act 5 scene 1


You have the option of performing this conversation between Romeo and the Apothecary as your CBA 1, if you decide to do this, you should follow these steps:


1. Plan and rehearse the performance as if you were directing it for the stage. 2. Research some images of this scene on stage or on film to give you ideas for your performance.


3. Begin your performance with an introduction to your audience, explaining what has happened to bring Romeo to the Apothecary, his state of mind and what he is planning to do. In your introduction, describe the costumes, the stage, the props and the lighting for the scene.


4. Write a conclusion, thanking your audience for their attention. Tell them what you hope you achieved, and invite questions on the performance.


Following your performance, you will need to fill in a Reflection Sheet. You can see the sheet on page 83 of your Portfolio.


Romeo,s Character


R6 Explore how and why characters develop Act Romeo’s words and actions


In Act 1, Romeo is an unhappy, lonely character, spending too much time on his own. He moans to his friend Benvolio that he is hopelessly in love with Rosaline, who makes him ‘despair’ because she gives him no love in return. His talk is full of ‘sad hours’, ‘griefs’ and ‘misery’.


Everything changes when he sees Juliet and feels love at first sight. He is blown away by her beauty. His dark world lights up: ‘O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!’ He speaks in bright, poetic images. Juliet is a ‘rich jewel’ and a ‘snowy dove’.


Romeo has a good reputation and is well liked. Loyal friends stand by him. He is even respected by Lord Capulet, who tells Tybalt that Romeo is known in Verona as a ‘gentleman … well-govern’d’.


When he speaks to Juliet, Romeo shows a tender, gentle nature: ‘My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand’.


In Act 2, having fallen head over heels in love with Juliet, he risks his life to climb over the Capulet walls to see her. He becomes his most romantic self in the moonlight, describing her as ‘the sun’ or a ‘bright angel’. Her eyes twinkle like ‘stars’. He wishes that he were ‘a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek’.


In Friar Laurence’s cell, we see impulsive, determined, headstrong Romeo: ‘marry us today’.


In Act 3, Romeo is part of the set of young Montague men who clash with the Capulets. In the heat of conflict, he tries to be peacemaker – ‘Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up’ – but when Mercutio dies he avenges him by killing Tybalt: ‘Fire-eyed fury be my conduct now’.


When he kills Tybalt, his world falls apart. He loses self-control and becomes so wild and dramatic that the friar calls him a ‘mad man’. Then we see his softer, romantic self again when he wakes with Juliet.


Act 5 begins with Romeo in Mantua, getting news of Juliet’s ‘death’ from his servant, Balthasar. He has strange premonitions about the future, ‘I dreamt my lady came and found me dead’. We see his impulsive side again, ‘Hire post-horses, I will hence to-night’. In contrast with his shallow, moody behaviour in Act 1, Romeo now darkens and deepens as he faces the harsh reality of fate. He becomes strong-willed and defiant, ‘I defy you, stars!’


Romeo is becoming a tragic, heroic, compassionate character. He is on a mission to be with Juliet. He shows pity for the poor Apothecary, ‘Famine is in thy cheeks’. He also shows his total commitment to his love for Juliet: ‘Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night’.


To his servant Balthasar, he speaks in wild hyperbole: ‘I will tear thee joint by joint’. His volatility and impulsiveness result in him killing Paris.


164


In his final soliloquy we see Romeo’s deep, poetic, romantic, tragic, loving, faithful character re-emerge: ‘Here’s to my love! ... Thus with a kiss I die.’


JUNIOR CYCLE ENGLISH Adjectives


sad, forlorn, lonely, solitary


poetic, happy, romantic


respected, liked gentle, tender, loving


fearless, passionate, poetic, sensitive


impulsive, headstrong emotional, rash


childlike, wild, dramatic, volatile, romantic


impulsive, hasty, defiant, strong-willed


kind, tragic, compassionate, faithful, committed


volatile


deep, poetic, romantic, tragic, loving, faithful


Act 5


Act 3


Act 2


Act 1


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