How Shakespeare Gains and Holds the Audience's Attention and Interest Up to Act One Scene One of Romeo and Juliet

1044 Words3 Pages

How Shakespeare Gains and Holds the Audience's Attention and Interest Up to Act One Scene One of Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is widely considered, by critics and the public alike

as one of the best romantic tragedies to date. Written by arguably the

most famous poet in British History, William Shakespeare Romeo and

Juliet is a story of two star-crossed lovers. Date of it’s publication

is much argued about, but it is agreed among most that it was between

the dates of 1594 and 1596. Shakespeare was born on the 26th of April

1564 and died on the 23rd of April 1616.

Shakespeare didn’t entirely invent the concept of Romeo and Juliet, it

was influenced heavily by a poem written by Arthur Brooks and the

poem Romeus and Juliet, but many details are altered from this and

some Characters entirely made up.

Shakespeare's plays total thirty seven, of these are Macbeth, Hamlet,

Othello and The Tempest, he wrote anything from love stories (Antony

and Cleopatra) to comedies (twelfth night) and has proved himself to

be very versatile. He has also written over a hundred and fifty

sonnets.

The play begins with a chorus which describes what is going to happen

within the play. This fantastic piece of poetry is known as a sonnet.

This was very risque of Shakespeare as it gave away a huge dramatic

irony that he could’ve of easily used to shock the audience. In the

prologue Shakespeare suggests that Romeo and Juliet being together is

doomed by fate, he describes them as:

“Star-crossed.”

On the 16th centaury many people believed that the stars governed your

fate, and therefore Shakespeare is suggesting that Romeo and Juliet

are fi...

... middle of paper ...

...el sympathetic towards

Benvolio as the man was only defending himself against the fiery,

hot-tempered and blood-thirsty Benvolio. They will also be wondering

what will happen to the characters if they break the law.

Shakespeare managed to gain the audiences attention in the first part

of this scene, using a big fight. These are usually reserved for the

end or middle of the plays, rather than the first. The action will

catch the audiences attention much more than any words, and he has

immediately got the audience emotionally involved with the characters,

and they may empathise and sympathise with certain people within the

play. He has also portrayed the rivalry between the Capulets and

Montagues well, without having to explain it in words which may have

bored the audience. It demonstrates how deeply their hatred runs.

Open Document