How does Shakespeare make Romeo and Juliet dramatically interesting for the audience Example For Students

How does Shakespeare make Romeo and Juliet dramatically interesting for the audience? Romeo and Juliet is a play which can be described and perceived in many ways but the plot and the core of the story has the ingredients of a tragedy. A tragedy in the sense that even though the play revolves around love, in the end, hate prevails. Shakespeare manages to create drama throughout the play with many other factors such as, anger, romance, excitement, comedy and tension. Of course, I am only analysing the scenes in Act 1, but even so, there is drama in abundance for the audience to be enthralled. The prologue sets the story up perfectly summarising what the play is about and even how long it is, whilst the scenes which follow, all have different focal points such as the drama of scene one, the comedy of scene three and the love and romance of scene five. All of these scenes are dramatically interesting for the audience, through use of language, emphasis on the ancient grudge and many other aspects. The prologue is at the beginning of the play and gives the audience the details of the plot, and reveals that there is going to be a tragic ending. The prologue is a sonnet. A sonnet is used for various reasons. It may set the scene for a film as it can usually help people to understand the storyline better. It also rhymes which gives a poetic aspect. The prologue lets us know that not only will the play be a story of love but it will also feature an essence of hate. At the beginning of the prologue, it sets the scene, it tells us In fair Verona where we lay our scene. It then briefly describes the two families the Capulets and the Montagues. It lets us know that the families are enemies by saying Two households both alike in dignity .. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny. This is telling the audience that both of the families are similar in a way, in the sense that they are well respected with high standards, but yet, an old grudge between them causes bad feelings. An old disagreement between the families will soon turn to a new conflict. The prologue then goes on to say Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean, from forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life. By saying this, it is telling the audience that from two civil families, who are enemies to one another; two children were born. These two children were lovers that were destined to be together but were led to take their lives. So already, the audience knows that there is going to be a death in the play. The death of these lovers forces the families to end the feud. It informs the audience of the general outline of the play foreshadowing future events and tells of a fearful passage, which shows the dangerous journey Romeo and Juliet travel on throughout the play. Summarising the entire play is useful as many members of the audience may be poorly educated and this would enable them to understand the storyline better. There are also many oxymorons used such as death-marked love, fatal loins, and star-crossed lovers, w hich intertwine the contrasting themes. This intertwining helps to build up tension and express how the pivotal themes contrast. The oxymoron also helps to tell the audience that the storyline will not be predictable. Conclusively, the prologue helps in getting the audience to understand the background story of the play and prepares them for the tragedy to come. Act 1 Scene 1 begins with two servents of the Capulet household, Sampson and Gregory. The two men are discussing work. Shakespeare adds comedy to the conversation by using puns. By doing so, the topics of discussion quickly change and soon they are talking about the feuding between the Capulet and the Montague households. Even though the two men are talking about violence they are still joking and playing with words. This shows that they do not take the fighting seriously as it has become a part of their everyday lives. Of course, when Tybalt, a figure of violence and hatred appears, the other characters become fearful and fail to find the situation humorous. In the conversation between the two men, Shakespeare makes referances to rape and murder. Again, this shows it is a common feature of everyday life. Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men I will be civil with the maids; I will cut off their heads The heads of the maids? Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads, take it in what sense thou wilt. Here Sampson is telling Gregory that the fighting is not just between their masters it involves the whole of the Capulet household, including them. He says that he will kill all the Montague men and cut off the heads of their women. He then plays with the words and implies that he will sexually abuse them. There is an oxymoron (love versus hate) at the beginning of the first scene when Benvolio and Tybalt are together and a fight is about to break out. Benvolio who symbolises peace and love, is trying to convince Tybalt, who symbolises hate and anger, that the fighting is wrong and it should be left to be dealt with by the two Lords, Old Capulet and Old Montague. I do but keep the peace. Put up thy sword or manage it to part these men with me. Benvolio is asking Tybalt to help him stop their men from fighting to which Tybalt replies, What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word, as I hate Hell, all Montagues and thee. Tybalt is comparing Benvolio and his family to Hell this, an implication that they are all equally as bad. Lords Montague and Capulet then enter the scene and they are just as bad as each other. As soon as Old Capulet sees the fighting he demands his sword is given to him. To which his wife replies A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?, she is telling him he is too old to be fighting and that