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Why is the First Act of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ so Important?

This essay looks at the significance of Act 1 of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', analysing how Shakespeare set's up the crutial aspects which make this a wholly gripping and exciting play, and also includes some history on the play itself.


Why is the First Act of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ so Important?

‘Romeo and Juliet’ has been described as one of William Shakespeare’s greatest theatrical works of all time. His plays have been so successful that not only have they stood the passage of more than four hundred years, but they are still enjoyed today by many thousands of people. The main question that is asked is how does his writing still entertain audiences, even if the world has advanced so far, how does it still grip people in the way that it held the audiences of the 16th Century? I intend to try and discover, not only about Shakespeare’s writing, but himself as a writer.

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and was the eldest son of John and Mary Shakespeare, at Stratford-upon-Avon, which is now one of Britain’s biggest tourist attractions. At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway but little of his life before then is known, and just a year later he had his first child, a daughter by the name of Susanna. Two years after that his wife gave birth to twins, a son named Hamnet (Whose name was to be an inspiration for the main character in one of his most famous, and longest plays Hamlet,) and a daughter named Judith.
The first mention of Shakespeare as a playwright was in 1592 by a fellow colleague named Robert Greene who described him as “an upstart crow beautified with our feathers…”. Greene was clearly jealous of Shakespeare’s talent and mocked his name by calling him “the only Shake-scene in a country”, which was again trying to demean the successfulness of his work. This is also around the time that Shakespeare’s first published plays were being produced, some of which are very famous, and popular in our modern society, such as ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, ‘Richard II’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.
In 1599 Shakespeare started performing his plays at the Globe Theatre, in open air. The performances then were considerably different to what they are now, because in the 16th and 17th centuries the theatre was one of the most favourable form of entertainment, and many different statures of people when there not just to watch to play but to socialise, so it was quite rowdy. This meant that the play had to seize the attention of the audience and make then want to watch what was happening on stage and also to make them interact with what the actors were doing

Romeo and Juliet was originally based upon a poem called ‘Romeus and Juliet’ written by a poet named Arthur Brooke in 1562, but the story’s origins are firmly based in folklore which would have existed many years before the story was finally put down onto paper. When Shakespeare wrote his play he used Brooke’s poem as his base source of which he attempted to stick to as closely as possible but some characters such as Mercutio are entirely of his own invention.
Another thing that is worth mentioning about the play itself was that for its time, it was quite unlike any tragedy that it had descended from. It was so revolutionary because the play progressed much more by coincidence, bad timing and just categorical bad luck, rather than the characters falling because of their own flaws and going down a path that will inevitably lead to catastrophe.

The Prologue of this play is brought in for many reasons and it is a good assumption that when Shakespeare was producing the play he felt that an introduction like this, would be best way of getting across what needed to be said. The first main point to look at in the prologue is that it introduces the setting, which is in Verona, and this is important for the audience because adds an exotic flare to the story and most people had never travelled abroad in Elizabethan times. The following point is informing the audience about the plot, and which also tells the audience what is going to occur and the ending of the play. This is done because most of the audience would already know the story of Romeo and Juliet, but would be more interested in how the play is actually performed and how the main characters die. It also brings in the theme of fate and destiny because it tells you that Romeo and Juliet both die, which there is no way in changing, but also the use of the word ‘star-crossed’ because the people of that time believed that the stars guided a persons life, and the two lovers are ill fated right from the start. The prologue tells of how Romeo and Juliet must die in order bury the feud between the families making the death of them inevitable but also necessary. “Whose misadventured piteous overthrows doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.”
At the beginning of the prologue it tells of the two households, (the Capulets and the Montagues) and tells of how they are bitter enemies. There are many vital words in the prologue related to the negative feelings of the two sides which starts to build up the atmosphere for the audience, such as, “grudge”, “blood”, “fatal”, “death” and “rage”. These words build up tension and prepare the audience for the next act which, when performed would be a scene of great hatred and also violence.
There is another more practical reason that Shakespeare put a prologue into his play and that was to get the audiences attention before the play actually begun, because in that time there would have been people drinking and shouting and many of the people would not have realised that the play was starting. This also meant that the person reading the prologue would be able to not only get the attention of the audience but to also interest them in the play.

