Coursework Draft #2

“Romeo and Juliet”, one of the most popular play written by William Shakespeare, was  the universally-accepted representation of pure and immutable love. However, tasting the artwork carefully, I doubt that Romeo and Juliet’s love was not really that  invulnerable. Since both characters are young and impulsive, any incident could alter their emotions as well as behaviors dramatically. In order to demonstrate the alternation, I excerpt lines from Act II Scene 1, when Romeo and Juliet reveal their deep love to each other and Act III Scene 5, when they start to become desperate because of imminent separation. As these two scenes both happen at Juliet’s balcony before the two lovers separate, I emphasized the emotional difference by using changed vocal tones, exaggerated movements and contrasting colors. These techniques clearly show that their fervent love was eventually affected by desperation, which leads to their impetuous decisions and tragic ending.

The performance starts with a hint of strong love when Romeo confess his admiration under the balcony in Act II Scene 1, a scene filled with exchanging of romance, passion and hope . Romeo expresses his deep affection to Juliet by saying “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun(2.1 3).” This metaphor vividly indicates how fascinating Juliet is for Romeo, since “the sun” is the most unique substance in the universe. Knowing Juliet’s real mind when she say, “In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond(2.1 103)” , he could not conceal his exhilaration and vows to the moon immediately. Despite family feud, Romeo bravely pronounces his firm determination and urgent love. Similarly, young Juliet also has an intense desire on Romeo. She would like to discard her family and “no longer be a Capulet(2.1 39)” for Romeo if possible; she also discards a girl’s reserved manner, straightforwardly pouring out her heart to the man she only meet once:“Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow, And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay(2.1 151)”. The candidness of Juliet demonstrates her enthusiasm towards affections. Furthermore, Juliet is confident about their love. She wholehearted believes that they will meet again and prove their love legally: “This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet(2.1 128-129)”. Juliet feels reluctant to let Romeo leave: during their conversation, Juliet was forced to get into the room because of the Nurse, and immediately comes out to the balcony to meet Romeo again; she says multiple “goodbye” and “a thousand times good night” but just could not let Romeo leave. Romeo as well, grabs Juliet for times and waits her patiently when she is in her room. In this scene, they feel loath to part from each other and gain plenty of hope for the future because of their fervent love.

In the first scene our group aimed at showing the beauty and brightness of strong love, and therefore constructed an atmosphere of cozy and romantic. The entire scene was staged at the back of two windows, with a large table in front as fences of the balcony. I wore a dark red medieval dress and my partner, acting as Romeo, was in orange to show the ardor from our hearts. In the beginning, I, Juliet, was positioned on a little chair which was lower than the fence and therefore could only see but not hear anything outside of the “room”. After Romeo quietly presenting his monologue, I suddenly stood up. With a sigh, I started my own monologue with a complaining tone: “O, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo(2.1 36)”. Grumbling like a little girl, Juliet’s eagerness for Romeo was extremely strong. Therefore I showed the counter emotions of disappointment as well as expedition by saying the sentence above. When I find out that Romeo had heard my murmur, I firstly became shocked and immediately started to smile with excitement. I talk with him as genteelly as possible while could not hide the chuckle in my voice since the man I love was standing in front of me with his true heart. When Romeo vowed, I stopped him nervously with my hand trying to cover his lips: “O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her < circled > orb , Lest that thy love prove likewise variable(2.1 114-116)”. I raised my voice and spoke faster when I feel ambivalent for his promise, demonstrating that I wanted him to give me his vow, but I did not want it to be informal. I even touched hid cheek to show how much I am attracted by him when I say, “swear by thy gracious self(2.1 119)”. The most significant part which I emphasized was how the difficulty for Juliet to leave Romeo even for a second. When I “hear some noise within(2.1 143)”, I asked Romeo urgently for waiting for me, ran inside and ran back to him as soon as possible. I really pretended that I was running in a hurry for that short distance to show that I cared about Rome and was longed to see him. The second time when I said “a thousand times good night(2.1 164)”, I still held his hand when I turned back to the “room”.. Suddenly, I rush out again and speak loudly to him: “hist Romeo hist(2.1 169)” , and then ask him when should I send people to him the next. During the whole part of asking, I was looking at his eyes with smile. In addition to admiration, I expressed my dismay of his leaving by rising my hand in the air, pretending that there was a “wonton’s bird(2.1 191)” on my hand whom I just want to hold tightly. I finally held Romeo’s hand for the last time and returned to my room with a satisfied smile. When our hands finally had to separate, I still kept my hand spread at my back and tried to touch him with my finger tips. The series of movements showed how reluctantly I was to leave Romeo, and how much I want to meet him again although he was right in front of me. This scene ends with Romeo’s passionate monologue about his love and eagerness of marriage.

