Act One, Scene Five of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Act One, Scene Five of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Act One, Scene Five is set in the great hall of the Capulet’s, where a

glamorous ball is in full swing. The servants work feverishly to make

sure all runs smoothly. Capulet makes his rounds through groups of

guests, joking with them and encouraging all to dance and be merry.

From across the room, Romeo sees Juliet, and asks a serving man who

she is. The serving man does not know. Romeo is transfixed; Rosaline

vanishes from his mind and he declares that he has never been in love

until this moment. Moving through the crowd, Tybalt hears and

recognizes Romeo’s voice. Realizing that there is a Montague present,

the Prince of Cats sends a servant to fetch his rapier. Capulet

overhears Tybalt and reprimands him, telling him that Romeo is well

regarded in Verona, and that he will not have the youth harmed at his

feast. Tybalt protests, but Capulet scolds him until he agrees to keep

the peace. As Capulet moves on, Tybalt vows that he will not let this

indignity pass.

Meanwhile, Romeo has approached Juliet and touched her hand. In a

dialogue laced with religious metaphors that figure Juliet as a saint

and Romeo as a pilgrim who wishes to erase his sin, he attempts to

convince her to kiss him, since it is only through her kiss that he

might be absolved. Juliet agrees to remain still as Romeo kisses her.

Thus, in the terms of their conversation, she takes his sin from him.

Juliet then makes the logical leap that if she has taken Romeo’s sin

from him, his sin must now reside in her lips, and so they must kiss

again.

Just as their second kiss ends, the Nurse arrives and tell...

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...transforms from the timid young girl to

one more mature, who understands what she desires and is quick-witted

enough to procure it. Juliet’s subsequent comment to Romeo, “You kiss

by th’ book,” can be taken in two ways. First, it can be seen as

emphasizing Juliet’s lack of experience OR it is possible to see a bit

of wry observation in this line. Juliet’s comment that Romeo kisses by

the book is akin to noting that he kisses as if he has learned how to

kiss from a manual and followed those instructions exactly. In other

words, he is proficient, but unoriginal. Juliet is clearly smitten

with Romeo, but it is possible to see her as the more incisive of the

two, and as nudging Romeo to a more genuine level of love through her

observation of his tendency to get caught up in the weaker forms of

love rather than love itself.