The first Act is important in any production because it sets the stage for the story later on. It is also necessary that the first act convinces the audience to watch the play; it needs to grab their attention. The first Act also introduces some fundamental elements which the rest of the play is built upon, such as:

- Introducing characters
- Introducing key themes and ideas
- Establishing the setting
- Establishing the atmosphere and tone
- Making the genre clear
- Setting up a dilemma
- Making it convincing and real.

It is vital that these rudimentary factors are conveyed to the audience in the first act very intensely, so as not to let the audience lose interest in the performance, and to keep them engrossed in the story and in the emotions and feelings of the characters who are portrayed in it.



Scene 1 begins with two of Capulet’s servants Sampson and Gregory joking, and insulting the Montagues and show very early on the relationship between the two houses. Sampson seems very quick to start a quarrel with the Montagues which would show he has courage. I believe however that this is a very false sense of courage because firstly Gregory feels the exact opposite way, he suggests that they turn their backs to the Montagues and flee, and says that he does fear what might happen if they get involved in a fray, and secondly because he looks like he is trying to impress and prove himself to the people around him.
There is a small fight between the rival families but this soon escalates into a civil brawl in which many people are involved. At this time there are two important characters which are introduced, Benvolio and Tybalt. Benvolio enters by saying, “Put up your swords, you know not what you do.” This says something about Benvolio’s character because he was the only person who was trying to stop the fray and if Tybalt had not entered, and then he would probably have succeeded. This shows that not only is he a caring person, but that he commands respect from people whether they are from his own house or not, and he is smart enough to look beyond his actions and examine the consequences of what he does. Tybalt is a very different character and in the play is portrayed as a very fearless and brave, almost heroic character but is also quite offensive and very quick to anger. He also gets respect from other people but this is because they fear him and do not necessarily enjoy his company.
When Tybalt enters you are able to truly feel his presence because the atmosphere is very tense and this clear to see with the other characters. Tybalt is also very crafty with his tongue and is very good at insulting his foes. While entering he makes several verbal attacks at Benvolio calling him a ‘heartless hind’, and mocking him for fighting with his servants. Even though Tybalt only has five lines in this scene you can tell a great deal about his feelings towards the Montagues and Benvolio, as he even compares them to hell, “I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.”
The Prince soon stops the brawl as he enters with his procession of guards and servants. He says that the peace of Verona’s streets has now been interrupted three times by fighting between the two main families and that the next person to cause any civil unrest will pay the price on pain of death. This adds another problem which is to face Romeo and Juliet as now there is a means by which they can be separated and another step that will end up leading to the demise of both of the main characters.
After the brawl Lady Montague asks Benvolio if Romeo was at the fray. Benvolio tells that Romeo has been preoccupied with other matters and tells the audience of what symptoms he have been suffering. It is obvious to the audience that he has been suffering from unrequited love and that he is deeply depressed as Benvolio tells Montague that he will try and encourage Romeo to tell him what is wrong with him and what is upsetting him. This again shows a very kind and considerate side of Benvolio who is tying to help not just Romeo by talking with him but Montague as well for offering his assistance. This is another crucial part to Romeo and Juliet because is it isn’t for all of Benvolio’s help then Romeo and Juliet would never meet. I think that Benvolio’s character also rubs off very much upon the audience because he is generally a good person, and this make the audience feel for him when he is killed by Tybalt, and also feel for Romeo when Benvolio dies because the audience witnesses the two of them becoming very good friends.
After talking with Benvolio, Romeo tells him that he is upset over a girl named Rosaline. There is a speech that Romeo uses when trying to describe his problems to Benvolio. In this speech Romeo uses many oxymorons to convey what he is feeling to Benvolio which are as if his life has been tipped upside-down and that he has little purpose in life now that Rosaline has left him. The way in which Shakespeare uses such contradictory words was quite fashionable at the time, e.g. “Loving hate”, “heavy lightness”, “cold fire” and “sick health”. Romeo is feeling very distraught and very much, despair for the world and Verona. The character at this time must be feeling an awful lot of rage, but also love for this person which might explain why Shakespeare uses this language, in order to communicate with use what Romeo is going through.
Benvolio is used as a shoulder to cry on if you will, hearing Romeo’s problems and trying to offer him some advise but also attempting to find out information about what is wrong with him. Romeo is reluctant to tell Benvolio anything about what is wrong with him, always changing the subject and avoiding Benvolio’s questions. This must be a very personal issue for Romeo as he does not want to share his problems, and is afraid that others might share some concern over his problems and maybe he feels that he should be able to handle this problem on his own, and that he is not used to revealing his true emotions. Benvolio seems to be full of good advice and thinks that he can maybe solve Romeo’s problems without taking onboard what Romeo is truly feeling. Romeo on the other hand seems buried under all the help that Benvolio tries to give, and by Scene 2 gets very tired and annoyed at Benvolio, because Romeo feels that Benvolio has even less of an idea about love than he does. Benvolio suggests that Romeo looks at other women whom he might be interested in but Romeo just feels too strongly about Rosaline, and says that they just remind him of how beautiful she is. “What doth her beauty serve but as a note where I may read who passed that passing fair?”
There are two points which could be mentioned here, firstly the introduction by Benvolio of the idea that Romeo could go out in search of other women. This opens a new horizon for Romeo because he never really looked at other women apart from Rosaline and never actually studied the options open to him. At the moment he finds it very difficult to forget about Rosaline but by Scene 5 at the feast he begins to feel very strongly about Juliet, who in his eyes is perfect. This brings up the next point; is Romeo really in love. Shortly into the first act Romeo is unwilling to even consider loving anyone else apart from Rosaline but by the 5th Scene he has fallen in love with another woman entirely. It seems that this is infatuation on Romeo’s part believing that he is in love with Rosaline when he has not even looked at other women. On the other hand it could just be the mystery of love, a theme that weighs very heavily through out this tragedy and it leaves the possibility that love can actually have this affect on people.