The second scene presents the deteriorated process of Romeo and Juliet’s love which starts with a humble beg of Juliet: “Wilt thou be gone? It was not yet near day. It was the nightingale , and not the lark(3.5 2)”. Knowing that Romeo is going to leave, Juliet struggles to cheat herself, which was the only thing she could do to comfort her broken heart. However, Romeo does not have the patience to be romantic when facing the risk of death; he directly points out the realistic: “It was the lark…I must be gone and live, or stay and die(3.5 6-11)”. Later, Romeo becomes extremely impatient and complains his discontent towards Juliet with an ending sentence of “Come death and welcome. Juliet wills it so(3.5 24)”. In this situation, Romeo only cares about himself rather than considering how sad Juliet was; his love for is gradually depleted because of the horror of death. Juliet eventually gives up retaining: “O, now begone. More light and light it grows(3.5 35)”. Romeo states his pessimistic mind to respond this sentence: “More light and light, more dark and dark our woes(3.5 36)”. If Romeo still loves Juliet as strong as before, he would absolutely encourage her and try to comfort her. However, he cannot even convince himself to be optimistic, how could he help Juliet get out of this mood? Juliet loses all her confidence which was extremely strong in the first scene that she even disrupts Romeo’s vow because she knows he would come for her again the next day. In the current situation, the only thing she can do is to keep Romeo as long as possible and asks diffidently, “O, think’st thou we shall ever meet again(3.5 51)”. When Romeo finally pacifies her by answering “doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve,For sweet discourses in our times to come(3.5 52-53)”, Juliet has already been dropped into the gulf of despair. She says “now thou art so low, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb(3.5 56)”, which foreshadows the probable ending of their love: death. Romeo as well, has the same feeling: “And trust me, love, in my eye so do you. Dry sorrow drinks our blood(3.5 59)”. Both of them have lost passion and hope because the monster of desperation has converted their love into burden and fetter, only provides them anguish.

Entirely diverse from the first scene, this scene was set to heighten pessimistic mood of the two characters, whose love and patience have been exploited by despair. I changed my costume into a white dress, and Romeo was wearing a black shirt in this scene, indicating the agony and dismay of our mind caused by the oncoming farewell. I was leaning my head on Romeo’s shoulder when I realize that he might leave soon and ask him as soft as possible: “Wilt thou begone(5.3 1)” I slowly raised my head from his shoulder, looking at his eyes with affectionateness to show that I was trying my best to keep him staying. As reply, Romeo pushed me away and said loudly, “It was the lark , the herald of the morn, No nightingale(5.3 6)”. Accompanied with his cruel statement, he gradually walked towards the window and got ready to leave since being alive became his only concern at that time. I followed him immediately and shrugged my shoulders, arguing that “It was some meteor that the sun(5.3 13)” with a deep exhale because I knew what I said was unconvincing. After Romeo yelled at me impatiently, I finally gave up and dropped my arms weakly beside my body. “It is, it is(3.5 26)” I murmured this sentence crestfallenly, and held my left hand in front of my heart to demonstrate how painful I felt when “[the lark] dividth us.” Romeo, whom did not care about my emotions, moved away a little and said, “Farewell, farewell. One kiss and I’ll descend(3.5 42)”. However, we did not make the kiss a real kiss on the lips like lovers usually do. He grabbed my hand quickly, slightly touched it with lips, simultaneously moved out. This series of impatient movements strongly implied that the only concern in Romeo’s mind was escaping; our love was defeated by our own minds and behaviors unconsciously. When Romeo got away from my balcony, I went after him again, asking him with a really invocatory voice: “think’st thou we shall ever meet again(3.5 51)”. I talked to him without any happiness and vitality to show that my optimism attitude was depleted by the truth, and I fell into a mood of darksome. Eventually, I stared at him when he left my balcony and spoke to him slowly: “now thou art so low, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb(3.5 56)”. I did not express any passion. Even though I reached my hand out pretending to catch him, I retracted it quickly. To show the callousness of me, I conveyed the notion that Romeo had become a dead person in my heart, just like our love, had been pulled away by despair. Totally contrast to the first scene, where I spoke with him confidently and predicted our future positively, this scene expressed my desperation through those diffident tone, powerless movements and feeble faces.

Playing Juliet helped me understand deeply about Romeo and Juliet’s love, which is vigorous but brittle. From analyzing her language and acting her behaviors , I gradually realized that she is the representation of every girl in the world, expecting liberty, passion and a profound relationship. Nevertheless, young love is never a stable factor: desperation could always destroy irrational minds. Therefore, we should restore our patience, control our emotions and think deeply before making decisions in any situation.