Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is a play based on romance and tragedy. The play has

a fast pace and is set over a period of five days. It is carefully

crafted technically to create some of the most poetic scenes in the

English language. Fate plays a large part in the lives of Romeo and

Juliet and the actions other characters takes has consequences on

their fate.

Act 1 Scene 5 incorporates many of the play’s themes. It begins with

three servants preparing for an important occasion, a masked ball. We

get the impression that the servants are taking the masque ball very

seriously, and want everything to go well. Their speeches are lively

but with a sense of panic, urgency, haste and not coping. For example

“You are looked for called for, asked for and sought for, in the great

chamber”. This is short and sharp and to the point which adds to the

impression the audience gets of urgency. They get a sense that on the

surface it is graceful but very busy behind the scenes and the

Elizabethan audience would have been interested and entertained by the

humorous interaction between the servants.

As the servants exit Capulet enters. Straight away we know he is

elevated above the servants. We can tell by his language, the servants

spoke in prose whereas Capulet uses blank verse; this shows us that he

is well educated and carries a grander importance. “Welcome gentlemen,

ladies that have their toes unplagued with corns”. The language that

he uses is richer, more sophisticated than that of the servants. He

acts like the perfect host. He is very friendly and welcoming; he

becomes the jovial face of the party. He adapts his speech to suit

everyone; with the ladies he teases them into dancing; with the young

men he speaks knowingly and to the older man he reminisces. He is very

aware of how he should be speaking to everyone. He motivates the

atmosphere of celebration, appearing very generous and positive.