he should be asking for a walking stick instead of his sword. Neither of the wives will let their husbands fight, they too see the stupidity and how far it has gone. The prince then enters, a large crowd of attendants alongside him which shows that he is a powerful man. Prince Escales is the ruler of all Verona people fear him but they love him as well because he is their protector however, it takes him a long time to get their attention. The prince makes a long speech about what has happened to Verona because of the fighting. He calls his subjects enemies to peace meaning that they arent fighting each other, but peace. The prince will not lay the blame on either Capulet or Montague, he is aware that the fighting is caused by both families. In his speech Prince Escales uses animalistic metaphors as does Tybalt in the first few pages of the play found on line fifty six. What art thou drawn among these hartless hinds? not only is this a phrase but a metaphor, it is also a pun. Tybalt is punning on the words heart and hinds, a hart being a male deer and a hind being a young female deer. By doing this Tybalt insults Benvolio and is mocking him for apparently fighting with servants. The other animalistic metaphor used is found in the princes speech as he tries to grab the attention of his subjects. What ho, you men, you beasts!- the prince is saying that they are no better than animals, and that they are acting like animals with all this constant fighting. He blames both families but the speech is not only aimed at the quarrelling. He also speaks of how the feuding is tearing apart their city. In Act 1, Scene 2, Romeo enters the scene, he is sad and can only think of a mystery woman who he believes to be in love with. Benvolio asks why Romeo is sad, his answers are clumsy and confusing. What sadness lengthens Romeos hours? Not having that which having makes them short. His answer shows he is confused about his own feelings. What he is trying to say is that he is sad because Roseline, the mystery woman, doesnt return his affection. His love for Roseline is of course not real, he is merely infatuated with her, but he believes that he is in love with her. When Romeo sees that another fight has happened he is not surprised. His next few lines are full of oxymorons and juxtaposition which highlight the point being made, that the fightings is pointless, but also his feelings of confusion. From lines 170-176 he makes a short speech. To begin with, it is about the feuding but it gradually moves back to his so called love for Roseline. One of the first oxymorons used is loving hate when Romeo says the fighting has a lot to do with hate but more to do with love possibly a love of fighting. Through this single quotation we understand why Romeo is confused. He is sad because his love is unrequited. Love is all about happiness and joy but Romeo feels none of this, so naturally he knows it isnt right. However Romeos pain shows that with the joys and pleasures of love come pain and sadness. We see that pleasure and pain are linked with love and hate. Why is Act I Scene V of Romeo and Juliet an effective piece of drama? How is this an important scene in the drama as a whole? EssayAlready from this scene, the audience are aware of the rising tension being created between the characters. They are aware that there is going to be more tension created between the two families and the consequences will end severe, as their children are falling in love. Dramatic irony is created because the audience are aware that Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet which the two star crossed lovers do not. The audience are still interested in the story developing even though they know whats coming. Also, the audience know that Romeo has a bad feeling and is very nervous about Tybalt who is almost inflamed by his presence, Fetch me my rapier, boy. The scene begins with the serving men preparing for the party. It starts the party atmosphere with hustling and bustling and the serving men getting very busy. This scene sets up an obvious change of mood and then it contrasts with the later mood development in the party. There is contrast with the atmosphere as it is loud, bright, extravagant and happy. There is no threat in the beginning of this scene as it is quite welcoming because of the jubilant atmosphere and the jolly mood of Lord Capulet as he jest to the guests, More light, you knaves, and turn the tables up; Every-one is invited into the party atmosphere. The significance of the party being a masked ball is that the Montagues can get into the party without their identities being revealed or exposed. This is linked to when Romeo and Juliet meet. They do not seem to know that they are enemies and can just show how much they love each other. When Romeo spots Juliet the soliloquy contrasts with the previous lines. This is because the previous lines show the Capulets welcoming people, Welcome gentlemen. There is a jolly atmosphere, but then when Romeo starts to speak to Juliet, everything goes silent and becomes very serious. This creates a lot of tension as the audience would want to know what is happening at this precise moment. Whilst saying the soliloquy, Romeo does not know Juliets name, so he compares her to something precious, As a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear. He talks to her about her beauty and tells her that she stands out like black and white, So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows. Shakespeare uses metaphors and similes to describe her standing out against the, Cheek of night. From the previous lines, Romeo has completely forgotten about his first love, Rosaline, and concentrates on Juliet but then when it comes towards the end of the soliloquy he asks himself a question Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight! This shows that he made a mistake in thinking he was in love with Rosaline. Whilst