‘Romeo and Juliet’ Prologue and Act 1 – “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life…”

‘Romeo and Juliet’ Prologue and Act 1 – “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life…”

Why is ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Shakespeare’s most popular play? Is it because it is the consummate love story, or because it hits on the universal themes of love and rebellion against family and authority, or because it speaks to a part of us that desperately wants to feel love and passion and throw everything away for that? I think it is a combination of all of these. The play has universal appeal and can be adapted easily. I have directed a production of the play in Iban tribal outfits on the lawns and balcony of the High Commissioner’s Residence in Brunei surrounded by the Borneo Rainforest and overlooking the snaky Brunei River. I have done scenes from the play in the old gritty industrial Police Stables that used to be one of the rehearsals spaces at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in Melbourne when I was there. For me, I seem to keep coming back to the power of the story, the simple and direct quality of the characterization and the genius of the dramatic action, prose and verse in the play. But, I am sure ‘Romeo and Juliet’ did not start off that way and it took the genius of Shakespeare and the serendipity of the time to bring together the greatest love story of all time.

Shakespeare probably read Arthur Brooke’s 1562 poem ‘The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet’ late in the 1580’s in Stratford upon Avon or early in the 1590’s in London. The story for Brooke’s poem was not original and he probably took it from an Italian novella based on the true 14^th century story of the feud in Verona between the Guelph and Ghibellines families and the legend that a girl from one family fell in love with someone from the other family and she committed suicide after he was killed by a member of her own family. Brooke in his Preface to the poem is almost apologetic for his poem about “… a couple of unfortunate lovers, thrilling themselves to unhonest desire…” This moral tale as told by Brooke would have died on stage. But still Shakespeare saw the potential in the story, but not as the Brooke’s languid moralistic parable bound by its time, verse and structure, but as a rougher, bawdy, rawer, fast-paced more universal story of fate, love and hate. He shelved away the idea for another day.

Around 1595, Shakespeare’s company lost the use of The Theatre. The plague had decimated the numbers in many companies but Shakespeare’s new almalgamated  troupe had fortuitously acquired a feast of strong actors particularly some fine boy actors to play female roles. So, Shakespeare had the actors to put on a masterpiece. He had the theatre in either The Curtain (the preserved remains of which were unearthed in June 2012 in Shoreditch) or The Rose (the theatre many argue ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was first performed at and the one so wonderfully presented as the original performance venue in the film ‘Shakespeare in Love’). And finally, Shakespeare through writing poetry and years of writing plays, now had the skill to pull off ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

Shakespeare begins ‘Romeo and Juliet’ with a Prologue. He wants to give us an overview done in a verse form his audience was used to before he launches into events and characters propelled by prose and given power and velocity in verse. The Prologue’s fourteen-line sonnet, outlines the violent “ancient grudge” of the Capulets and Montagues and gives away that “…a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life…” but that their deaths will mend the strife between their families. We are reminded early that Romeo and Juliet’s fate is already predetermined.

We then move onto the streets of Verona. Sampson and Gregory, two servants of the house of Capulet, stroll through the streets of Verona. With bawdy banter, and a deluge of puns and sexual innuendo, we are launched into a whole new world of male bravado and a tension between two families that is set to “… break to new mutiny…” As they walk pass two Montagues in the street, Sampson bits his thumb at the Montagues, insulting them. A brawl breaks out. Benvolio (a Montague) tries to break up the fight but things turn nasty when Tybalt (another Capulet) arrives. Even though these two are noblemen, they speak in prose like those already embroiled in the fight. Tybalt hates peace as much as he hates Montagues:

“ … peace! I hate the word,

As I hate hell, all Montagues and thee.”

The fight turns to a mêlée and the thirst for blood even boils up in the elder Montague and Capulet whose wives prevent them from entering the fray. Enter Prince Escalus whose authority and high verse stops the fight and threatens “…pain of death” “… if ever you disturb our streets again…”

As the crowd disperses and people leave the stage, Benvolio converses with Montague and Lady Montague (his uncle and aunt) about how the brawl was started. Conversation soon turns to Romeo, who “… was not at this fray.”

