Good Morning S5!

1. Good Morning S5! “He that hath the steerage of my course/Direct my sail!”

2. Today’s lesson... • Act 1 Scene 4 • Mercutio • Romeo’s dream • Act 1 Scene 5 • The Capulet party • Romeo and Juliet

3. Act 1 Scene 4 • Plot Summary • Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio, all wearing masks, are on their way to the Capulets’ feast. Romeo is still depressed over his love for Rosaline. Mercutio tries to cheer him up but Romeo has a premonition that something bad will happen at the party.

4. Mercutio • Watch the film clip. What impression do you get of Mercutio? • He is quick witted, passionate and clever – probably Romeo’s closest friend. • He mocks Romeo’s ideals of love – his speech is full of puns and sexual innuendo. “If love be rough with you, be rough with love/Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.” • His Queen Mab speech is confusing. He tells a fairy tale that takes a sudden dark twist – it moves from a fairy bringing dreams of love to lovers, to a hag teaching young maidens to have sex.

5. Mercutio and Romeo • Romeo calms him down “Thou talk’st of nothing.” • Mercutio concludes that “dreams/which are the children of an idle brain” – he feels that all dreams are a delusion. What does this say about Romeo?

6. Romeo’s premonition • “My mind misgives/Some consequence yet hanging in the stars/Shall bitterly begin his fearful date/With this night’s revels, and expire the term/Of a despised life closed in my breast/By some vile forfeit of untimely death. But He that hath the steerage of my course/Direct to my sail!” • He asks fate to help him, yet also recognises something in the stars is against him. This echoes the Prologue – “star crossed lovers”.

7. Act 1 Scene 5 • Plot Summary • Capulet welcomes his guests. Romeo sees Juliet and is smitten by her beauty. Tybalt overhears Romeo talking and is enraged, sending for his sword. However, Capulet defends Romeo and warns that nobody will disturb the party. Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time – it is love at first sight. Romeo discovers she is a Capulet and Juliet finds out from the nurse that he is a Montague.

8. Luhrmann • Watch the film clip of Act 1 Scene 5. Note down your thoughts on; • Romeo’s reaction to Juliet – how is it different to his talk of Rosaline? • Is it realistic? • How does Capulet’s mood change?

9. Romeo sees Juliet • How is Romeo’s reaction to Juliet different to his words on Rosaline? • Page 39 “What lady’s that which doth enrich the hand/Of yonder knight?” • His language now takes on a richness and beauty which was missing earlier when he spoke about Rosaline. • Rather than act like a lovesick fool, the focus of his attention moves away from himself and the audience has no doubt that he is truly in love. • It is love at first sight.

11. Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 43-52 • Read Romeo’s speech aloud in your group. Identify; rhyme, metaphor, simile, holy imagery. • “O she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear/Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear/So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows/As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows./The measure done, I’ll watch her place of stand/And touching hers, make blessed my rude hand./Did my heart love til now? Forswear it, sight!/For I ne’er saw true beauty til this night.”

12. Tybalt and Capulet • How does Capulet’s mood change? • Tybalt is enraged at Romeo’s presence at the feast; “What dares the slave come hither...To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.” • We see evidence of Capulet’s sudden and furious temper. “He shall be endured!” • Tybalt’s threat reminds the audience that tragedy awaits the young lovers. “I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall/now seeming sweet, convert to bitterest gall.” • Tybalt’s rage and violent language is a stark contrast to the love between Romeo and Juliet and the loving words they exchange.

13. Lines 92-105 • This first meeting of the two lovers is written as a sonnet – a popular Elizabethan form of expressing love. • By using a sonnet here, Shakespeare is elevating their love – we know it’s genuine. • The sonnet contains much religious imagery – this is to emphasise the depth and sincerity of their love. Read it aloud in your group. What religious imagery can you identify? Work with a partner.

14. Romeo and Juliet • Who do you think is more passive in this scene? Back up your answers by referencing the text. • This scene is full of hints that the course of true love will not run smoothly. Find and explain the following; • Romeo’s words before the party. • Romeo’s words when he finds out who she is. • Juliet’s words when sending the nurse to identify Romeo. • Juliet’s words when she finds out.

15. Romeo’s words before the party; “.. My mind misgives/Some consequence yet hanging in the stars/Shall bitterly begin his fearful date/With this nights revels.” (Act 1 Scene 4) • His words when he finds out who she is; “Is she a Capulet?/O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt.” (Act 1 Scene 5) • Juliet’s words when sending the nurse to identify Romeo; “If he be married/My grave is like to be my wedding bed.” (Act 1 Scene 5) • Juliet’s words when she finds out; “Prodigious birth of love it is to me/That I must love a loathed enemy.” (Act 1 Scene 5)