Download Act1 - claireswiki

Produced by Cardonald College
This material is available for
public bodies and not for resale or
profit
Created by Maureen Meeke and Claire
Donaghey
Romeo and Juliet
by
William Shakespeare
Act 1
Created by Maureen Meeke and Claire
Donaghey
Act I, scene i - Summary
Deliberately opens with a full-scale riot to
illustrate the extent of the feud
Montague servants argue with Capulets
Tybalt challenges Benvolio to a fight
The citizens all join in to try to stop it
Prince Escalus declares these ‘civil
brawls’ must end on ‘pain of torture’ and
on ‘pain of death’
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
The Servants
 Crude and bawdy: “I am a pretty piece of flesh”
 A shock as it is far from the love story we expect
 Filled with masculine pride: “I strike quickly
being moved”
 Introduce the theme of conflict and goad each
other to fight: “Quarrel I will back thee”
 They reveal how deeply the conflict has
established itself – from lords to the serving men
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Benvolio
 Sensible: “part fools you know not what you do”
– he knows there will be consequences to this
brawl
 Peace keeper: “I do but keep the peace”
 Brave: Will defend himself when Tybalt attacks
 Honest: account of the fight is truthful
 Good friend: “I’ll know his grievance or be
much denied”
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Tybalt
Benvolio describes him as, “The fiery
Tybalt”
Aggressive: “Peace? I hate the word”
Threatening: “look upon thy death”
Hot-headed: immediately provokes a
fight: “have at thee coward!”
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Veronese Society
 Important as shows how society regards the feud
 Officer cries: “Down with the Capulets! Down
with the Montagues”
 Regards them both as being equally to blame
 Animosity towards the two families
 He asks the citizens to “Strike, beat them down.”
 Prince describes Verona as: “cankered with
peace” – it is usually peaceful
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Capulets
 Lord Capulet:
– Hot-headed and ready for fight: “Give me my
long sword, ho!”
– Masculine Pride: offended that: “Old
Montague is come/ And flourishes his blade in
spite of me.” Sounds similar to the serving
men (“Do you bite your thumb at us sir?”)
 Love: Poor relationship with Lady Capulet who
mocks him: “A crutch a crutch! Why call you for
Created by Maureen Meeke and
a sword?”
Claire Donaghey
Montagues
 Lord Montague is ready to fight too
 Regards Lord Capulet with contempt: “villain”
 Lady Montague reveals love for her husband
– Holds on to him to prevent him from fighting: “Hold
me not, let me go”
– Tries to stop him with kinder words: “thou shall not
stir one foot to seek a foe.”
 They are loving parents:
– Concerned about the whereabouts of their son: “O
where is Romeo? Saw you him today?
– Want to help understand Romeo’s melancholia:
“Could we but learn from whence his sorrows grow”
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Prince
 Angry with families: “Rebellious subjects”
 Uses rich language: “Purple fountains issuing
from your veins” – suggests intelligence
 Upset and angry: “moved Prince” – he cares
 Lenient in the past allowing “three civil brawls”
 Implements harsh law of “torture” and “death” –
strong and values peace
 Asks Capulet and Montague to speak to him: “To
know our further pleasure” suggesting he will
reason with them
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Introduction to Romeo
 Insight into Romeo’s character before on stage
 Benvolio’s language changes from plain to
romantic when talks of Romeo - suggests this is
how Romeo speaks
 We learn that Romeo:
 likes to be alone: “most sought where most
might not be found”
 cries “tears augmenting the fresh morning’s
dew”
 locks himself in his room during the day
“private in his chamber pens himself”
 is secretive: “toCreated
himself
soMeeke
secret
and so close”
by Maureen
and
Claire Donaghey
Romeo – Hero?
 Sad and time drags: “sad hours seem long”
 Self indulgent, focusing on himself and makes
Benvolio work hard to find out what is wrong
 Over dramatic: “love is a smoke made with the
fume of sighs”
 But…
 Self aware: “Tut I have lost myself, I am not
here./ This is not Romeo, he’s some other where.”
 Romeo is not usually like this – there is hope for
our hero!
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Romeo and Love
 Shock: he is in love with ‘Rosaline’!
 She symbolises Romeo’s tendency to fall in love easily
and his readiness to BE in love
 Painful view of love: “tyrannous and rough”
 Unrequited love: sad because he is: “out of her favour
where I am in love”
 In love with being in love:
– Doesn’t really know Roseline and makes superficial
observations of her beauty: “she’s fair I love”
– Not genuine love as he moves quickly from discussion
of love to: “Where shall we dine?”
