ROMEO AND JULIET

Events of Romeo and Juliet Act 1

Events of Romeo and Juliet Act 1

Introduction

Shakespeare's re-visioning of love in Romeo and Juliet owes much of its continuing popularity to variety. In mood and plot a tragic work, presenting with a rare sympathy the ecstatic passion of two very young lovers doomed by a combination of impetuousness, bad luck, and the total incomprehension of their families and friends, the play offers at the same time many of the attractions of high comedy. In the great majority of its scenes, moreover, the play keeps firmly before us a detached comic perspective on events whose tragic intensities we are simultaneously being asked to share.

Minor character in Romeo and Juliet, a servant of the Capulet household. Sampson and Gregory brawl with servants of the Montague family in 1.1, after opening the play with a pun-filled dialogue in which Sampson boasts of his bold fighting spirit, while Gregory taunts him for being a coward. They both content themselves with verbal battle until Tybalt inspires them to bring matters to blows. Shakespeare presumably gave Sampson a heroic name to add another touch of humor to his role, but the thought went undeveloped; the name is not spoken in the dialogue.

The feud between the families is continually described in terms of misogynistic violence. When the Capulets' servingmen discuss how they would fight the Montagues, Sampson declares, "women, being the / weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall. Therefore / I will push Montague's men from the wall and thrust his maids to the wall" (9). Here, showing power over enemies is equivalent to sexually mauling women. That this conversation occurs in the opening scene highlights the centrality of masculine power and feminine submission against which Juliet must fight.

Events in Romeo and Juliet Act 1

Scene 1

The first scene of the play initiates with the entry of Sampson and Gregory. Sampson and Gregory are the servants that belong to the house of Capulet. The scene portrays drooling of Sampson along with Gregory in Verona Streets. The first scene of the play caters the theme of hatred highlighted by the character Sampson who possesses utmost hatred concerning the house of Montague. The scene also possesses statutory dialects in which Sampson talks about conquering men and women of Montague. Sampson governed by his hatred for the house of Montague wants to assault Montague's men physically and women sexually. Gregory is a character with evil intentions. The scene depicts that Gregory sees Montague's servants in the street and pokes Sampson an ill-tempered individual in order to engage in a brawl with them.

Sampson's disgust for the house of Montague can be acknowledged by the incident where Sampson bites his thumb in disgust when he sees the Montague servants approaching. Sampson engages in a verbal argument with Montague servants and soon the situation turns into a brawl. The first scene displays the encounter of Sampson with Abram and Balthasar in Verona Street. The scene asserts a dispute between the characters which is them mediated ...