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Effectiveness Of Act 1 Scene 5 Of Romeo And Juliet

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Effectiveness Of Act 1 Scene 5 Of Romeo And Juliet
Essay Question :

Explore the ways that Shakespeare makes Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet dramatically effective.

In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare explores the themes of love and hate. It is ultimately a love story between the characters Romeo and Juliet that ends in tragedy due to the ongoing feud between their families, the Montague’s and Capulet’s. Before Act 1 Scene 5 where the main characters would meet for the first time. The audience were aware that Romeo was madly in love with a girl named Rosaline who did not love him back. They also knew Juliet’s father was attempting to arrange a marriage between his daughter and her suitor Paris. Therefore the audience expected that in Act 1 Scene 5, where the Capulet’s were hosting a masquerade ball, Romeo would try to cheer up and find Rosaline; while Juliet would meet and judge her possible husband Paris.

In Act 1 scene 5 Capulet opened up the masquerade ball with a speech, “Welcome gentlemen! Ladies that have toes unplagu’d with corns will walk about with you.” Shakespeare intended the speech to be welcoming and the humorous, to create a dramatic effect. It created a happy atmosphere and so the audience were to believe that the evening would be a pleasant
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It is then that Romeo finds out that Juliet is a Capulet. He responds in shock “is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt”. When he is taken away by his friend Benvolio the nurse then reveals to Juliet that Romeo is a Montague, Juliet is in despair exclaiming “my only love sprung from my only hate” at this point Shakespeare creates a lot of tension and uncertainty, the audience are left wondering what will happen to the lovers, there is even some irony of events likely to come when Juliet claims she will die if she cant marry

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