– Speaks in rehearsed rhymed couplets – learned and
artificial
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Romeo and Conflict
 Peaceful: “O me what fray was here, yet tell me
not for I have heard it all”
 Angry and disappointed that there has been
another fight
 Mirrored in his language – oxymorons to show
confusion: “o brawling love, o loving hate”
 Suggests the feud is caused by trivial reasons:
“O any thing of nothing first create”
 He regrets the absence of love in the Montagues
and Capulets’ dealings with each other: “Here’s
much to do with hate, but more wit love.”
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Conflict
 Evident from the beginning of the scene
 It draws all levels of society; young and old
 Dramatic as the fight ensues very quickly
 Prince describes: “Three civil brawls bred of an
airy word”
– This fighting involves innocent civilians
– Has happened before
– Caused due to trivial reasons
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Masculine Honour
 Sexual and physical bravado of the serving men
introduces the strong theme of masculine honour
 A man must defend his honour if he feels it has
been offended, whether verbally or physically
 This crosses all social levels from Lords to
serving men
 This notion of ‘honour’ will be partly responsible
for the subsequent tragedy
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Love and Conflict
 Love and conflict are linked
 Vulgar references to “tool” and “naked
weapon,” creates link with sex and violence
 Romeo uses battle imagery when describing
Roseline: “She will not stay the siege of loving
terms / Nor bide th’ encounter of assailing eyes.”
 Structure of scene is divided into conflict (1st
half) and love (2nd half) to demonstrate how
closely intertwined love and hate can be
 Ominously anticipates the play’s conclusion
when the love of Romeo and Juliet is destroyed
by the feud
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Dramatic Tension
 The sudden switch from the comic banter of the
servants to a potentially life-threatening situation
demonstrates the quick movement to conflict
 The peaceful actions of Benvolio are destroyed
by the quick-tempered Tybalt changing the
atmosphere from harmony to hatred within a few
lines
 The uncertain nature of the play wrenches the
characters and audience into and out of pleasure
and pain – creates a dramatic and unsettling feel
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Why is this scene important?
 Dramatic - contrasts to elevated nature of the
Prologue and quick change from peace to conflict
 Introduced to important characters:
– Romeo, Benvolio, Montagues, Capulets,
Prince, Servingmen, Citizens
 Romeo – shocked by his moody nature
 Introduced to important themes:
– Conflict: plunged into a fight and we see the
extent and nature of the feud
– Love: family, friendship, romantic
– Masculine Pride – cause of conflict
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Writing Task
 Write a short paragraph, summarising your first
impressions of Romeo
 What kind of character does he appear to be?
 What adjectives would you use to describe him?
 Try to include a short quote which you think
illustrates your interpretation of his character
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Act I, Scene ii - Summary
 Paris asks Capulet for Juliet’s hand in marriage
 Capulet initially reluctant to give consent
because Juliet is so young: “My child is yet a
stranger in the world,”
 Finally, he agrees to the match if Paris can gain
Juliet’s consent: “get her heart” revealing his
consent to is influenced by her wishes
 Romeo and Benvolio find out about the party
and decide to gatecrash!
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Conflict
 Scene begins with Lord Capulet accepting that
both he and Montague are obliged to keep the
peace: “Montague is bound as well as I”
 He also states that they are wise enough to keep
the peace: “’tis not hard, I think,/For men so old
as we to keep the peace.”
 The scene offers the audience hope, but Paris
notes that the Montagues and Capulets have
“lived at odds so long”
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Paris
 Paris is persistent in his pursuit of Juliet
 Capulet reveals he has asked to marry her before:
“But saying o’er what I have said before”
 Paris is pushy arguing that: “Younger than she
are happy mother made”
 BUT, he is also a model suitor: well-to-do
relative of Prince and courteous toward Capulet
 He complies with social convention in his public
proposal of marriage whereas Romeo woos her in
secret
 Unlike Romeo who quickly moves from loving
Rosaline to Juliet,
Paris
remains
Created
by Maureen
Meeke and constant
Claire Donaghey
Marriage
 Juliet is thirteen, yet is considered for marriage
 Capulet suggests Paris wait two more years: “Let
two more summers wither in their pride”
 He thinks too many women are ruined as they are
married too early: “too soon marred are those so
early made”
 It is a decision Capulet can make for Juliet, but
he suggests he wants her to have a say in her
marriage: “My will to her consent is but a part.”
