K PANDOHE MERLEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL ACT 1 SCENE 1 NEW MUTINY - Gregory and Sampson are servants of Capulet - Sampson uses derogatory language - Sampson calls Montague a dog - He says he will push Montague men to the gutter - He will “thrust” Montague maids to the wall and “cut-off” their maidenheads (innuendo) - This illustrates the animosity that pre-exists - Aggressive, hostile attitude of Capulets to Montagues - Sampson suggests he would rape the defenceless Montague women and this shows his intense hatred In R&J, Shakespeare provides us with a criticism of romantic love. Tension between the romantic view of love (poetic language) and an anti-romantic view of love (realistic language) - Sampson’s language present the point of view that love is about sexual gratification - Sampson reduces romantic expression to a realistic level - Tybalt provokes Benvolio into fighting - They fight and Prince Escalus has to intervene - The Prince warns Capulets & Montagues that if their families engage in a fourth brawl then he will punish them with death (This foreshadows Romeo and Tybalt’s fatal brawl) K PANDOHE MERLEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL ROMEO IS LOVESICK FOR ROSALINE - Romeo’s parents and Benvolio discuss Romeo’s mood - Benvolio sees Romeo wandering around and opting to be left alone - Romeo is in an anti-social fit of depression (he is lovesick) - Romeo is melodramatic, infatuated, superficial and melancholic - Romeo is a romantic lover (Petrarchan) - Time passes slowly while he is out of his lover’s company - Romeo is an unrequited lover. Rosaline does not reciprocate his feelings. The “love” between Romeo and Rosaline is one-sided. ROMEO’S USE OF OXYMORONS - “O brawling love” “O loving hate” “O heavy lightness!” “Feather of lead” “bright smoke” “cold fire” “sick health” - Love is a wise form of madness, a sweet lozenge that you choke on Romeo is a courtly lover. He cultivates a series of loving terms, using exaggeration and hyperbole to communicate his feelings. Romeo does not communicate his feelings sincerely. He is not truly in love with moderate, he only thinks he is (he admits to this later on in the play). ROSALINE - Romeo tells Benvolio that he is depressed - Romeo “loves” Rosaline; he is obsessed with her - Rosaline wants nothing to do with Romeo - Rosaline has sworn off love and men to become a nun (holy woman) - Benvolio suggests that Romeo examines other beauties “You will think they swan a crow” - Romeo suggests that there is no one more beautiful than his beloved Rosaline - Romeo vows that he will have nothing more to do with women (passing cynicism) K PANDOHE MERLEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL ACT 1 SCENE 2 COUNTY PARIS & CAPULET - Paris (21) asks Lord Capulet if he can marry Juliet (13) - Capulet is concerned because Juliet is young and urges Paris to wait 2 more years - Capulet mentions that if Paris can woo Juliet gain her affections and her heart, Capulet will consent - Capulet will agree to the marriage only if Juliet also agrees Love according to Paris, is the pursuit of a formal contract with Juliet. This sets the standard (and contrast) by which Romeo’s passionate commitment can be judged. - Capulet invites Paris to the feast he is hosting, where Paris might meet Juliet - An illiterate servant is sent to invite the guests to the feast CAPULETS ATTITUDES TOWARDS MARRIAGE “My child is yet a stranger in the world; She hath not seen the change of 14 years, Let two more summers pass in their pride, Ere we might think her ripe to be a bride” - Capulet is possessive about his daughter - He sees Juliet as his to control - Juliet does not have a say in her future of the world - Capulet pleads with Paris to marry his daughter as it would be a useful connection for him - “ripe” has connotations of fertility and suggests she is a fruit to be picked rather than a person in her own right - Capulet reduces Juliet’s value to her ability to reproduce K PANDOHE MERLEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL ROMEO INVITES HIMSELF - Romeo continues to pine over his unrequited lover Rosaline - He likens his love for