| rdfs:comment | - ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tale about two individuals who fall in love at a party. The major idea of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is how love and hate are linked. The Montagues and the Capulets are opposing, rival families, who have a long-standing feud. It is only when Romeo and Juliet die that they realise that their feud was futile and that they could have lived side by side in ‘fair’ Verona. Over 400 years after the play was written, 31 films and musical adaptations have been made which makes Shakespeare’s play popular even today. At the moment in time we enter the scene, in Act 1, Scene 5, Romeo is in love with Roseline (who we never meet) and Juliet is about to meet her husband-to-be.
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| abstract | - ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tale about two individuals who fall in love at a party. The major idea of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is how love and hate are linked. The Montagues and the Capulets are opposing, rival families, who have a long-standing feud. It is only when Romeo and Juliet die that they realise that their feud was futile and that they could have lived side by side in ‘fair’ Verona. Over 400 years after the play was written, 31 films and musical adaptations have been made which makes Shakespeare’s play popular even today. At the moment in time we enter the scene, in Act 1, Scene 5, Romeo is in love with Roseline (who we never meet) and Juliet is about to meet her husband-to-be. At the beginning of Act 1, Scene 5, the servants are clearing away the tables at the party. Capulet enters the room and makes a speech. Capulet could be wearing bright, colourful clothes and the servants could probably be wearing greasy aprons and kitchen clothes. This visual contrast would be dramatically effective, as it would help to characterise and show the audience the difference in social class. When the servants rush around, the atmosphere is frantic, tense and busy, but when Capulet enters, the atmosphere flips to the other extreme, of order and excitement in the air because the dancing is about to begin. The servants use bawdy language to create humour. For example, the servants say: ‘...bring in Susan Grindstone and Nell’ who were common prostitutes at the time. During the dancing, Romeo starts talking to a servant about Juliet (who he doesn’t know yet). His speech is completely different from Capulet’s as he uses rhyming couplets. For example: Capulet’s sentences when he first enters ends with: [toes – you], [all – dainty] etc. Romeo’s sentences end with: [bright – night], [ear – dear] etc. The rhyming couplets make the text sound beautiful and flowing. When Tybalt spots Romeo, he has an argument with Capulet (Tybalt’s uncle); his language shows that there is a lot of hate between the Montagues and the Capulets. For example: Tybalt says: “This by his voice, it fits, when such a villain is a guest: I’ll not endure him!” This is reflected by the brutal fights between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s servants. His speech compared to Romeo’s is as different as Capulet’s speech was. He again doesn’t use rhyming couplets except in the last two sentences of each paragraph. Capulet’s reaction to Tybalt’s outburst is outstanding. He tells Tybalt off and condemns him for the rest of the day. The dramatic effect of Romeo and Juliet meeting is quite significant because as soon as they meet, they fall in love. Juliet finds out that her ‘only love is her only enemy’. The nurse finds out about Romeo and Juliet but keeps it a secret from Juliet’s mother. Romeo thinks that Juliet’s beauty is ‘too rich for use’ and that to kiss her would be a sin.
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