Scene 2 is a very important scene in the play because it sets up the plot for later on and in Scene 5. It begins by introducing a new character Paris, a young man who is interested in marrying into the house of Capulet but very little is actually said or known about him. Capulet and Paris are in the middle of a conversation about Paris asking for Juliet’s hand in marriage. Some things to look at in this part are the way that Capulet feels about his daughter. It shows that he is very caring and considerate to his daughters needs and is also very protective of her because it is believed that Juliet is the last of his children, “Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she;”
He says that she maybe too young to be married and that maybe Paris should wait a few more years before he should be wed with Juliet. He also says that he will only allow Paris to marry Juliet is she agrees to it. This is completely different to what Capulet says to her in Act 3 Scene 5 where he threatens to disown her is she does not do as he commands. There is a clear change in character and it is hard to understand how Capulet could change so much. This is quite similar to another of Shakespeare’s plays, ‘Othello’ where in a matter of minutes Othello turns from being a calm, sensible and rational person to being a raved and fanatical madman. This brings into question whether Shakespeare wrote all the plays himself or if other people revised and rewrote them to improve or just alter their content. Unfortunately we will never know for certain but one thing we can be sure about is that inconsistencies happen often enough to bring into question the credibility of Shakespeare’s work.
Capulet has organised a party that he asks Paris to attend so that he can meet the rest of his friends. He gives a list of names to a servant and tells him to invite all of the people on the list to his party. As the servant cannot read he asks Romeo to read the list for him. This adds the theme of fate and destiny into the atmosphere of the play because just by coincidence the servant happens to ask Romeo to read the note. As Romeo reads the letter he comes across the name of Rosaline which convinces him to go to the party. This shows that Romeo is destined to go to the party and meet Juliet because so far nothing has stood in his way. The other reason that the servant is introduced is because he provides the audience with some comical aspect to the play and, when Shakespeare performed this part of the scene, no doubt he would have found an interesting way of making the servant as foolish as possible.
This scene shows a great deal about Romeo and Benvolio as they talk because Romeo becomes very tired of Benvolio’s advice to him and at one stage even kicks him to try and get him to shut up. Romeo is still very upset about Rosaline and vents his frustration upon Benvolio. “Not mad, but bound more than a madman is: shut up in prison, kept without my food, whipt and tormented,” When Romeo finds out that Rosaline is going to the feast, Romeo is egger to go and is sure that he will still be able to patch things up with her. Benvolio also urges him to go but to look at other women, and Romeo compares that with defying his religion. “Transparent heretics, be burnt for liars.” This shows how strongly he still feels for Rosaline and how he says that he could never look at anyone else.

