Directing Act 3, Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Directing Act 3, Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

In Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" Act 3 Scene 5 is a crucial part of

the play. It is the scene in which we see Juliet abandoned by all of

her allies: Romeo, her parents and, to a certain extent, her nurse. It

is also a scene where many of the themes of the whole play, such as

fate, marriage, individual freedom and day and night, are developed.

The scene is hectic and contains numerous exits and entrances. It sets

the pace for the rest of the play and the audience should feel that

the lovers' time together is running out. It is my role as director to

bring out the full dramatic potential of the scene in my cinematic

version.

I will focus on the part of the scene where Juliet and her parents are

present, as I think their relationship is crucial to this scene.

In the first part of Act 3 Scene 5, before Romeo leaves, Juliet and

him are in Juliet's bed. The bed is surrounded by a canopy, a symbol

of their relationship; cocooned together but not protected from the

outside world. The lighting will be warm - like a sunset or sunrise

shining through the curtains, again playing on the idea of night and

day. Soft background music can be used, luring the audience into the

dreamy state the lovers are in. The music changes, becoming solemn, at

line 26 where Juliet snaps into reality, realising Romeo will die if

he stays. "Come death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so." The music's

tempo increases at line 36 when the nurse bursts in adding to the

feeling that time is running out. After the nurse warns Romeo and

Juliet of Juliet's mother's arrival, she leaves and Romeo goes. The...

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...w, the audience can see rain. There

should be no music, only rain sound effects, adding to the lonely

feeling of this part of the scene. Juliet has stopped crying by this

point and seems grimly determined by the end of the scene. The nurse

should seem close to Juliet and comforts her. When the nurse speaks

line 217-225, where she tells Juliet it would be best to wed Paris,

she should seem convincing but when she hugs Juliet at line 225 we see

a close up of the Nurses face and she looks worried, showing the

audience she does not believe her own words. After the nurse leaves,

Juliet is shown in a medium long shot. This makes her look very lonely

and reinforces the idea that she has been abandoned by all her allies.

Juliet's determination should show most in the last line, "if all else

fail, myself have the power to die."