Welcome to another post. Last week, our class continued reading the play, Romeo and Juliet - Act 1, Scene 5. I'll be using that text for my reflection section for today.
Text title: Romeo and Juliet - Act 1 (Scene 5)
Text type: Play
Text creator: William Shakespeare
Critical Literacy Question: What kind of person, and with what interests and values, authored the text?
Date: 21st June 2021
Act 1 - Scene 5 Summary
In the great hall of the Capulets, all is a-bustle. The servants work feverishly to make sure all runs smoothly, and set aside some food to make sure they have some enjoyment of the feast as well. Capulet makes his rounds through groups of guests, joking with them and encouraging all to dance.
From across the room, Romeo sees Juliet, and asks a servingman who she is. The servingman does not
know. Romeo is transfixed; Rosaline vanishes from his mind and he declares that he has never been in love
until this moment. Moving through the crowd, Tybalt hears and recognizes Romeo’s voice. Realizing that
there is a Montague present, Tybalt sends a servant to fetch his rapier. Capulet overhears Tybalt and
reprimands him, telling him that Romeo is well regarded in Verona, and that he will not have the youth
harmed at his feast. Tybalt protests, but Capulet scolds him until he agrees to keep the peace. As Capulet
moves on, Tybalt vows that he will not let this indignity pass.
Meanwhile, Romeo has approached Juliet and touched her hand. In a dialogue laced with religious
metaphors that figure Juliet as a saint and Romeo as a pilgrim who wishes to erase his sin, he tries to
convince her to kiss him, since it is only through her kiss that he might be absolved. Juliet agrees to remain
still as Romeo kisses her. Thus, in the terms of their conversation, she takes his sin from him. Juliet then
makes the logical leap that if she has taken Romeo’s sin from him, his sin must now reside in her lips, and so
they must kiss again.
Just as their second kiss ends, the Nurse arrives and tells Juliet that her mother wants to speak with her.
Romeo asks the Nurse who Juliet’s mother is. The Nurse replies that Lady Capulet is her mother. Romeo is
devastated. As the crowd begins to disperse, Benvolio shows up and leads Romeo from the feast. Juliet is
just as struck with the mysterious man she has kissed as Romeo is with her. She comments to herself that if
he is already married, she feels she will die (1.5.131). In order to find out Romeo’s identity without raising
any suspicions, she asks the Nurse to identify a series of young men. The Nurse goes off and returns with the
news that the man’s name is Romeo, and that he is a Montague. Overcome with anguish that she loves a
Montague, Juliet follows her nurse from the hall.
What kind of person, and with what interests and values, authored the text?
Romeo, one of the main characters in the play, is seen as a lover in this part of the text. When Romeo and Juliet first meet, Romeo first holds Juliet's hands and talk about kissing and later they both kiss.