Rosaline to a form of madness - Romeo feels he should behave as if he is lovesick. He feels sorry for himself, cannot eat, desperate for resolution to his misery (Petrarchan lover) ROMEO ENCOUNTERS ILLITERATE MESSENGER - Romeo intercepts an invite to Capulets feast - Rosaline is invited to the party, thus Romeo is interested in going too - Benvolio talks Romeo into crashing the party - Benvolio wants Romeo to compare Rosaline to other beauties in order to move on “I will make thee think thy swan a crow” - Romeo over-states his feelings and over-estimates Rosaline’s importance “One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun ne’er saw her match since first the world began” - Benvolio and Romeo attending the feast in the hope of seeing Rosaline there Romeo “does not know how many more fish there are in the Adriatic Sea” K PANDOHE MERLEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL ACT 1 SCENE 3 LADY CAPULET, JULIET & NURSE - Lady Capulet goes to see Juliet about marrying Paris - Nurse rambles on about Juliet turning 14 in two weeks - Nurse shows her lower class by making crude comments - Nurse is talkative in nature which gets on Lady Capulets nerves - Nurses thoughts are of an explicitly sexual nature - Nurse shows interest in Juliet’s sexual development (puberty). This makes Juliet blush - Nurse has a realistic attitude to love - Juliet has a romantic view of love LADY CAPULET ON MARRIAGE “What say you? Can you not love the gentleman?” “This night you shall behold him at our feast” - Lady Capulet insists that Juliet accepts a young man whom she has not yet even seen - She bullies Juliet in to an arranged marriage - Lady Capulet tells Juliet to like Paris’ features / love at first sight (there is irony which is at Lady Capulet’s expense) - Lady Capulet encourages Juliet to fall in love with a boy at first sight - Juliet takes one look at ROMEO and knows her mother is right - Juliet finds that her love for Romeo physically overpowers any ethical regard for parental consent The play arrives at its supreme rating of love in the scale of human values K PANDOHE MERLEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL ACT 1 SCENE 4 CRASHING THE PARTY - Masks = Symbol of hiding - They wear masks at the party; these masks hide their identities - Romeo does not want to go as he is depressed - Romeo says he will not dance as he is heavy-hearted and heavy-footed - Mercutio questions Romeo’s romantic attitude towards women - Mercutio uses salacious language: “prick love for pricking” Expresses anti-romantic, ultra-realistic views of love MERCUTIO’S QUEEN MAB DREAM - “Dreams which lovers have are deceptive” - “Dreamers lie” - She awakens hopeless ambitions and ridiculous desires - Romeo fears something bad will come of this night (foreshadowing) K PANDOHE MERLEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL ACT 1 SCENE 5 THE CAPULET BALL - Lord Capulet welcomes all to his party - Romeo sees Juliet across the room and “falls in love” with Juliet LOVESTRUCK JULIET SPEECH - “I never knew true beauty til this night” - Hours ago Romeo said that ROSALINE is the most beautiful girl “since first the world began” - Now he says that Juliet: “She teaches the torches how to burn bright” “I never knew true beauty til this night” Romeo uses poetic language (romantic) Signifies a growth in Romeo’s maturity Benvolio is proven correct. “You will think thy swan a crow” - Romeo falls in love with Juliet instantly IS THIS IDEALIZED ROMANCE? IS THIS AN ENDORSEMENT OF ROMANTIC LOVE? - Romeo becomes aware of Tybalt and Tybalt becomes aware of Romeo - Lord Capulet will not allow Tybalt to start a quarrel and regards Romeo as virtuous and well-governed - Tybalt’s hatred contrasts Romeo and Juliet’s love declarations to one another “My lips, two blushing pilgrims ready to stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss” - Use of religious imagery “shrine” “saints” “saints” “pilgrims” suggests R&J have great admiration for one another NURSE COMES TO CALL JULIET - Romeo learns that Juliet is a Capulet - Juliet learns Romeo is a Montague “My only love sprung from my only hate” K PANDOHE MERLEWOOD SECONDARY SCHOOL
