Masked Ball Romeo And Juliet

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The prologue is written in the form of a sonnet. It starts by introducing the two households and their ‘ancient grudge’. The play is set in “fair Verona”, Italy. Italy was regarded as a wealthy, romantic country in which romantic plays were often set. We are then told that the deaths of “star-crossed lovers” is the only way to end their “parent’s rage”.

It tells us the end of the play before it has started which sets a sombre mood. The audience will see the characters struggle yet know they are always doomed to fail. There is also a reference to the stars.

This is continued the whole way through the play and gives the impression that he stars determine the characters’ fate and they are not in control of their destiny. This all adds to the dramatic tension.

Shakespeare mentions ‘death’, ‘death-marked love’ and ‘fatal loins’, which all add to the fear of the audience. He does not let us know the reason behind the grudge. This prevents the audience from becoming biased towards one side, and creates sympathy as we feel that the more modern characters like Romeo and Juliet don’t have much to do with the grudge.

It also reinforces the self-perpetuating nature of the feud. Act one, scene one begins with the Capulet servants. They speak in prose sing slang and begin by insulting the Montagues, ‘The dog of the House of Montague moves me! ‘ This sets the scene in conflict.

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They treat women as objects and ‘weaker vessels. ‘ This is a very physical view of love and contrasts strongly with the love between Romeo and Juliet which comes later in the play. Shakespeare also includes some humour.

Why Doesn’t Romeo Want To Go To The Ball

After Benvolio and Tybalt enter, it soon turns into a brawl, including old Capulet and Montague. We are introduced to Benvolio as a peace maker as he says, ‘I do but keep the peace’, and Tybalt as a trouble maker as he tells the Montagues about peace that he ‘hates the word as e hates hell’. Shakespeare goes from the bottom of society with the servants, up to the top with the Lords. Language varies from prose, with the servants, to blank verse with Tybalt and Romeo and poetic verse with Lord and Lady Montague and the prince.

Romeo and Juliet are kept out of this brawl, to show their innocence and also so that there is no chance of them possibly seeing each other and the prince says, “If you ever disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace”, letting the audience know how serious this has become and at the same time showing the reason why Romeo will soon be anished. After the excitement, Lady Montague changes the mood with a rhyming couplet, ‘O where is Romeo? Saw you him today? Right glad I am he was not at this fray. Montague talks about Romeo being upset about something. Benvolio introduces us to Romeo which calms the whole scene down. When we meet Romeo, he talks about love and hate. He uses such oxymorons as ‘brawling love’, ‘loving hate’, ‘heavy lightness’, ‘serious vanity’, ‘feather of lead’, ‘cold fire’ and ‘sick health’.

This is to do with his “love for Rosaline bringing him pain and anguish rather than joy. It is also about the crazy world of the feud. At the end of Romeo’s short speech, he says, ‘That love I feel, I feel no love at this. This could tell us that he feels no love in the feud or that in return, he is receiving no love from Rosaline, which leads us to believe that he love will be forever unrequited as in the conventional courtly love. We have been given the impression of Romeo as someone who falls in love with a woman who is not goingg to love him back. In the play, we do not meet Rosaline which could be so that we don’t make comparisons between her and Juliet. Benvolio advises Romeo to ‘Examine other beauties’, and although this is first rejected by Romeo, this ironically is what he will do.

In scene two, we meet Paris who asks Capulet for Juliet’s hand in marriage. However Capulet thinks she is too young to be a bride. The servant with the guest list for the Capulet’s masked ball is illiterate so asks Romeo for help in reading it. This could be down to fate as is the fact that it was a masked ball and the Montagues could get in without being recognised. Romeo decides to go to the Capulet’s party to see Rosaline, and not as Benvolio suggests, to Compare her face with some that I shall how and I will make thee think thy swan a crow. In scene three Juliet’s mother asks her, ‘How stands your disposition to be married? ‘ Juliet replies, ‘It is an honour that I not dream of. ‘

Lady Capulet shows her desire for her daughter to be married, as she tells her that she, herself was a mother to Juliet at her age. The nurse is quite excited about it as she says ‘a man, young lady; lady such a man. As all the world, why he’s a man of wax’. Juliet tells her mother, ‘I look to like if looking, liking move. But no more deep I will endart mine eye. Then your consent gives to fly. ‘ She isn’t goingg to do anything that her mother doesn’t consent to, but she will look.

This has significance to what happens later because she did exactly the opposite and fell in love with Romeo and eventually got married to him without letting her mother know. Towards the end of the scene, Romeo predicts the consequences of him goingg to the ball. He says that ‘some consequence, yet hanging in the stars’ shall lead to his death. This is also a reference to ‘star-crossed lovers’ from the prologue. He also mentions the phrase, ‘direct my course’. This also leads back o the idea of fate controlling the characters’ actions. This gives the audience a feeling of apprehension.

