Romeo & Juliet - Act 1 Scene 5
A hall in Capulet's house.
Musicians waiting. Enter Servingmen with napkins
Again, the play sets up and then breaks a mood. Here, the comic servants' bustling sweeps away the brooding of the previous scene, preparing us for the bustle and liveliness of the Capulet party.
First Servant
Where's Potpan, that he helps not to take away?
He shift a trencher? He scrape a trencher!
Second Servant
When good manners shall lie all in one or two
men's hands, and they unwashed too, 'tis a foul
thing.
First Servant
Away with the joint-stools, remove the court
cupboard, look to the plate. Good thou, save me
a piece of marchpane; and, as thou lovest me,
let the porter let in Susan Grindstone and Nell.
Antony, and Potpan!
Second Servant
Ay, boy, ready.
First Servant
You are looked for and called for, asked for and
sought for, in the great chamber.
Second Servant
We cannot be here and there too. Cheerly, boys;
be brisk awhile, and the longer liver take all.
Enter CAPULET, [with JULIET and others of his house, meeting the
Guests and Maskers]
Since only Capulet is speaking, Lady Capulet and Juliet may be greeting guests silently; this moment gives Juliet an opportunity to show how she behaves in public: is she comfortable, awkward, charming, polite, distant?
CAPULET
Welcome, gentlemen! Ladies that have their toes
Unplagued with corns will have a bout with you.
Ah ha, my mistresses! Which of you all
Will now deny to dance? She that makes dainty,
She, I'll swear, hath corns; am I come near ye now?
Welcome, gentlemen! I have seen the day
That I have worn a visor and could tell
A whispering tale in a fair lady's ear,
Such as would please. 'Tis gone, 'tis gone, 'tis gone.
You are welcome, gentlemen! Come, musicians, play.
A hall, a hall! give room! And foot it, girls.
The music and dancing probably continue through to the end of the party, as there are no instructions as to where they end.
Indoor lighting, supplied by candles, was both costly and laborious: good wax was expensive, and men had to be employed to light the candles and trim the wicks. Capulet's calls for "more light" aren't just practical, they show that he's pulling out all the stops, spending lavishly in order to impress the party-goers.
Music plays, and they dance
More light, you knaves, and turn the tables up,
And quench the fire, the room is grown too hot.
Ah, sirrah, this unlooked-for sport comes well.
Nay, sit, nay, sit, good cousin Capulet,
For you and I are past our dancing days.
How long is't now since last yourself and I
Were in a mask?
Second Capulet
By'r lady, thirty years.
CAPULET
What, man! 'Tis not so much, 'tis not so much:
'Tis since the nuptials of Lucentio,
Come pentecost as quickly as it will,
Some five and twenty years; and then we masked.
This relatively insignificant exchange serves a few purposes: it keeps some dialogue going while the other characters arrange themselves into the dancing, and it underscores the image of Capulet as an old man still hanging onto his youth.
Second Capulet
'Tis more, 'tis more, his son is elder, sir;
His son is thirty.
CAPULET
Will you tell me that?
His son was but a ward two years ago.
ROMEO
[To a Servingman]
What lady is that, which doth enrich the hand
Of yonder knight?
It's necessary for the story that Romeo not learn Juliet's identity until later, but it's odd that this servant doesn't recognize his master's only child.
Romeo poetically associates Juliet with light and brightness, an image he maintains until the end of the play.
Servant
I know not, sir.
ROMEO
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope'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 till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.
Tybalt's line reminds us that Romeo is still wearing his mask. His comment about "solemnity" also suggests that he has a very different impression of the party from everyone else.
TYBALT
This, by his voice, should be a Montague.
Fetch me my rapier, boy. What dares the slave
Come hither, covered with an antic face,
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?
Now, by the stock and honour of my kin,
To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin.
CAPULET
Why, how now, kinsman! Wherefore storm you so?
The staging here can be quite choreographed: Romeo is watching and following Juliet, Tybalt is watching Romeo, and Lord Capulet may be keeping an eye on Tybalt. Juliet, presumably, is dancing with various guests, as are Benvolio and Mercutio.
TYBALT
Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe,
A villain that is hither come in spite,
To scorn at our solemnity this night.
CAPULET
Young Romeo is it?
TYBALT
'Tis he, that villain Romeo.
It's surprising that Capulet recognizes Romeo right away, though it may indicate he's more perceptive than he gets credit for. The delivery of this line can demonstrate how he feels about Romeo. Despite the feud, he may be impressed with the young man, or even amused by his daring.
CAPULET
Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone.
