The Dramatic Importance of Act 3, Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

The Dramatic Importance of Act 3, Scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

This scene focuses mainly on Juliet and her emotions and how events

can change so quickly. At the start of the scene, when she is with

Romeo, she is ecstatic, she has married the man she loves in secret

and has spent her first night with him. She urges him not to leave

and Shakespeare uses metaphors concerning light and dark, “It is the

lark that calls, not the nightingale” where she tries to convince him

that the bird calling is a nightingale and not a lark. When he leaves

the audience would not know quite how to feel. Shakespeare wrote the

lovers to be sympathised with and yet the moral dilemma facing the

audience would be the obvious wrong the lovers have committed by

marrying in secret. Juliet is upset after Romeo leaves, and her

sadness turns into anger as her mother enters and tells her of the

news. Anger then turns into fear with Capulet’s threats and shouting

and from fear she goes to betrayal when the nurse advises her against

Romeo. The audience sympathises with the lovers from the start,

Shakespeare warns them in the prologue of the lover’s fate, and that

they are doomed to die for their love.

Over the scenes, the audience watching the play has seen Juliet change

from a girl who obeys her parents and stands to inherit a lot from

them to one who would disobey her father’s wishes, and refuse marriage

to a man of his choice and in doing so, risk everything she has. Up

till this scene, she and her mother have seemed to have a civil

relationship, due to the mothers often being absent in the upbringing

of their children, but when her mot...

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..., when Juliet

says she is going to confession, after having a row with Capulet, the

nurse believes her, as she hasn’t lied to her so far. But Juliet

obviously no longer thinks that she can trust the nurse and so ends up

lying to her.

Act 3, scene 5 is a vital scene in the play, as it shows how the

characters- Capulet and Juliet especially can change so quickly in

personality and emotions. Shakespeare changes the language and

sentence structures used in this scene to adapt to the mood of the

character speaking. He uses such beautiful language and metaphors

when writing the dialogues between Romeo and Juliet. Many other

speeches in the play wilt in comparison with the vividness he uses to

emphasize their love. He uses this scene especially to show the

audience the other sides of Juliet, Capulet and his lady.