady Capulet cares for her daughter really, and that however she is then, she will make Juliet a lot happier when she has told her of her marriage to Paris. This is ironic because the audience knows that that is only going to make Juliet more mournful. On L83 when Juliet says ‘And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart’, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony at this point, as the audience understands that Juliet is weeping over Romeo being banished and that she cannot see a way which she can spend the rest of her life with Romeo, whereas Lady Capulet thinks that she means that she is weeping over him because he killed her cousin Tybalt, and she wants to avenge his death. Therefore, Lady Capulet says ‘I’ll send…dram’ (L88-90) which means she is going to find someone to poison Romeo and Juliet will be pleased with that result. Juliet, however, is horrified and therefore Shakespeare cleverly constructs her short speech (L93-102). This has many double meanings, so Juliet is not actually lying to Lady Capulet, but is making sure she misinterprets what she is saying, such as ‘With Romeo, till I behold him-dead-Is my poor heart’ (L94-5), for Lady Capulet thinks she is saying that she will never be satisfied until she ‘beholds him dead’, but Juliet is really saying ‘…dead is my poor heart’ - Juliet’s heart is dead because of him getting banished and killing Tybalt, as well as having one night of passion with her and running away, and this is ironic because the next time she does see him, her heart does die, for she stabs his dagger through it. Also, the lines ‘To wreak the love I bore my cousin Tybalt Upon his body that hath slaughter’d him.’ And Juliet means that she wants to be with Romeo to show him her love, but Lady Capulet assumes she is indicating that she wants to avenge herself on Romeo for Tybalt’s death. At this point, the atmosphere changes, as the audience is tense because the two women are talking about death and murder. Also, slaughter is a strong, emotive word, which conveys to the audience the severity of what Juliet is feeling. When Capulet enters, though, the mood has changed because Capulet would come in with a flourish, and the audience would either take this to mean that he was either angry or buoyant, therefore would wait in anticipation to see what is going to happen to Juliet for her refusal. There is conflict and tensions between Juliet and her parents because she does not want to marry Paris and goes against Capulet’s wishes. This, therefore, means it becomes a battle of willpower and who has the most resolve. For example, Juliet tries to explain and calm Capulet down when she realises she is in for a huge row - ‘Hear me with patience but to speak a word.’ But the ever-contradicting Capulet twist her words and uses them against her for his own advantage (L150-153). Also, one may interpret Capulet’s formal address to his lady (’Wife’ L164) that his marriage was arranged and therefore that he thinks that Juliet is being childish, as they have gone through it and there has been no harm done. In addition to this, he threatens Juliet to drag her ‘on a hurdle thither’ (L155) which conveys to the audience that he sees Juliet as a traitor if she goes against his wishes, as a renegade would be dragged on a hurdle, and this is a touch ironic, for Juliet is already a Judas since she has married a Montague, and has renounced the family’s hatred of them. In addition to this, it is also wry that he is saying she will be dragged to her place of hanging (as a traitor would) because she will die with her husband, Romeo, because she is fighting so hard not to now.
An Elizabethan theatrical performance of Romeo and Juliet would have been very different from a modern audience would have been very different from a modern performance for a number of reasons. Firstly, the stage would have been in-the-round, which means that the stage is circular and the audience sits all the way around the edge of the stage. At this time, the actors would have been all male because females were not allowed to act in plays and theatre. The audience would have been made up of mostly apprentices, who were quite poor, as well as the very poor, and, occasionally, royalty or the rich noblemen. They did not have lighting effects in this period because electricity was invented. However, in modern theatre productions of Romeo and Juliet, we are able to choose what kind of stage to perform on; fan proscenium stage; which is a rectangular stage with a funnel-like audience area and a orchestra pit in front of the stage, the fan proscenium-apron-caliper stage; a stage with a curved front and a curved audience area which is at the same proportion to the curve in the stage, the thrust stage; where the stage encroaches the audience and allows the spectators’ sector to enclose the acting portion of the theatre or the in-the-round stage; which the audience area is all around the stage. Also, we, nowadays, have the use of lighting effects, various sound effects and pyrotechnics. In a modern theatre performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, I think that I would stage it on a thrust stage so the actress playing the part of Juliet could walk almost right into the audience to speak her soliloquy at the end of Act 3 Scene 5, as this would show the intensity of the loneliness of Juliet. Also, I think that Keira Knightley should play the part of Juliet because she looks young and pretty which is the common interpretation of Juliet. She would wear a white, silky dressing gown because this would convey Juliet’s innocence, or pretend innocence, and possibly the act of pureness that she wants to show her parents. I have made these choices because I want to show the audience that Juliet thinks she has done nothing wrong and believes her choice was right, and her innocence is symbolised by the white of her costume.
One of the key moments in this scene is where Capulet says ‘Peace…not’ (L173-175). If I was directing the character of Capulet, I would have him stood up over the kneeling Nurse, to show the power and dominance of the head of the household. Also, I would use a red spotlight on Capulet to convey his rage at the Nurse’s defiance of his wishes and also his already present anger over Juliet’s blunt refusal. Capulet’s facial expression would be distorted, with his brow furrowed and lips pursed. When he speaks the lines, he should put stress on ‘Peace’ as he is silencing the Nurse straight away, but the rest of the line should be said loudly but not quite shouting, and never louder than the first word. He should try and make eye-contact with the Nurse via a glowering look. In addition to this, Capulet should lean slightly over the Nurse to put added pressure on her, as well as pointing a finger at the Nurse when he says ‘mumbling fool’, as then it emphasises exactly what his feelings are. Another key moment is when Lady Capulet is with Juliet and the Nurse, and she says ‘Talk…thee’ (L203-204). The lighting I would use is a pale blue with no spotlights to show the coldness of Lady Capulet, but I would have all the ladies stood up , but Lady Capulet walking toward the door and away from Juliet and the Nurse. This is because Lady Capulet refuses to have anything to do with the two women due to the fact that she dares not to disobey her husband. Juliet, therefore, should try to make eye contact with her as she is seeking help from her. Just before she starts to turn her back on Juliet should shoot a look of disgust at Juliet. As she says her line, she should stand straighter and more upright to show the contrast from her to the broken figure of Juliet. As she says her line she should say it all flatly, as if she is measuring the words up before she says them. Her tone should be cold, rejecting her daughter utterly.
In conclusion, it can be seen that this is an important scene in the play as a whole because this is when Juliet starts thinking about suicide and also how she can get out of her situation. Also, the plot thickens, as Paris gets heavily involved in the play and Juliet longs for Romeo who is banished but still the main character in the play. An Elizabethan audience would have felt scorn during this part of the play because they would have felt that Juliet was wrong and would have laughed at her self-realisation, whereas a modern audience will feel empathy when they see this scene because they can see where Juliet is coming from and feel the pain she is feeling due to the fact that we all have had disagreement with our parents and know how it feels to resist and fail. To make this scene very dramatic, the actor play Juliet must put themselves in Juliet’s shoes and put their own personal feelings into the script, and the audience will become even more involved if the feelings of the actor are true and real.