He bears him like a portly gentleman,
And, to say truth, Verona brags of him
To be a virtuous and well-governed youth.
I would not for the wealth of all the town
Here in my house do him disparagement.
Therefore be patient, take no note of him.
It is my will, the which if thou respect,
Show a fair presence and put off these frowns,
And ill-beseeming semblance for a feast.
These lines could be taken to mean that Capulet is genuinely interested in ending the feud. Alternatively, they may suggest that he simply wants to keep violence away from his own home, and intends to pursue vengeance later.
TYBALT
It fits, when such a villain is a guest.
I'll not endure him.
CAPULET
He shall be endured.
What, goodman boy! I say, he shall; go to!
Am I the master here, or you? Go to.
You'll not endure him! God shall mend my soul!
You'll make a mutiny among my guests!
You will set a cock-a-hoop! You'll be the man!
TYBALT
Why, uncle, 'tis a shame.
Lord Capulet must negotiate a private moment in a public place, interrupting his rage at Tybalt to play the role of genial host, before returning to his blustering threats.
CAPULET
Go to, go to!
You are a saucy boy: is't so, indeed?
This trick may chance to scathe you, I know what;
You must contrary me! Marry, 'tis time.
Well said, my hearts! You are a princox; go.
Be quiet, or – More light, more light! For shame!
I'll make you quiet. What, cheerly, my hearts!
TYBALT
Patience perforce with willful choler meeting
Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting.
I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall,
Now seeming sweet, convert to bitter gall.
Exit
The structure and content of the lovers’ speeches here reflect poetic conventions: their words form a perfect sonnet, trading off verses, and sharing the final line. There’s a charged tension between the very chaste religious language and the passion underlying it, which culminates in their first (and second) kiss.
ROMEO
[To JULIET]
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
JULIET
Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this,
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.
ROMEO
Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
JULIET
Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
ROMEO
O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do:
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
JULIET
Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.
ROMEO
Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.
Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged.
There are no stage directions here, but the text strongly suggests two kisses: Romeo kisses an unmoving Juliet at first, and she kisses him back in between their final lines. Juliet's habit of "stealing" a second kiss again demonstrates her willful and forward character, and will recur later in the play.
JULIET
Then have my lips the sin that they have took.
ROMEO
Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again.
JULIET
You kiss by the book.
Nurse
Madam, your mother craves a word with you.
ROMEO
What is her mother?
The Nurse may at this point mistake Romeo for Paris, as she is surprisingly forward about recommending Juliet to Romeo, in language that's both sexual and monetary. The image of her nursing the young lady probably doesn't help.
Nurse
Marry, bachelor,
Her mother is the lady of the house,
And a good lady, and a wise and virtuous.
I nursed her daughter, that you talked withal.
I tell you, he that can lay hold of her
Shall have the chinks.
ROMEO
Is she a Capulet?
O dear account! My life is my foe's debt.
BENVOLIO
Away, begone; the sport is at the best.
ROMEO
Ay, so I fear; the more is my unrest.
Once again, Capulet is the charming, gregarious host, inviting his guests to stay for a dessert course, and, when they insist on leaving, offering them torch-bearers to light their way home. Apparently, the young men's departure signals the end of the party, as Capulet heads off to bed, and the stage empties.
CAPULET
Nay, gentlemen, prepare not to be gone,
We have a trifling foolish banquet towards.
Is it e'en so? Why, then, I thank you all.
I thank you, honest gentlemen. Good night.
More torches here! Come on then, let's to bed.
Ah, sirrah, by my fay, it waxes late.
I'll to my rest.
Exeunt all but JULIET and Nurse
JULIET
Come hither, Nurse. What is yond gentleman?
Nurse
The son and heir of old Tiberio.
Juliet demonstrates her cautious side, making several inquiries before getting to the subject of Romeo. Does she maintain an even tone, or do her voice or face betray her true feelings?
JULIET
What's he that now is going out of door?
Nurse
Marry, that, I think, be young Petruccio.
JULIET
What's he that follows there, that would not dance?
Nurse
I know not.
JULIET
Go ask his name. If he be marrièd,
My grave is like to be my wedding bed.
Nurse
His name is Romeo, and a Montague,
The only son of your great enemy.
Both lovers' situations have now been reversed: Romeo has gone from melancholy love for Rosaline to burning love for Juliet; Juliet has gone from disinterest in romance and marriage to the passion of first love.
JULIET
My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathèd enemy.
Nurse
What's this? What's this?
JULIET
A rhyme I learned even now
Of one I danced withal.
One calls within 'Juliet.'
Nurse
Anon, anon!
Come, let's away; the strangers all are gone.
Exeunt