It is love at first sight when Romeo meets Juliet. He delivers a series of five rhyming couplets talking about her beauty. Tybalt recognises Romeo’s voice and interrupts the romance by trying to get his uncle to throw him out. He says, “This by his voice hold be a Montague. ” Capulet refuses and speaks well of Romeo, ‘Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well governed youth. ‘ This is surprising. It also delays the more important plot for a few minutes which adds to dramatic tension. The first words that Romeo and Juliet share are in the form of a sonnet.

The way in which the words are used is very clever and the sonnet is finished with a kiss. The sentences flow together well which makes Romeo and Juliet seem compatible. The words of the sonnet have connotations of a courtly love, however, the kiss shows a more physical side which makes Romeo and Juliet’s love a mixture of the two types. Just as they are to kiss again, the nurse interrupts. This represents real life and also interrupts the peace. They both find out who the other is at the same time and they both mention death.

Romeo says, ‘My life is my foe’s debt’ and Juliet says, ‘If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed. This reminds the audience of the prologue, and Juliet’s words, ‘My only love sprung from my only hate’ ia a reminder of the feud and shows us that from the start, their love was tainted by the feud. The words are also quite similar to Romeo’s ‘loving hate’ in scene one when he talks with Benvolio. This also shows their compatibility. Juliet is led away by the nurse and Romeo, by his friends. This represents the distance between them and a sense of real life keeping them apart. I think Baz Luhrman interprets Romeo and Juliet very well in his film.

It has been set in modern days and the prologue is read out on the news. We are introduced to the characters and their feud using pictures to avoid confusion and we see two sky scrapers with the family’s names on the top of each, symbolising power, wealth and also their alikeness to one another. The music is loud and tense which gives it a dramatic atmosphere. We are first introduced to the Montague boys in a gas station and when they meet the Capulets a fight occurs. Both groups of boys are loud and Tybalt ears leather clothes and metal shoes which make him look tough and scary.

Their clothes and cars contrast as the Capulets wear dark colours and drive a black car and the Montagues wear bright colours and drive a yellow car with no roof. This highlights how different they are. Fast, loud music is combined with the sound of helicopters and police cars, speed up the scene. Lord Montague and his wife arrive in a limousine symbolising wealth and Luhrman has cleverly showed the guns to be called “sword” so Shakespeare’s lines such as “Give me my long sword, ho” will not ave to be changed when put in modern days.

Suddenly there is total silence as they are told off by the prince. It is a very dramatic way of changing the atmosphere. Calm, quiet music plays as Lady Montague and Benvolio talk of Romeo, and we are first introduced to him on a beach at sunset which is very romantic. We are introduced to Paris as “Bachelor of the year” on magazines, showing his suitability to Juliet and why her parents approve of him. We see Paris and Lord Capulet together which shows their friendship. Instead of the Montagues finding out about the party from Peter, they see t on television and decide to go.

We meet Juliet in a big mansion as she and her mother get ready for the party and talk about Paris. Lady Capulet is very bossy and loud. The nurse is smaller and friendly and it seems that she and Juliet have a good relationship. Fireworks are going off which are romantic and shows that it is a big occasion. Fate also plays a major role in this play and Baz Luhrman has interpreted “he that heth the steerage of my course, direct my saile” as a point when Romeo is taking drugs and loses control. As it is a masked ball, all the characters are in costumes.

Romeo is dressed as a knight. This symbolises that he is a hero. Also, when he first sees Juliet, he says, ‘What lady’s that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight? ‘ Juliet is an angel which implies that she is innocent. There are also references to ‘dear Saint’ and ‘speak again bright angel. ‘ Tybalt is dressed as a devil, symbolising evil, and his friend is death, subtly telling the audience that he will soon die. Lady Capulet is dressed as Cleopatra, showing the audience, her beauty, richness and love of men and her husband is an emperor symbolising his wealth and power.

This, however could also symbolise that he is living in the past and has old fashioned views on things like marriage. Paris is an astronaut, which is a well respected, though superficial modern day hero. It also shows that he doesn’t really fit in as most of the other characters are dressed as more historical figures. Lady Capulet is wearing lots of make up, yet Juliet is wearing none. This shows the audience that she is pure. The music is vibrant and loud in keeping with the party theme. ‘Young hearts born free… ‘ relates to Romeo and Juliet’s situation. Baz Luhrman has

Romeo and Juliet meet at a fish tank. The music has changed to soulful singing which is romantic and calms the whole pace of the scene down. The fish tank symbolises distance between Romeo and Juliet. It is also relaxing and there is mirror imaging between them. Lady Capulet flirts with Paris, which highlights the age difference between her and her husband. Romeo and Juliet find out about each other at the same time and there is slow, deep music. As Romeo is pulled away by his friends, this is combined with fast talking and barking dogs, making Romeo feel lonely.