Explain the dramatic significance of act 1 scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet. Essay Example

Explain the dramatic significance of act 1 scene 5 of  Romeo and Juliet.   Essay This scene is very important to the whole play of Romeo and Juliet. Mainly because its where Romeo and Juliet first meet and fall in love, we also see tybalts anger which shows us the obstacles that will become a problem in Romeo and Juliets relationship. In a usual Shakespeare tragedy the main character that is noble of birth has a flow, which brings about their downfalls and death of others. Romeo and Juliet kind of fits in to this, Romeos fault is that he rushes in to things too fast but I dont believe this is the cause of Romeo and Juliets death. I believe other people are responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet. For example the families of Romeo and Juliet could be both to blame, they should have ended the feud to set a good example to the younger members of the family, if the couple didnt have to hide there relationship there deaths may have been prevented because they wouldnt have had to go to such extreme measures. Some people may blame Mercutio for he left a curse on the both the families as he died. Friar Laurence could also have been to blame for the death, because he didnt get the message to Romeo quick enough about Juliet not actually been dead. 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This is when a young man falls in love with an older women of higher social class, who is usually married, but as the young man displays his love for her she pushes him away, but this only inflames the love he has for her, this love he has for her only causes him pain and sadness, he makes up verses about this love and the more she pushes him away the more he tries to show her that he is the man for her, he tries to make himself more worthy of the lady, also he can neither eat or sleep for thinking of her. This is what we of Romeo previous to act 1 scene 5, he is in love with Rosaline. We dont actually see Rosaline on stage, she is just a dramatic device to show that the love he has for Juliet is true unlike the love he had for Rosaline that was a false love that only caused him grief and pain. We see the suff ering and sadness that Rosalines love is causing him by the way he describes it. For example he says love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs, this is a metaphor love is suppose to be a happy thing, but smoke is not a way it would normally be described, for the reason that smoke is a negative thing, smoke chokes and kills people, all smoke is caused by fire and fire burns, so what he is in fact saying is that Rosaline is burning his heart. In act 1 scene 5 we see Romeo noticing Juliet and instantly falling in love with her. We can now see that the love he is feeling for Juliet is different to what he felt for Rosaline, it makes him happy and he describes her positively unlike how he described Rosaline. He says, She doth teach the torches to burn brightly to describe Juliet, meaning she stands out from the crowd as she is better that everyone else. We also see Romeo question love he says, did my heart not love till now? suggesting his love for Rosaline was not pure or true, but his love for Juliet is. We dont really hear that much from Juliet previous to act 1 scene 5. We first see her when she is getting ready for the masked party, were she is going to meet Paris the man she has been arranged to marry. We see Juliet doesnt have a particularly good relationship with her mother who always seems to be rushing about. The closest person to Juliet seems to be her nurse, who looks after her. Juliet shows before the masked ball she is ambivalent to meet and marry Paris, shes not too keen on the idea. In act 1 scene 5 we see Juliet and Romeo first meet and both immediately fall in love with each other. Shakespeare uses religious imagery such as holy shrine and good pilgrim, they then share there first kiss, Juliet then invites him to kiss her again by saying then have my lips the sin that they have took, this is going against all the courtly love rules which Romeo had with Rosaline. Since Juliet is younger than Romeo and she invites him instead of giving him the cold shoulder, this shows how strong their love is because they are going against the traditions of society at the time. Later on in this scene they realise they are both from the different feuding families. Juliet finding out Romeo is a Montague does not affect their love and she still wants him, she says to her nurse go ask his name. If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed. This is very ironic because she does die soon after she is married; however even though they are family enemies there love is too pure and strong to be apart. Previous to act 1 scene 5 we see Tybalt in a street brawl between the Capulets and the Montagues, he is a member of the Capulet family cousin to Juliet, and he hates the word peace, and wants to continue the feud. In act 1 scene 5, he wants to start trouble because he feels Romeo is intruding in his home and making a mockery of his family. Tis he, that villain Romeo Tybalt says to his uncle which he then argues with as Tybalt wants to cause trouble at the party but lord Capulet wouldnt let him. As lord Capulet wont have any trouble at the party Tybalt then plans his revenge on Romeo, so Shakespeare makes us realise that Tybalt is very angry and does not like to be made a fool of. This section in the play is very significant to the next scene were Romeo and Juliet meet because it shows us the obstacles which will come between their love and he prepares us for the next scene where Tybalt kills Mercutio and then Tybalt is killed by Romeo creating more problems in their relationship. Shakespeares imagery is very important in his theatre because it was hard to show things on stage because they didnt have technology like we do today, they had no lights, curtains, or effect, plus all the characters were played by men, so instead of doing or showing certain stuff they had to say it. When Romeo first sees Juliet the words he uses are romantic and passionate, for example he says, she doth teach the torches to burn bright, meaning she stands out from the crowd and she is better than everybody else, whereas when he describes Rosaline its not very happy thoughts its all dark, dull and miserable and it seems as if it is causing him pain, we see this in act 1 scene 1. When Romeo and Juliet first meet Shakespeare uses religious imagery such as good pilgrim, I think this is to show that there love is new, fresh, and pure. I think Shakespeare wrote in sonnet form, for their first meeting, because love poetry is sometimes written in sonnet form and this scene is romantic, Sha kespeare wanted the audience to catch the mood and emotions. When Romeo and Juliet first find out they are from feuding families Juliet says too early seen unknown and know too late. This is giving the effect that even though they are from feuding families there love is already too strong and is unbreakable. Shakespeare use lots of different mood in this scene to make it full and exciting but to also keep the reader interested, he uses various emotions such as anger, which with see from Tybalt, love, and excitement from Romeo and Juliet. Zefferelli and Luhrman have different interpretations of this scene. Personally I prefer Luhmans because it is more modern and humorous, for example when Mercutio is sing and dancing, I also think it is more romantic the way they first see each other through the fish tank it is already a barrier between them, also it is straight forward what is going on as I think Zefferelli drags on. Luhrman also shows us how strong the love is already and how they dont want to be apart and they break the rules, we can see all this by the passion shown between Romeo and Juliet, unlike Zefferelli who just shows an innocent kiss. If I was to stage this scene, I would set it in a garden I would have all the men dress in black suits and the ladies in beautiful brightly coloured dresses, I would then have Romeo in a white suit and Juliet in a stunning white gown so we could see them clearly. I would first have Romeo and Juliet see each other as she is stood on a bridge over a lake in the garden peering in to the water and Romeo stood on the grass opposite doing the same they would then see each others reflection in the water and fall in love. Before they meet I would have them chasing each other round the garden through the plants and the trees until they caught each other. This scene is important to the whole, play because it is were Romeo and Juliet first meet and fall in love, then find out they are from enemy families and we see the obstacles that are going to be between them and what they will have to overcome to be together. Shakespeare makes is very obvious that the love is going to end in tragedy by the fact he shows us the obstacles for example, Tybalt wanting to take revenge on Romeo for been at the party. Also he starts the fight with a play so at some point we know there will be a broken heart. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare most popular plays, I believe it does have relevance on todays society, today we see many arranged marriages, mixed race marriages, sometimes causing great distress to the individuals concerned. The 21st century children growing up in a muti race society find it easy to stray from the traditions set down by there families leading to distress for both the young people and there parents. Poverty and deprivation within the inner cities sometimes leads to gang like cultures, which could create the same scenario as Shakespeares plot. The musical west side story brings Shakespeare play set to music back alive, with scene set in America in the 1950s. Shakespeare love and tragedy story brought to life again in the two rival gangs the sharks and the jets ending in tragedy for 2 young lovers.