Scene 3 begins with introducing the nurse, who is a very lively and energetic character but is also quite crude and coarse. She has a significant part in this play as she acts as a guide for Juliet and a go between for her and Romeo. The nurse in a way is a very over dramatic character who will not repress any of her rude nature, even in front of Lady Capulet and Juliet as she embarrasses both of them by blurting out pretty distasteful things about Juliet’s sexuality. For that point in time it would have been quite amusing because those sorts of things were generally not discussed in such a frank manner, especially in front of women of that stature.
Lady Capulet wants to talk with Juliet about marriage and about Paris but is interrupted by the Nurse who begins to talk about Juliet. She says that Juliet is fourteen which is a young age to be getting married but in Elizabethan times people were married even must younger than that. She also begins to talk about Juliet when she was a young girl and recalling events from her childhood, such as Juliet being weaned. The Nurse laughs and makes sexual jokes and references about Juliet and you begin to realise that the Nurse has a very kind and loving attitude towards Juliet, and that she seems more of a mother to Juliet than Lady Capulet does. This is probably because she raised Juliet and took care of her most of the time, but in the end she betrays Juliet. In a way maybe the Nurse is more of a hollow and superficial character than you are led to believe and that even though she may seem like she care more for Juliet, she will never be her real mother.
Lady Capulet gives reasons that Juliet should marry Paris but in the end it is Juliet’s choice and the audience are left believing that Juliet really does not want to marry him. At this point in the play the decision is left up to her and instead of saying no she says that if she likes him she will do something about it but if she does not then she will have nothing more to do with him. “I’ll look to like, if looking liking move; but no more deep will I endart mine eye than your consent gives strength to make it fly.” The guests then arrive for the feast and this leads into the next scene.

Scene 4’s relevance to the whole of Act 1 is very significant because it builds up tension and apprehension before the climax of Act 1, when Romeo and Juliet meet. It begins by introducing the characters, Romeo, Benvolio and a new character Mercutio who is a friend to Romeo and the kinsman to the Prince of Verona. Their intention is to gatecrash Capulet’s party because Mercutio was the only person invited.
Romeo is still deeply saddened and in this scene everyone tries to lift his spirits. It is important to establish what Romeo is feeling and in this scene he will have to let it come out into the open because in the next scene he will completely forget about Rosaline. They talk about love in this scene as if it were a painful thing which is not strictly true but non of these people have been too successful with love so it has been harsh on them. Mercutio speaks of love being like a thorn and you can tell he has had some tough experiences with love in the past. On line 30 after Mercutio puts on his mask he says, “A visor for a visor!” meaning give me a mask for my ugly face. I think Shakespeare put this in to try and tell the audience a little more about Mercutio, and the fact that he is quite unattractive may explain why feels slightly disheartened and later in this scene he is troubled, but somehow he still seems to reflect a positive attitude about himself.
Romeo refuses to be cheered up by any of his friends in spite of Mercutio’s joking and then at line 53 Mercutio starts to tell a story of Queen Mab. Mercutio goes into a lot of detail describing her to the rest of his friends almost as if he was reading a poem. This would have interested the audience because they would want to here things about magic and spirits but also links in with the play because Queen Mab can see what people are dreaming of and in the case of Romeo it would be love, which he has not stopped thinking about since the beginning of the play. At line 70 Mercutio starts talking about what Queen Mab actually does to people and generally amusing the audience and the people around him, but about half way through he starts to speak about unpleasant things such as war, and it is as if he is speaking from his own experience and conveying his own emotions into what is being said. At about line 89 he begins to sound very malicious and spiteful of this fairy tail Queen as he uses harsh sexual imagery and talks about sluttish women. In this part of his speech you feel as if Mercutio has got some grudge or bitterness towards Queen Mab but also towards the world because it is such a sickening place for him to be, and there are many disgusting and sinful people that he feels very strongly against.
Romeo has to calm him down as Mercutio is nearly at breaking point with is contempt for the world, and he dismisses dreams as idle fantasy. Just before the very end of the scene Romeo has a premonition of death. This is very important because this also brings in the theme of destiny and fate and the feeling of death will be strong in Romeo’s mind. Shakespeare uses words such as; “untimely” and “forfeit” to communicate an uneasy and ominous future for Romeo, and that his premature death will result from what he begins tonight. “Some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date”.