Romeo is saying this romantic soliloquy, one of the Capulets, Tybalt catches a glimpse of him. This does have an impact on the audience. It raises the tension in the audiences as the mood goes from love to hate and conflict. It makes the audience think that there is going to be a fight between Tybalt and Romeo and that the consequences are going to be bad. Tybalt says, Fetch me my rapier boy, because he is inflamed by Romeos presence and his authority to enter the Capulets house. When Lord Capulet says, Take no note of him it lowers the tension for the audience as he says to Tybalt to leave Romeo alone, Do him disparagement. He tells Tybalt that he is duty bound to make sure Romeo is not insulted in his house. He does not want any violence going on as he is the host of the party. Shakespeare uses language such as, Tis he, that villain Romeo, to emphasise what Tybalt thinks of Romeo. Capulets words have an effect on Tybalt as he is told to leave Romeo alone. It changes the mood as Tybalt becomes stubborn and disloyal to Lord Capulet. Capulet then gives Tybalt an order, He shall be endured. Tybalt has challenged Capulets authority so then he has to reassert it. This creates conflict between the characters. The two Capulets continue to argue with tension mounting, Lord Capulet insults Tybalt, Goodman boy which asserts his authority. The mood for Lord Capulet changes as he tries to quite down Tybalt and continue with the party. The relationship between Romeo and Juliet now seems possible because Lord Capulet refuses to listen to Tybalt and Romeo stays at the party. When the two lovers meet they use religious imagery to show how much they love each other, This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this. This is associated with the sonnet as this also shows how much Romeo is in love with Juliet. They are also together when the sonnet is heard which also makes it holy as they use religious wording. When they meet, they feel so in love with each other but they dont have a clue as in the later consequences. This rises the tension in the characters as the audience know about this and want to know when they discover the situation they are in. Juliet feels much stronger about Romeo as she is already in love with him, If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed. From this scene there are strong and romantic emotions displayed by the characters. There is sadness at the end of the scene as the two star cross lovers find out that they are both from families with a grudge against each other. Hate is displayed by Tybalt too towards Romeo as they are each others Foes. These emotions that are displayed in the scene become a big impact on the audience as this makes the scene more interesting. The historic content in this scene affects the audience too. This is because in those times, you would have to know your lover well before you would be able to kiss them. In this case, Romeo and Juliet kiss each other the first time they meet. However, Romeo and Juliets meeting and falling in love is not all perfect as it is rooted in irony. Both Juliet and Romeo were reluctant to attend the ball but went along anyway; Romeo to see Rosaline and Juliet to see Paris. Their meeting sets the story moving and is the initial incident of the tragedy. Shakespeare uses Juliets Nurse to bring Romeo and Juliet out of their fantasy world and back to reality. Romeo is the first to find out that he and his love are part of rival families. Juliet is forced to go and see her mother; it is then that he finds out that she is a Capulet as the Nurse tells him that Her mother is the lady of the house. He was stunned and startled to find out that the girl he loves was the daughter of his fathers enemy, Is she a Capulet? My life is my foes debt. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony when Juliet finds out who her love is as she asks her Nurse about three separate men at the party, saving Romeo for last so she did not cause suspicion. Juliet, like Romeo, is surprised when she learns of her loves identity. The Nurse informs her that he is Romeo, the only son of the Montague family. Juliet is heart-broken that she loves a loathed enemy. They are left in despair as they both realise the danger of their situation being from two enemy households, my only love sprung from my only hate. Juliet says my grave is like to be my wedding bed and the final rhyming couplet of the second sonnet ends with bitterest gall, both of these ominously link to their fate. This scene does make the audience tense because of the changes in mood and the tragic consequence at the end. In conclusion as well as the themes the language and styles used by Shakespeare that have an effect on the way that the audience thinks about the play, the depth of character that is created by Shakespeare is also very effective. That is when all of these things are put together they make Romeo and Juliet such a complex plot and have the desired effect on the audience. Throughout Act 1 and probably the rest of the play, Shakespeare shows that love and hate are inextricably linked; where there is one, there is always the other. Consequently, love is presented in a negative way showing it as vicious and dangerous and even true love can result in something destructive as it is constantly mixed amid hatred. The amount of tension William Shakespeare can manipulate an audience into feeling is quite extraordinary, and proves once more why he is still being studied and performed four hundred years after his death. He was absolutely exceptional in the way he perfected the use of each technique. His most effective method, in my opinion, was that of dramatic irony followed closely by the use of oxymorons. All in all, I think Shakespeare builds up tension exceptionally well which makes the first act of the play emotional, exciting, funny, and ultimately a dramatically interesting story for the audience.