The scene starts off with the serving-men preparing for the party. This section has no great importance, although it does help to set the mood. It shows that everyone is really excited about the party, even the servants, who probably wouldn’t even be able to go out into the party. The servants are all preparing for the party and somebody – Potpan is late. They are rushing because they know that nothing can go wrong. They themselves are even excited, even though it is not their party.
This shows that the party must be a very important one.
The serving-men all have strange names, this is because the houses they were serving would call them by the jobs that they did.
I think that having the serving-men at the beginning of the scene is good, as just starting the scene with Capulet would not have made the mood seem as exciting.
When Capulet comes in to welcome the guests, he is very jolly. He speaks very fast, and seems to babble on a bit. I think that this is effective because, when someone is excited, they talk a lot. In this scene, Capulet is feeling very generous, proud, and jolly. He also, I think feels a bit tipsy, flirty and welcoming. Capulet is very proud of his party, and wants to impress all of his guests, and give them a good time. The last thing that he would want is any trouble at all.
Capulet goes back to when he was younger, and chats to another Capulet about the ‘good old days’. He reminisces in the classic way of saying – “What, man! ’tis not so much, ’tis not so much!”
Or in other words, he cant believe how long ago it was that they danced together. He is not totally jolly all the way through it though, as he does start to feel a bit sad about him getting old. Now he is older, and married, he can’t wear a mask, and he certainly can’t whisper into ‘fair ladies ears’. He says
“I have seen the day that I have worn a visor, and could tell a whispering tale in a fair lady’s ear.”
In this quote, he is beginning to feel a little sad. He cant get away with being a bit mischievous, and getting away with things that he shouldn’t really do. When he was younger, he could get away with it because he had a mask on, but now he is married. To imprint this, Shakespeare repeats Capulet’s words in this quote: “’tis gone, ’tis gone, ’tis gone.”
Tybalt and Capulet talk. When Tybalt first sees Romeo at their Capulet party, he is really angry and goes to Lord Capulet to complain, and try to get Romeo kicked out. Lord Capulet is feeling very jolly, and tells Tybalt harshly to put up with him. Lord Capulet is the host of the party, and is very proud of it. He was obviously, by his words very proud of the party and so when Tybalt came to him wanting to cause trouble over Romeo being at the party he could see that it would cause a scene. Lord Capulet’s mood changed a lot when he was talking to Tybalt, he changed from being very happy and jolly, to being very stern and showing he was in charge. I think, that if Lord Capulet had known that Romeo was going to seduce Juliet, then he would have felt a lot different about him being at the party. However, he wanted absolutely no trouble, and as he told Tybalt, Romeo had a good reputation.
The next section of the scene is when Romeo and Juliet see each other.
In this section, Romeo says how he then realised that he actually never loved Rosaline, and never really knew about love.
He realises that he had misjudged what love was like, because before he saw Juliet, he thought that love was not a nice emotion to feel. He was depressed when he ‘loved’ Rosaline, because he desperately wanted something he couldn’t have. He also realised that the thought of Rosaline and him together was just like a crush and could never happen.
Because his whole life had been revolving around the thought of Rosaline for the past months, it makes you realise that the feelings between Juliet and Romeo must be strong for Romeo to totally stop wanting Rosaline so suddenly.
When Romeo was feeling depressed about Rosaline, Benvolio was trying to cheer him up. Benvolio tried to make Romeo fancy other women, he said ‘I will make you think thy swan of crow’ when Romeo describes Juliet, he says ‘So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows’. Here, Romeo is echoing Benvolio’s words, which helps to show that he is not depressed about Rosaline any more, and isn’t going to mope around and shut himself away.
When Romeo and Juliet talk to the nurse (separately), they both find out that each other are members of the opposite house to them.
Romeo says to the Nurse “What is her mother?” This signifies that Juliet’s mother has a high position, which she does, because she is Lady Capulet. The nurse answers Romeo’s question by saying:
“Her mother is the lady of the house,
And a good lady, and a wise and virtuous…”
This shows that she is respected. Also, the Nurse says that the man to marry Juliet will be very rich. I think that the way Juliet exclaims when she finds out who Romeo is, is really good at showing how she feels, she says:
“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 loath�d enemy”
This is quite easy to understand; Juliet is expressing her feelings about Romeo, and finding out that he is a Montague. The best part of this, I think is the bit where she says -My only love sprung from my only hate-. This explains well how she feels, and basically means that the only man she has true feelings for is part of the only family who all of her family truly hate.
When Juliet asks the nurse who Romeo is, or what Romeo is, the nurse doesn’t tell her this is because she wanted to protect her, and didn’t want her to be upset.
When Romeo and Juliet talk with the nurse, it shows their feelings at the sudden disappointment as soon as they find out. It is important, as you know their feelings when they first met, now you know their feelings when they first find out, and you can also see how their feelings progress through the story, knowing that they are from two households who’s lives revolve around hating the other family.
