Romeo & Juliet

Act 1
Important Events and their Significance
 Members of the Capulet and Montague households are
Ancient caught fighting in the streets.
Grudge
Queen Mab In the middle of light banter between the youngsters, in a
Speech rare moment of light and truth Mercutio lets his true
personality out.
Paris asks Lord Capulet for Juliet’s hand in marriage but
Lord Capulet’s Lord Capulet feels she is too young. Lord Capulet decides
Ball to invite Paris to a ball instead so he can win Juliet over.
Romeo and Juliet meet at the ball and are instantly
Romeo meets attracted to each other. They kiss each other but soon
Juliet discover the other’s true identity, with Juliet declaring ‘my
only love sprung from my only hate’.
Romeo and his friends go to the Capulet ball even
Romeo and though they are Montagues. Tybalt sees Romeo there
Tybalt Tiff and is so offended he vows to seek revenge,.
The scene is set, because we know about the
grudge between the two families we are able
to understand the difficulties and obstacles
Romeo and Juliet face during their
relationship.
It shows us that Mercutio has many layers and
depth to his personality.
Capulet is likely happy that such a
well-qualified suitor is already asking after his
young daughter. Count Paris is a kinsman
therefore his status in Verona would be high.
In this way, it is an advantageous match for
Juliet and would raise the status of her family.
If they did not meet, they would not have
fallen in love. Romeo would have fallen in love
with someone else (Rosaline) or been married
off in his family. Juliet would have been
married to Paris.
This makes Romeo and Juliet’s relationship
harder because he does not want to find
Tybalt but he is forced to as he wants to
avenge Mercutio’s death
Theme Development
1. Love versus hate and the many forms love takes; its
power to challenge hate; the impetuosity of young love;
the irrationality of hate and its capacity to destroy love.
The Capulets and Montagues fight in Verona's
marketplace; Romeo tells Benvolio of his unrequited
love for Rosaline.
2. Struggle for Independence and the struggle of young
people to make their own choices in the face of parents'
vested interests. The Prologue: the Chorus describes the
parents' 'ancient grudge' which is the catalyst for the
death of their children. Act 1, Scene 1: Lord Capulet
approves Paris's request to ask Juliet to marry him.
3. Fate first mentioned in the prologue with the reference
to “star crossed lovers” and “death” and then at the ball
how Romeo intended on seeing Rosaline at the ball but
met Juliet.

4. Death foreshadowed with words such as “blood”,

“mutiny” and “cold” in the prologue and Juliet when she
states “my grave is likely to be my wedding bed’
Character Development
Character introductions
● Lord Capulet:
○ Capulet is sometimes seen as a protective father, he is also controlling.
When Paris first asks for Juliet’s hand in marriage, Capulet is worried that
she is too young.
○ He is seen as controlling and proud
● Tybalt:
○ Tybalt is a violent character. At the very start of the play he gets involved
with the street fight. He later sees Romeo and his friends at the Capulet
party and threatens to fight with them there.
○ He is seen as aggressive and impulsive
○ What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word, / As I hate hell, all
Montagues, and thee. - Scene 1
Character introductions
Romeo:

● At the start of the play Romeo is depressed and confused by his love for Rosaline
○ He is up before dawn , walking alone in the woods and weeping; when the
sun rises, he hurries home, locks himself in his room and shuts out the
daylight
● When he sets eyes on Juliet at the Capulet party, Romeo forgets all about Rosaline,
claiming he has never experienced true love until this moment.

Mercutio:

● Mercutio is a fun-loving character who enjoys life. He teases Romeo about his love
for Rosaline
● However we are later introduced to the fact that Mercutio has many layers to his
personality through his Queen Mab speech.
● True, I talk of dreams, / Which are the children of an idle brain - Scene 4
Character introductions
● Benvolio:
○ Benvolio is a peace-loving character who tries to break up the street fight at the
start of the play. He talks to Romeo about love and tries to persuade him to forget
about Rosaline and look at other women. He also persuades Romeo to attend the
Capulet party where Romeo and Juliet meet. His name literally means ‘good
wishes’.
○ Part, fools! Put up your swords, you know not what you do. - Scene 1
○ He is seen as peaceful and honest
● Nurse:
○ At the start of the play we see the Nurse as Juliet’s carer and confidante and she
helps arrange the marriage between Juliet and Romeo. Although she is an adult,
she is sometimes seen as less mature than the teenage lovers.
○ She is like a mother to Juliet and has a strong allegiance with the Capulet family
○ Early on, the Nurse is playful and goes along with Juliet’s wishes. She shows
support for the secret love between her ward and Romeo.
○ She is seen as caring, trustworthy and playful