 He says he wants her marriage to be based on
love: “woo her Created
gentle
Paris,
by Maureen
Meekeget
and her heart”
Claire Donaghey
Capulet
 Our initial view of Capulet is sympathetic
– seems to regret the fight
– gives Juliet a choice in who she marries and
– has lost all his other children
 However, there are suggestions that he may not
be thinking solely of Juliet
– speaks in rehearsed rhymed couplets
– His status in life will depend on Juliet and as
he has no other children: “she is the hopeful
lady of my earth”
– He will not wish
her to make a poor choice in
Created by Maureen Meeke and
marriage
Claire Donaghey
Juliet
Although we have not met Juliet,
Shakespeare emphasises her age
She is a teenage girl poised between
childhood and adulthood
This highlights that Juliet is a very young
tragic heroine who is forced to mature
extremely quickly during the course of the
play
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Fate
 Capulet has planned a traditional masquerade feast
 He dispatches a servant to invite a list of people to the
feast, but Peter cannot read
 He happens upon Romeo and Benvolio
 He asks them to help him read the list
 Rosaline’s name is on the list causing Romeo to attend
 Benvolio thinks it will be a perfect opportunity for
Romeo to see other women
 SO, is this crucial decision to go to the partyt just bad
thinking, fate at work or luck?
 This chance meeting contributes to a sense of inevitability
that Romeo and Juliet are destined to meet
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Love
 A business-like view of love is seen in the marriage
market – two men bartering over Juliet
 Benvolio regards love flippantly and suggests Romeo
forget Roseline by looking elsewhere: “one fire burns out
another’s burning”
 Romeo still regards love as painful: “Shut up in prison,
kept without my food”
 The swift change from Romeo’s melodramatic language
to his casual greeting of Peter: “Whipped and tormented,
and – Godden good fellow”, suggests it is not genuine
love
 Romeo describes his feelings for Rosaline through
religious imagery he has learned from poetry books
 His borrowed images
love as
a religious
quest suggests
Createdof
by Maureen
Meeke
and
Donagheynot a real person
that he is in love with Claire
an ideal,
Importance of the scene
 Paris is introduced as Capulet’s choice for Juliet
 Juliet’s role as a young woman, with no social
power, is introduced (she will be passed from the
care and control of one man to another)
 It is made clear (implicitly) that her father has the
power to force her if he chooses – he is implying
that he will not force her at the moment
 The power of social structures (the family) are
already showing their influence over the fate of
individuals
by Maureen the
Meeke lovers
and
 Fate seems to beCreated
pushing
together
Claire Donaghey
Writing Task
Writing task: Write a short paragraph
describing your first impressions of Capulet
 What kind of father does he appear to be?
 Find a short quote(s) which you think illustrate
his feelings for his daughter at this point in the
play
 Are there any suggestions that he may not be
entirely thinking of Juliet?
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Act I, Scene iii - Summary
 Another short scene introducing Juliet, her
mother, and the Nurse
 Lady Capulet calls Juliet to her, and asks what
she thinks about being married to Paris
 Juliet confesses it is something she is not
interested in but will try to like him if it is what
her mother wants
 We learn of the affectionate relationship between
Nurse and Juliet and the cold relationship
between Juliet and her mother
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Female view of Love
 So far we have seen the male view of love
– Paris considers marriage as a business proposition
– Capulet dangles Juliet before Paris as a prize
possession
– Romeo is in love with the idea of being in love
 Now we are to have the reactions of the women
 Nurse, Lady Capulet, and Juliet reveal different attitudes
towards love and marriage
– The Nurse reveals an uninhibited attitude towards sex
– This is contrasted with Lady Capulet’s material view
of marriage
by Maureen
– While Juliet is Created
innocent
of Meeke
loveand
Claire Donaghey
Lady Capulet
 Lady Capulet’s relationship with Juliet is distant and cold
 She expects Juliet’s complete obedience in agreeing to the
marriage and orders her: “Nurse, where’s my daughter?
Call her forth to me.”
 Nurse contrasts to Lady Capulet as her reflections on
Juliet reveal great intimacy and affection
 Lady Capulet considers Juliet to be old enough for
marriage, feeling little sympathy for her position, (even
though her own marriage seems lacking in love)
 She gave birth when she was younger than Juliet
 She concentrates on the marriage to Paris as bringing
increased social status and wealth observing: “So shall
you share all that he doth possess.”
