How does Shakespeare explore extreme emotions in the opening scene of Act 1?

Learning Objectives

We are learning to... •Select quotes for analysis that show how

Shakespeare explores strong emotions from the beginning of the play

•Analyse the language of characters

Skills for Life: Commitment to success and Questioning

AO1: Write well with PEE+

AO2: discuss layers of meaning to impact upon the audience

AO4: Comment on the time it was written and how it

links to other books, plays etc.

An essay title:

Explore the ways that Shakespeare presents strong emotions between parent and child in Romeo & Juliet and Othello to interest the audience.

Emotion Point Evidence Explanation of effect

Anger

Love

Threats

Insults

Hatred

Humour I

Emotion Point Evidence Explanation of effect

Hatred

We learn a great deal of Tybalt’s character when he enters and sees the Montagues.

‘I hate the word / As I hate hell, all Montagues, and Thee

This would have been extremely shocking for the audience as they were religious people and would imply that Tybalt’s hatred is intense.

Love

Threats

InsultsIn Act 1 Shakespeare introduces the audience to the hatred of the two families by the insults they use towards each other.

‘’A dog of that house...’ Here Sampson is revealing his hatred of the Montague family by referring to them as ‘dogs’. This would have been a derogatory remark about fellow citizens.

Anger

Humour I

P PointIntroduce your line of argument that is relevant to the question.

A skilled point will…

1. Put forward a simple answer to the question that deals generally with how the emotion is conveyed to the audience.

An excellent point will…

1. Pick out a specific aspect of the way the character is presented

2. Identify the language used to create this presentation

How does Shakespeare present strong emotions at the beginning of the play?

eg. Shakespeare presents strong emotions by immediately presenting Tybalt’s hatred in Act 1, scene 1.

eg. Shakespeare presents strong emotions by immediately presenting Tybalt’s absolute hatred of the Montagues to the audience in Act 1, scene 1 through the language he uses.

E EvidenceSelect a short quotation from the text that supports your argument.

Skilled evidence will…

1. Pick out a quotation from the text that acts as an example of the point you have made

Excellent evidence will…

1. Introduce the quotation to show the link to the point

How does Shakespeare present strong emotions at the beginning of the play?

eg. ‘...and talk of peace? I hate the word/As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.’

eg. The character of Tybalt is presented as someone full of hatred, anger and implied violence, ‘...and talk of peace? I hate the word/As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.’

E ExplanationDirectly analyse your quotation to demonstrate how it supports your argument.

A skilled explanation will…

1. Give an overview of why your quotation proves your point

An excellent explanation will…

1. Put forward more than one idea – and those ideas will be increasingly original (not the obvious ones)

2. Refer to specific words within the quotation and explain their impact on the reader (connotations)

How does Shakespeare present strong emotions at the beginning of the play?

eg. This implies that Tybalt is angry and full of hatred.

eg. This implies that Tybalt is totally consumed by his hatred of the Montagues, his reference to ‘hell’ reinforces this and the audience will understand from the very beginning of the play that he will not be persuaded to forget the feud between the families.

+ Furtherexplanation

Link your analysis to other ideas and quotations from the rest of the book or its social/ historical context to conclude your argument.

Skilled further explanation will…

1. Link the explanation very briefly to another part of the text, but without reference to the text

2. Comment very briefly on what was going on in the world when the book was written

Excellent further explanation will…

1. Bring in short quotations from elsewhere in the book to show how the same idea is explored in different places

2. Put forward original alternative interpretations of what ideas the character represents

3. Explain in detail why the writer wrote in this way

How does Shakespeare present strong emotions at the beginning of the play?

eg. Here Shakespeare is foreshadowing the inevitable deaths of some characters as Tybalt is unable to abate his hatred. The audience have already been told in the Prologue that it is only with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet they will ,’bury their parents’ strife’. When Tybalt draws the analogy to ‘hell’ to explain the extent of his hatred of Montagues as, ‘I hate hell, all Montagues. And thee’, the audience would be shocked by his absolute hatred, as an Elizabethan audience was highly religious.

eg. The audience understand from The Prologue that the two lovers take their lives and it is only with their deaths that the feud ends. And so are prepared for more violence and tragedy.

An excellent PEE+ paragraphShakespeare prepares the audience from the very beginning of the play for strong emotions through the characters and the language they use. For example the character of Tybalt is revealed in Act 1, scene 1 through the language he uses. Tybalt is presented as someone full of hatred, anger and violence:

‘...and talk of peace? I hate the wordAs I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.’

This implies that Tybalt is totally consumed by his hatred of the Montagues, and from this statement the audience will understand from the very beginning of the play that he will not be persuaded to forget the feud between the families. Here Shakespeare is foreshadowing the inevitable deaths of characters as Tybalt is unable to abate his hatred. The audience have already been told in the Prologue that it is only with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet they will ,’bury their parents’ strife’. When Tybalt draws the analogy to ‘hell’ to explain the extent of his hatred of Montagues as, ‘I hate hell, all Montagues. And thee’, the audience would be shocked by his absolute hatred, as an Elizabethan audience was highly religious.

Topic sentence (Point)

Evidence

Explanation

Explanation +

Similarly, the audience understands the anger of the Prince in Act 1 when he attempts to stop the feuding. The audience would understand that the feud has been destroying the peace and has done so for a very long time. In the Prince’s speech Shakespeare uses powerful imagery to express strong emotions and ensure that the audience are fully aware of the extent of the feud. The families are described as ‘beasts’ and their fighting as ‘pernicious rage’. This imagery develops the idea that the emotions of the families are out of control and that they are behaving like animals. When The Prince refers to their ‘cankered hate’ we as the audience are fully aware of how long this feud has been going on. We are prepared for the Prince to remind the families that:

If ever you disturb our streets again,Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.

Shakespeare is foreshadowing the deaths of members of the families and preparing the audience for the extreme emotions of hatred and violence to continue.

Success CriteriaSkilled Writing will

1. Identify and comment on the writers’ use of language to contribute to effect.

2. Identify and compare features of writers’ use of language with some explanation.

3. Commentary embeds appropriate quotations to support main idea

Excellent Writingwill

1. Have a detailed explanation, with appropriate terminology, of how language and structure are used to present emotion

2. Comments begin to develop precise, perceptive comparison of presentation of strong emotion

3. Presentation of characters makes detailed reference to the historical context