Dramatic Effect of Act 1 Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Dramatic Effect of Act 1 Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

'Romeo and Juliet' is a tragic story about love and hate; nowhere is

this more apparent than in Act 1, scene 5. Up to this point in the

story we have been introduced to the entire cast and their specific

characteristics and difficulties. In this scene they all come together

for the first time at the Capulet mansion for a great party, which

leads us to the real plot behind the story, the audience are now

expecting Romeo and Juliet to fall in love finally, they have been

waiting for almost a whole Act for the moment both characters will

meet, and both Romeo and Juliet will fulfil their destiny as depicted

by the Prologue.

This climactic end of Act 1 is coupled with the tension of having a

masked party, because now it is difficult for guests to guess whom

each other are. We know that to be the case because we hear Capulet

say "how long is't now since last yourself and I were in a mask?". It

is especially tense because the audience knows Romeo and Juliet will

meet, and they also know that they will not realise who they have

fallen in love with.

The first part of the scene involves some servant characters talking

about their work, "he shift a trencher? He scrape a trencher?" This

conversation appears unimportant to the audience, but it is very

important in setting the scene, and setting the party atmosphere. They

speak in prose not verse so that people in Shakespeare's time would

have known it was not important to the plot.

Next, in comes Capulet. He makes a grand entrance into the great hall;

we can just imagine his voice resounding heavily. He tells all ...

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... feel that this scene is very dramatically effective because not only

does it surprise us with a change of pace and drama, the whole story,

including the eventual climax, have changed for the characters and the

new ideas are now beginning to be formed. It also very effective

because the audience already know how the story will end and how it

will start (with Romeo and Juliet falling in love) but they do not

know what is in the middle, and as such Shakespeare has put several

clues and several possibilities, especially as concerns Tybalt's want

for revenge.

The argument between Tybalt and Capulet, and the final comments from

Juliet give us an expanded view of the level of hatred each family

feels for the other.

. And yet, out of this hatred comes a love that will eventually stop

the fighting between the families.