Romeo and Juliet: Act I. Scene v. Summary

If you would like to read Act I, Scene v. of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in full, click here. Act I, Scene v. from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet takes place in a hall in Lord Capulet's house. The scene begins with three servingmen trying to get everything ready for the guests. Lord Capulet enters the hall with all of the guests and encourages them to start dancing and to have a good time. Capulet and his cousin joke around about how long it has been since they last danced.

While the guests start dancing and the party gets underway, Romeo spots a young woman on the other side of the hall. He asks a servingman for her name but he doesn't know. Instantly, Romeo is struck by Juliet's beauty and claims:

As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear-
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows....
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.
(I.v 45-48, 51-52)

As Romeo proclaims his affection for Juliet, Tybalt recognizes Romeo by his voice and is enraged by the fact that a Montague dares to come to a party held by the Capulets. Lord Capulet, his uncle, manages to reason with him. Lord Capulet recognizes that Romeo has done no wrongs and that Tybalt has no reason to attack him. Capulet also mentions that an assault by Tybalt might cause an uprising among his guests. Tybalt, still angered is asked to leave by his uncle and he agrees. However, Tybalt makes it clear that the feud between he and Romeo is not yet over.


Romeo and Juliet have their first face to face interaction at the end of this scene. Romeo approaches Juliet with a metaphor about his unworthy pilgrim hand approaching a holy shrine (Juliet's hand). Juliet extends the metaphor adding herself in as a saint and  saying that, "saints have hands that pilgrims do touch" (I.v.98). Finally, Romeo "lets lips do what hands do" (I.v.102). The metaphor continues as Romeo kisses her and gives her his sin and then takes it back with another kiss.





The nurse interrupts the interaction by saying that Juliet's mom needs her. Romeo then asks who her mother is. The nurse explains and Romeo finds out that she is a Capulet. This is when a problem begins to unfold for the star-crossed lovers. Romeo is pained at the fact that his true love could possibly come from a family so hated. He says he must leave and does not dance with Juliet. Juliet is confused as to why he left and asks the nurse who he is. The nurse explains that he is a Montague and Juliet replies,

My only love, sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me
That I must love a loathed enemy.
(I.v.137-140)

Thus, the first act ends after revealing this devastating truth to the two lovers.

Works Cited

 Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1999. Print.

"Romeo and Juliet." Sparknotes. Sparknotes LLC, 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2014

"Romeo and Juliet: Act 1, Scene 5." Shakespeare Navigators. n.p. n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014

 "Recreations of Romeo and Juliet Since Shakespeare." Photograph. blogspot. n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014

 "Tybalt Capulet." Photograph. the wall machine. n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014