Benvolio describes to Montague how the brawl started. Lady Montague then asks whether Benvolio has seen her son, Romeo. Benvolio reveals he has seen Romeo rising early and wandering in a melancholic manner through a sycamore grove. He then sees Romeo entering and takes on the task of finding out what is the cause of Romeo’s state. Romeo’s parents depart.

Romeo is not such a likeable character initially. He mopes around, sprouts melancholic verse pegged down in oxymorons such as “cold fire”, “sick health”, “brawling love”, “loving hate” and “heavy lightness”. This is all because he is in love with a woman, Rosaline, who does not love him and she has “… sworn that she will live chaste…” As they depart, Benvolio advocates the cure to Romeo’s woe is for Romeo to “…examine other beauties…”

Meanwhile, on another street, in another part of Verona, Capulet walks with Paris, a noble kinsman of the Prince, Paris expresses his desire to marry Capulet’s almost 14 year old daughter, Juliet. A conversation ensues about whether she is too young to marry, Paris, like Juliet’s mother later expresses, uses the argument that: “Younger than she are happy mother’s made.” To which Capulet replies: “ And too soon marred are those so early made…” In Shakespeare’s time, a girl could be married at 12 and with his own daughter Susanna turning 12 around this time, Shakespeare maybe had considered this question much himself. Capulet then invites Paris to a party that he is holding and then gives a guest list to the servant Peter, who unfortunately (or fortunately for us, Romeo and the plot) can’t read. Dramatic serendipity perhaps?

It is Peter’s illiteracy which leads to Romeo reading out the guest list to Peter, which leads to Romeo and his Montague mates going to the ball. Benvolio wants Romeo to go so that with “unattainted eye” he can compare Rosaline with all “…the admired beauties of Verona…” Romeo will go to the ball to “… rejoice in the splendour of…” Rosaline who will attend the ball. But when the boundless metaphors of this scene’s end, it is fate, the stars and Shakespeare himself who will show Romeo that there is more in store for him than unrequited love and melancholic madness.

Meanwhile, Lady Capulet, who does not even seem to know her daughter’s own age and birthday, informs Juliet that Paris wishes to marry her. She tries to convince Juliet that young marriage is a desirable and honorable thing. This scene is undercut by the endless and sometimes sexually explicit ramblings of Juliet’s Nurse, the major comic relief of the play and Juliet's most trusted servant and friend.

Early in the evening, Romeo, Benvolio, Mercutio and other kinsmen and Montagues gather in their masks on their way to Capulet's ball. Romeo is still melancholic and Mercutio puns and mocks Romeo with sexual innuendo and banter. Romeo begins to tell of a dream and feeling he has about this ball. And Mercutio launches into his Queen Mab speech which starts in a light fanciful tone but ends in dark subconscious bitter torment. Romeo calms Mercutio and Mercutio seems to dismiss his own fantastical rant as “… the children of an idle brain…”  We know it is much darker than this.

We know the ball will bring us what we have anticipated. 
At the ball, Romeo forgets Rosaline completely because he meets Juliet and they fall in love at first sight. Their first exchange of words is poetically pitched.  Fourteen lines of shared synchronized sonnet is the foreplay to before their first kiss. Romeo’s initial words are bound in religious imagery but they are quickly uncloaked to reveal extended metaphors. They seek a kiss and Juliet holds Romeo’s desires at bay through continuing the religious imagery and in her reply points out that pilgrims meet through touching hands. Romeo is able to twist and extend this metaphor to encourage them to join lips and “… let lips do what hands do…” The poetic stylization of this moment of meeting is brilliant and beautiful. Of course, Tybalt has already seen Romeo at the ball and wants to take revenge there and then but he is calmed down by Capulet, but he avenges that he will convert this all to “bitter gall”. At the end of the scene and act, Fate has once again rears its ugly head. Romeo and Juliet find they are from rival families. Romeo leaves melodramatically exclaiming:

“My life is my foe’s debt.”

While Juliet with resignation claims:

“My only love sprung from my only hate!”