Scene 5 is the final scene to act 1 and it is also the climax of act 1 as this is where Romeo and Juliet first meet. It begins with Capulet preparing for his feast and welcoming his guests. Capulet again starts off by talking normally and peacefully but half way through after they have begun dancing he loses his temper with the servants for little reason. “More light you knaves, turn the tables up; and quench the fire, the room is grown too hot.” This shows again that Capulet is not always as calm as he would like to make out to most people.
The guests begin to converse and this is when Romeo sees Juliet for the first time, and he pretty much falls instantly in love with her. Romeo tells of her beauty and by now he has completely forgot about Rosaline, and the ‘question can love do this to a person?’ has to be asked. I think that Romeo as a character has a very high sense of emotion, and Shakespeare has made him out to be very susceptible to other women. It might not be that he is falling love but rather just infatuated with the women he sees, however love is a very powerful force, and the attraction between Romeo and Juliet is very strong, strong enough for them to die for each other at the end.
Tybalt sees Romeo at the feast and is immediately upset and angry with him, and he even tells a servant to fetch his sword. There is again a very clear feeling of hatred in the atmosphere between Tybalt and the Montagues as he wants to see all of the Montagues dead and he says that he would not consider it a sin if he killed Romeo there and then. “To strike him dead I hold not a sin.” He is fortunately stopped by Capulet who first tells him nicely to calm his temper by then gets angry with him when he still tries to pick a fight with Romeo he gets very angry. Tensions are running high for most of the Capulets which is clear to see, Tybalt is angered at the presence of Romeo and Capulet is angered by the fact that Tybalt is trying to ruin his party. From this we can pick up the feeling of mistrust between to fellow family member as there is a conflict of interests with neither Capulet or Tybalt backing down, but as Capulet is in charge Tybalt eventually leaves very bitter and still with feelings of hatred towards the Montagues which will not cease until Tybalt is killed.
The next part of the act is the big finish to the scene and to the act, where Romeo and Juliet meet, and for both of them it is love at first sight. The conversation between Romeo and Juliet is written as a sonnet to emphasise the fact that the two main characters are very much in love, but this style of writing would have also been popular with the Elizabethan audience. Most of the sonnet is leading up to the moment when they kiss and there is plenty of imagery especially religious imagery. I believe they used this because religion is supposed to be pure, and it is a metaphor for their relationship, being holy and also so being untainted. There is a massive play on the language which is used mainly as a manner of foreplay between the two of them teasing each other before they kiss each other.
They are interrupted by the Nurse and the two of them part and then in the very last few moments of the scene they each discover that they are from opposing houses. For the lovers this must be a heart wrenching experience because neither of them could have suspected that they were bitter enemies. This is another use of opposites but a very crucial moment when neither of the character were expecting it, only the audience knew what was going to happen and this probably made it quite enjoyable for them. “My only love sprung from my only hate!”




‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a classic Greek tragedy about two lovers which was written by a man named William Shakespeare before the turn of the 17th century. The truth is that the play was not written a something to be studied academically, but to be enjoyed and watched by people who found this was one of the only sources of entertainment they had. You will find that this play is more about the audience than anything else, even as a play today the audience is always the key factor. The themes of fate and destiny, love and hatred were added to grip the audience and to make the play in general more interesting to watch. Whether Shakespeare knew of his future fame and recognition; I doubt it, but the fact of the matter is that this is not important. As with any play, it is about what happens on the big stage, and not necessarily what is read in a classroom.


"Love looks not with eyes, but with the mind. And therefore is wing'd cupid painted blind nor hath love's mind of any judgement taste. Wings and no eyes figure unheady haste. And therfore is love said to be a child. Because in choice, he is oft beguilded."- Helena from ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’

-- William Shakespeare






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