Discuss the ways in which William Shakespeare creates and maintains dramatic tension in act 3 scenes 1 of Romeo and Juliet.
‘Two star struck lovers’, inhabitants of the city of Verona. The only major set back is that Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is from the rival/socially equal family, the Capulets. They both manage to become a couple behind their families’ backs but, after five days, Juliet goes to Friar Lawrence and gets a substance which makes her seem dead. She drinks it and sure enough, she gets placed in the family tomb. This is where Romeo finds out and comes to the tomb to see her and if the rumour is true. It seems to be. He breaks down and kills himself, distraught after seeing his beloved wife ‘dead’. This is when Juliet comes round and does the same. After hearing of their offspring’s deaths the two families who were at first full with hatred reconcile over their children’s deaths and erect two golden statues in their memory.
This romantic, many-layered play explores a wide variety of fascinating and apparently antipathetic themes. They are: the uncontrollable love, lust and strained marriage of Romeo and Juliet in their hometown of Verona and the town of Romeos exile (Manta). This leads into the theme of hate between the Montague family and their servants (Romeo and later Juliet too) and the Capulet family and their servants (Originally Juliet as well). They join in conflict over the simple fact of a family name, which is in a way immature.
Coincidences write about these themes in detail
Power and status
Death and suicide
Parent and child relationships
Surrogate mothers–>Nurse for Juliet and Friar Lawrence for Romeo
Teenage rebels
Love at first sight really doesn’t exist because you have to either know the person or get talking to them. In other words, and I quote:
‘In life it is those who act correctly who carry off the rewards’
So in theory, what I think Romeo and Juliet is about is rebellious lust. The quote that I used means that you have to act to make your own consequences and fate.
Romeo and Juliet was William Shakespeare’s first tragedy, which also had a romantic theme. It was written in 1574 and was performed by Lord Chamberlain’s Company. It was popular because it fitted in with the height of the times; when poets were writing love sonnets in the 1500’s. It was based on a poem by Arthur Brooke (who based the poem on another story).
The plot is also a good story to make the play popular because it has masses of conflict between two households (the Capulets and the Montagues) but also the contrast of Romeo falling in love with Juliet, as they are part of the feud; but Juliet is a Capulet (Montague by marriage) and Romeo, a Montague.
There can be some phenomenal suspense where the fight scenes occur or the marriage of Romeo to Juliet or even when Juliet wakes up in the Capulet family tomb and finds Romeo lying dead on the floor. This part is full of suspense because the Prince’s voice comes floating into the tomb.
In contrast to the suspense, Mercutio was created by Shakespeare to provide the comic relief by making him crack rude jokes or wittily using words with double meanings. He most often insults people especially Tybalt and the Capulets, while Tybalt is more bloodthirsty. These characters are practically the total antithesis of each other. Also Mercutio could be named after the word ‘mercurial’, which means changes instantly. I think that Shakespeare gives him this name because when Mercutio makes fun out of people, he is very cool-tempered but if one of his friends is insulted; he has none of it and simply changes!
Shakespeare sets up conflict between how the audience feel and what they know by starting the play with the prologue:
“From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes;
Pair of star crossed lovers loses their life.”
This prepares the audience for what lies ahead, and also prepares them for how the plot unfolds, the above quote has a very vital meaning Directly explain the meaning of the above lines, commenting too on the dramatic words, fatal – foes – lose their life This is dramatic tension and irony by making you find out that Romeo and Juliet die at the end at the end of the play. This keeps the audience involved in the action because they’re in a state of mind to see how the star-crossed lovers die. This immediately creates dramatic tension to set the scenes that lie ahead.
