Balcony Scene in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Balcony Scene in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Right before this scene Romeo and Juliet had just met in the Capulet

party. They danced and talked briefly in the party and Romeo learnt

she was Capulet, and even worse she was a daughter of the house of

Capulet.

In this scene Romeo sneaks into the Capulet's orchard. Juliet's

balcony overlooks the orchard. This is the scene where Romeo and

Juliet get to talk properly. At the end they arrange for them to

marry. There is always a sense of tension to the readers as there is

always a chance of Romeo getting caught by the guards or by Juliet's

wet nurse.

We learn a great deal about Romeo in this scene, this adds to the

importance of the scene. We learn he is sincere about loving Juliet,

not like Rosaline. He commits to her and risks getting caught and

maybe even killed just to look at her, he was not sure he was going to

communicate with her when he went to the orchard, he just wanted to

look at her. He has become more romantic, more loving and most

importantly he is softer than he was before. Romeo says "It is my

lady, O it is my love". The audience wants to think he is sincere so

that the tragedy at the end is meaningful. If the young lovers were

not really in love the audience would not think much of anything that

happens, but they were truly in love it would add to the sadness of

the tragedy

At first Juliet is skeptical of the whole arrangement. She says, "I

have no joy of this contract tonight". This shows she is hesitant and

is not as impulsive as Romeo is.

Later on in the scene she changes her mind and starts to think along

the same lines as Romeo. I think this is because she realizes she is

in love with Romeo and discovers that something deep down within her

is longing for him. She becomes optimistic and looks forward to the