 Lady Capulet seesCreated
he isbyaMaureen
socially
match for
Meeke advantageous
and
Donaghey
the family, rather than Claire
a match
made through love
Juliet and Sexuality
 The Nurse’s reminiscence about Juliet learning to
walk anticipates her move towards sexual
maturity
 When Juliet fell over learning to walk, the Nurse
recalls that her husband noted bawdily: “Thou
wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit.”
 Such comments help depict Juliet as an
adolescent on the threshold of womanhood
 It also reinforces the idea that Juliet has been
objectified as a marriage commodity since birth
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
The Nurse
 The Nurse interrupts constantly, making bawdy remarks
and seems unable to get to the point
 Her coarser outlook on life acts as a contrast to Juliet’s
youthful innocence
 It becomes clear that the Nurse has taken more to do with
Juliet’s upbringing than her mother has
 Nurse regards marriage as a physical relationship and
reinterprets Lady Capulet’s line that marriage increases a
woman’s wealth and status as referring instead to the way
in which marriage increases a woman through pregnancy
 She is a comic character
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Juliet
 Juliet is clearly reluctant to marry as she says demurely:
“It is an honour that I dreamt not of.”
 Juliet is obedient and agrees to go to the party, look upon
Paris, and ‘look to like’ him (try to like him) if this is
what her mother wants
 Neither her mother nor her Nurse addresses the romantic
concept of love that Juliet harbours
 Juliet’s attitude anticipates her rebellion against her
parents later in the play; as the gap between Juliet and her
family widens
 Juliet’s view of love also points to the spiritual quality of
her love for Romeo, untainted by economic and sexual
concerns
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Three female characters
Lady Capulet: flighty, ineffectual,
controlling of her daughter
The Nurse: vulgar, but devoted to Juliet,
and instrumental in her upbringing
Juliet: at first, appears acquiescent, but
with a quiet strength hinted at in her
speeches
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Why is this scene important?
It introduces the second title character, and
we get our first impressions of her (sweet,
biddable, obedient?)
BUT she displays sense, intelligence and
strength of character in handling the Nurse
Introduces the notion, through the Nurse’s
story, that Juliet has been destined to be
given away in sex/marriage since birth
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Act I, Scene iv - Summary
 Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio, all wearing
masks, are on their way to the feast
 Mercutio mocks Romeo, and his romantic
pretensions, by using blatantly sexual metaphors
 Mercutio delivers his Queen Mab speech which
suggests a dark view of mankind and of love
 The scene ends with Romeo’s sense of
foreboding – he fears some ill fortune will come
from this night
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Mercutio and Love
 Mercutio contrasts to the lovestruck Romeo and the
peaceful Benvolio - he is a witty and quick-tempered
skeptic
 Mercutio teases Romeo for his love melancholy by
sarcastically using conventional images of love: “You are
a lover, borrow Cupid’s wings / And soar with them above
a common bound.”
 Mercutio is an anti-romantic; for him, love is a physical
pursuit, which he emphasizes through his bawdy
wordplay: “If love be rough with you, be rough with love
/ Prick love for pricking and you beat love down.”
 Mercutio’s repeated references to the sexual aspect of
love casts Romeo’s transcendent love for Juliet in a more
spiritual light
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
The Queen Mab Speech
 Shows Mercutio at his best – clever, punning, teasing
 His wild speech and flights of fancy show a man of excess
 Mercutio does not believe that dreams foretell the future
 He suggests Queen Mab brings dreams to humans as a
result of their worldly desires and anxieties
 Lawyers dream of collecting fees and lovers dream of
lusty encounters; the fairies merely grant wishes
 In juxtaposing lawyers and lovers, soldiers and fairies, he
shows the more negative image of life
 Contrasts love/hate, fantasy/reality, idealism/cynicism
 Dark descriptions dominate his speech as we see with of
the bloodthirsty image of the soldier who dreams of
“cutting foreign throats” and that he sees love as a base
Created by Maureen Meeke and
and often corrupting
force
Claire Donaghey
Fate
 Romeo’s final speech anticipates his meeting
with Juliet and creates an atmosphere of
impending doom which undercuts the festivities
 He foretells a date with destiny
 The heavy tone of this premonition is far more
serious than the shallow melancholy Romeo has
so far expressed
 The cosmic imagery of “some consequence
hanging in the stars” echoes the Prologue in
which Romeo and Juliet are presented as “starcross’d” lovers,Created
whose
destinies
by Maureen
Meeke and are tragically
interlinked
Claire Donaghey
Task
 This scene continues and reinforces the notion of
‘fate’ determining lives
 Romeo reveals that his mind ‘misgives some
consequence, yet hanging in the stars’, and that
‘this night’s revels’ will offer ‘some vile forfeit of
untimely death.’
