Dramatic Effect in Act One Scene Three of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Dramatic Effect in Act One Scene Three of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

"There lies the man, slain by young Romeo,

That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio."

These are the words of Benvolio, at the end of this crucial scene of

the play. "Romeo and Juliet" is one of Shakespeare's greatest

tragedies, and this is because of its dramatic effectiveness. The way

that Shakespeare, even in the modern day, conveys to his audience,

every thought and emotion going through his characters heads. In this

essay I am going to explore the ways that he does this, through his

characters, and the words they use, as well as the way he has set up

the story.

In every one of his plays, Shakespeare has written in five acts. In

the first he stets the scene, in the second he develops the story, and

sets up the key point for the third and key act. This key act is the

one I am looking at. So far in the play, Shakespeare has set up his

pair of lovers, and had them get married. He has also given pretence

for this fight to happen, in that Tybalt saw and recognised Romeo at

the Capulet party. The scene in question is the one after Romeo's

marriage to Juliet, and it is the first time he has seen his cousin

and friend since the marriage. In the scene Tybalt comes, looking for

a fight with Romeo, but when Romeo denies him the honour, he fights,

and kills Mercutio. The death is blamed on Romeo, but Tybalt comes

back, and fights Romeo, who kills him.

One of the key things in this scene that shows the dramatic

effectiveness is the dramatic irony. This is when the characters do

not know something that the audience do. In the scene there is a lot

of dramatic irony. Romeo and Juliet have got married, but in the scene

Romeo is the only one who knows. This is show when the others act in

astonishment to Romeo's exclamation:

"… The reason I have to love thee