Act 1 Scene 5 is a key scene in the play Romeo & Juliet due to the events that happen in it. This is where Romeo & Juliet first meet and fall in love with one another, a love that is not allowed given the antagonisms that exist between their families. Romeo’s friend Bonvolio had made his plan work. He planned to get Romeo to experience “other beauties,” or compare other women to his beloved Rosaline. This is also where the feud starts with Romeo and Tybalt because Tybalt is a Capulet and Romeo is a Montague. Tybalt is even angrier when he hears Romeo’s voice at his uncle Lord Capulets party because no Montagues are allowed. “This by his voice, should be a Montague, Fetch me my rapier”. The motivations that happen in the play show that the characters are doomed from the beginning because the forces greater than themselves. The forces include a long-running feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, something from which these lovers cannot escape no matter how hard they try.
This scene has a great affect on all the other scenes in the play therefore I will be looking at how it is important. I will also be looking at how Shakespeare creates tension and interest for the audience.
Act 1 Scene 5 comes at the end of the first act; this is because the audience are fully aware of the characters and their backgrounds. In this scene everyone and everything has been introduced to the audience and this tells us what will happen in the rest of the play. This scene also has dramatic irony because the audience knows more than the characters.
In Romeo and Juliet the servants have to run round setting up the stage to start the next scene. “We cannot be here and there too.” This is because Romeo & Juliet was written in 1595 and was set in the Globe theatre. There was not many props and equipment in Shakespeare’s day like there are today due to the fact that they never had much money. At the start of the scene the mood is happy, cheerful and tense. Lord Capulet is in a happy mood at the start of the scene because he is trying to marry his only daughter Juliet and his party is going well. He is happy and polite to his guests at the party talking in a poetic verse to show his importance. “Welcome, gentlemen!”
In lines 53-91 there is a dramatic change in mood compared to the peaceful mood the audience previously see. The audiences tension and excitement is increased when Tybalt over hears Romeo talking. “This by his voice, should be a Montague”. He fills up with rage and shouts “Fetch me my rapier”. With this the audience are sitting on the edge of their seats. Romeo’s arrival changes the atmosphere and the audience are aware that it becomes tenser this is because the audience knows that Montagues aren’t welcome at a Capulets party.
The scene is also romantic because this is the first time Romeo sets his eyes on Juliet and falls in love with her. “For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” Tybalt hears his voice and becomes angry “Now by the stock and honour of my kin to strike him dead I do not sin.” He goes and tells Lord Capulet that Romeo is here at his party. ” Tis he, that that villain Romeo.” Lord Capulet is annoyed at him because he doesn’t want anything to happen to his guests. Lord Capulet tries to calm Tybalt down, he tells Tybalt “To say truth, Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well govern’d youth.” Tybalt becomes even more enraged; “I’ll not endure him,” with this Lord Capulet’s attitude and manner suddenly changes towards Tybalt. “He shall be endur’d.” With this Tybalt storms out of the room leaving the audience in suspense.
When Romeo & Juliet first meet this is vitally important in the rest of the play because if they didn’t meet then the rest of the play wouldn’t have happened. Romeo is very dazzled by Juliet and knows it is love at first sight. He expresses his inner feelings in a soliloquy which is controlled by his devotion and admiration for Juliet. “O she doth teach the torches to burn bright?” Shakespeare then uses a sonnet form with rhyming couplets to emphasise the love and romantic nature of the scene. “So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows as yonder lady o’er her fellow shows” When Romeo and Juliet speak to each other the speech forms a sonnet; this is the 14 line poem which has alternate rhyme and ends in a rhyming couplet and this shows us the way they feel about each other. “Did my heart love till now?”. They start to talk about kissing. “My lips two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss”. The audience knows that this is going to lead to something and know that they are about to share a kiss, which they do. “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand to much.” This shows religious images and also shows how deep and pure their love is. Romeo is in a world of his own, enraptured by the stunning beauty of Juliet. This creates a romantic but also dangerous mood in the scene as the audience watch with anticipation and ask ‘will they be caught?’
At the end of the scene, Shakespeare uses hints to make the audience think about future events in the play. Here Romeo and Juliet find out who the other actually is. After they exchange their love Juliet asks the nurse whom Romeo is, the nurse replies, “His name is Romeo, and a Montague the only son of your great enemy.” Juliet is so upset and shocked by this and says in confidence to the nurse, “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy”.
Romeo also finds this out and is very upset too. “Is she a Capulet?” This also creates a painful and upsetting atmosphere not only to the characters but also the audience. “O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt”. Romeo and Juliet talk about their lives being in each other’s hands; this reflects dramatic irony by showing what actually happens to them at the end of the play because they both die for each other’s love. Swept away by the great passion of first love, their attempt to alter their family heritage and to unite in marriage causes their tragic deaths. “Go ask his name. If he be married, my grave is likely to be my wedding bed”.
Romeo and Juliet are already keeping their love a secret and when she lies to the Nurse, the only person she trusts this shows the audience that they don’t really care about anyone but themselves as they are in love and this sets the tone for their relationship. “My only love sprung from my only hate.” This is because she has fallen in love with the boy of her dreams. She now knows that he is a Montague and knows her family won’t accept their love for one another.
At the end of the scene I think that the audience become more anxious as they want to know what else happens in the scenes to come. If they did a play for a modern audience I think that it will work as it did in Shakespeare time because everyone enjoys love stories and they will have more equipment and props so the play will become more realistic.
This scene is very important to the play because without it lots of other events wouldn’t take place. This scene also has dramatic irony because the audience knows more than the characters as the audience are fully involved in the play. I like this scene in the play because I like the way Romeo and Juliet first meet and fall in love, I also like the way Shakespeare’s language is used to create characters, to add emotion and express meanings in the scene.