 WRITING TASK:
 Why does Shakespeare introduce this atmosphere
of impending doom even before Romeo and
Juliet meet?
Created
by this
Maureendramatic
Meeke and
 What is the effect
ofClaire
technique?
Donaghey
Act I, Scene v - Summary
 Romeo sees Juliet and falls in love with her
instantly
 He declares that he has never loved until that
moment (Rosaline is forgotten instantly)
 Tybalt recognises Romeo’s voice and swears he
will avenge this insult
 Romeo and Juliet kiss confirming their
reciprocated feelings of love
 However, they also discover that they are from
opposing households and recognise the grave
consequences of their love
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Youth/Age
 The theme of youth versus old age is evident in
this scene through Capulet’s memories of his
youth
 The reminiscence with his cousin about the
masques they danced in as young men
emphasises his position as an old man past his
“dancing days.”
 This contrasts with the youth and vitality of
Romeo and Juliet
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Genuine Love
Romeo believes that he can now
distinguish between the artificiality of his
love for Rosaline and the genuine feelings
Juliet inspires: “Did my heart love till
now? Forswear it, sight / For I ne’er saw
true beauty till this night.”
He speak spontaneously and comments on
Juliet’s personal beauty
This is ‘love at first sight’
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Imagery
 Romeo’s use of imagery from this point on is genuine as
he moves away from the inflated, rehearsed and overacted
descriptions of his love for Rosaline
 His imagery describes Juliet as a source of light, against
the darkness: “she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night” – she offers
hope in this dark world
 Romeo has often sought sanctuary in the dark, (he locked
himself away in his room and shut the windows to create
an “artificial night”)
 Juliet transports him from the dark into the light
 Their first conversation is an extended religious metaphor
which implies that their love is spiritual and pure
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Juliet’s Strength
 Their interaction provides an insight into how
their relationship will develop
 Romeo is the instigator of the first kiss - Juliet
simply stands still and lets him, but
 She instigates the second kiss proving herself
self-assured, sharpwitted and resourceful in
getting him to kiss her again
 She says to Romeo ‘You kiss by th’ book’ –
indicating that she recognises Romeo’s tendency
to mimic the forms of love but also reveals how
skilfully he kisses
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Sonnet
 They speak just 14 lines to each other before their first
kiss
 Rhyme scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG – a perfect,
idealized sonnet form (often used for love poetry) and the
same rhyme scheme as the Prologue
 Elevates their love
 Links the lovers as one as they speak together in one
poetic form
 Ironic juxtaposition of sonnets:
– Prologue (tells us they are going to die)
– Their 1st meeting (they fall in love and set the whole
train of events Created
in motion)
by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Conflict
 Such expression of true love never lasts long
within this feuding society
 The threat of violence immediately interrupts the
romantic atmosphere created by Romeo’s sonnet
when Tybalt recognises Romeo’s voice and wants
to kill him then and there
 He is forced to endure Romeo’s presence due to
Capulet but vows that he will not let this pass
 The play explores not only the conflict between
the two feuding families but also the conflict
within the families and across the generations
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Capulet
 Old Capulet insists that Tybalt does nothing
about Romeo as this will ruin the party
 He also indicates that he likes Romeo, ‘Verona
brags of him/To be a virtuous and well-governed
youth’, and will not have him harmed in his
house
 However, he shows his ability to act pleasantly
while being angry at the same time - we cannot
always trust his words
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Love/ Hate
 Love and hate are connected throughout the play
and suggest there is no hope for their love
 When Juliet discovers that Romeo is a Montague
she states: ‘My only love, sprung from my only
hate!’
 In an instant, Juliet concisely expresses the
connection between love and hate
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
Fate
 Juliet declares that if she cannot marry Romeo,
she would rather die: “If he be married. / My
grave is like to be my wedding bed.”
 The image of death as a bridegroom for Juliet
creates an atmosphere of impending tragedy as it
foretells the doomed nature of their love
 Tybalt recognises Romeo’s voice when he
declares his love for Juliet which:
– Seals their love
– Seals their fate
– Seals Tybalt’s fate
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey
At the end of Act I
All the main characters have been
introduced
Romeo and Juliet have met, fallen in love
and realised (too late) that each belongs to
the opposing camp
Tybalt has sworn to wreak revenge on
Romeo for insulting his family
Created by Maureen Meeke and
Claire Donaghey