Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Act 3 scene 1 of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a very important scene in the

play in that it is a turning from where the whole course of the action

starts to move in a different, tragic direction. Up to the start of

Act 3 the main focus of the action has been the developing love

between Romeo and Juliet. From their first meeting at the Capulet

ball, through the romantic balcony scene, culminating in their

marriage, it would seem that the love is dominating force. At this

point in the play the audience feels they are watching a conventional

romance in which love will overcome all obstacles, even the conflict

between the two households. However there are signs that all is not

well! The prologue promised that Romeo and Juliet would be

‘star-crossed lovers’ and even the two lover’s express fears. Before

he goes to the ball Romeo says ‘Some consequence yet hanging in the

stars/Shall bitterly begin his fearful date/With this nights revels’

and even in the midst of the balcony scene Juliet says their love is

‘too rash; too unadvised; too sudden’. In addition, whenever Tybalt

appears there is a resurgence of tension and conflict reminiscent of

the explosive opening scene. So it is with a lot of optimism though

some misgivings on the part of the audience that the scene opens.

The beginning of the scene is introduced with Benvolio and Mercutio.

At this point the audience is not expecting the tension to rise again

and that this could possibly be quite a calm scene as it is the scene

after the wedding. This feeling is soon lost when Tybalt, Petruchio

and some others enter and the tension begins to...

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...this is fair as,

although Romeo is a murderer so was Tybalt, who would have been killed

anyway, so in a way he saved the police a job, but I agree that it

still cannot go unnoticed.

This scene completely changes the audiences’ expectations for the rest

of the play. To start with the audience is hopeful that Romeo and

Juliet’s love will pull both of the families together so they can

forget their differences. After the fight the audience realises that

even Romeo and Juliet’s love is not strong enough to get them through

this horrific feud and that there is little hope for the two lovers

anymore. This prepares them for the tragedy of Juliet’s apparent

suicide and Romeo and Juliet killing themselves because they see that

there is no hope for them and that more people are getting hurt by

their love than it is helping.