Romeo and Juliet: Act 3, Scene 5

Romeo and Juliet: Act 3, Scene 5

In this essay, I will be looking in detail and analysing Act 3 Scene 5

of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I will be looking at the

behavior and attitudes of the characters in the scene, and then

discuss how I would relate to these features if I were to direct this

play. As director I must decide to direct the play in a way that shows

the reason for the system and the problems that it creates, which I

think Shakespeare was trying to illustrate.

Romeo and Juliet is a story set in Verona, Italy. It is based on two

young people experiencing courtly love, as their social status

disallows them to be together. This unobtainable love is due to the

constant feud between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s, which then

becomes the reason for the deaths of these ‘star-crossed lovers’.

In the fifteenth century parents were in favor of arranged marriages.

The attitude was that parents should have complete control over their

daughter’s choice of marriage partner, if the father does not approve

of the man that his daughter loves, and then she is not allowed to

marry him. When the father chooses a husband for his daughter, she has

no say over whether she marries him or not. In this play, the reaction

of Juliet towards the arranged marriage would have come as a shock to

Shakespearian audiences, as they would find it hard to understand why

she is disobeying her father, but to a modern audience this would be

seen as an acceptable reaction as she is sticking up for herself. The

father would always choose a groom who had a high social status, with

money and power. When a marriage was to happen it was not only a

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... Romeo.

The reason I have chosen to portray this scene in the way I have is

because I think it is necessary to show all the characters emotions as

clearly as possible.

My reasoning for the use of body language, mainly by Lord Capulet, was

to add impact and to emphasise different feelings in the argument

between him and his daughter, Juliet.

Another part in the scene that has particular interest is nearer the

end of the scene when Juliet realises that she does not have many

options left about her proposed marriage to Paris, she then tries to

seek help from her husband Romeo. However he cannot help her as he has

been banished. Juliet then goes to Friar Lawrence for help “I’ll to

the friar, to know his remedy, if all else fail, myself have power to

die”. This bold statement then tragically becomes reality.