Brief Summary of Act 1

Introduction:
The prologue of Romeo and Juliet introduces the star-crossed lovers and their families’ feud, leading to tragic consequences.

Capulet Servants:
Two servants of Capulet, Sampson and Gregory, discuss their hatred for the Montagues and their willingness to fight them, even the women. Abram, a servant of the Montagues, confronts them, leading to a physical altercation. A fight breaks out between two households, the Capulets and Montagues, and the prince warns them to end their feud.

Montague Family:
Montague asks Benvolio about the cause of the feud between their families, while Lady Montague asks about Romeo’s whereabouts. Romeo is sad because he is in love with someone who doesn’t love him back, and Benvolio tries to console him. Montague is also concerned about an unknown problem. Romeo confesses his love for a woman who has sworn to remain chaste, and Benvolio advises him to forget her and look at other beauties.

Capulet Family:
Capulet invites Paris to a feast and encourages him to woo his daughter, but wants her to wait two more years before marriage. Benvolio suggests that Romeo should find a new love to cure his broken heart. Romeo reads a letter inviting him to Capulet’s party. Lady Capulet asks Nurse where Juliet is and reveals she is not yet 14. Nurse remembers when she was weaned and when Juliet will turn 14. The Nurse shares a funny story about Juliet’s infancy. Lady Capulet asks Juliet about marriage, but she claims it is not something she dreams of.

JULIET CONSIDERING PARIS’ PROPOSAL
Lady Capulet asks Juliet to consider marrying Paris. Juliet agrees to “look to like” him, but will only pursue him with her parents’ consent.

ROMEO AND MERCUTIO DISCUSSING LOVE
Romeo and Mercutio discuss love and Romeo’s reluctance to dance. They also mention a dream and prepare to attend a masque. Mab is a fairy that gallops through people’s dreams and causes them to dream of love, ambition or fear. Romeo fears that something bad will happen at the party, but resolves to let fate guide his course.

PREPARATION FOR A PARTY
The Capulets prepare for the party. The text is a scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, including dialogue between Capulet and his cousin, and conflict between the Capulet and Montague families.

ROMEO AND JULIET FALL IN LOVE
Romeo falls in love with a woman at the party. Romeo and Juliet share their first kiss and Tybalt expresses his disdain for Romeo’s presence at the Capulet party.

JULIET REMAINS UNAWARE OF ROMEO’S IDENTITY
In Act 1, Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet learns that Romeo, the only son of her family’s enemy, is her love interest.

Detailed Notes on Act 1

Synopsis of Romeo and Juliet

•The prologue describes Romeo and Juliet as “star-crossed lovers” whose families are locked in a bitter feud in fair Verona.

•Romeo and his friends secretly attend a party at the Capulet house, where he falls in love with Juliet at first sight.

•A friar secretly marries Romeo and Juliet, hoping it will end the feud, but it only leads to more tragedy.

•Tybalt challenges Romeo, and when Romeo refuses to fight, his friend Mercutio accepts the challenge and is killed.

•Romeo avenges Mercutio’s death by killing Tybalt and is banished.

•Juliet’s father forces her into a marriage with Count Paris, so she takes a potion making her look dead so she can avoid the marriage.

•Romeo believes Juliet is dead and kills himself in grief. Juliet wakes, sees Romeo’s body, and also kills herself.

•The deaths of the young lovers finally end the feud between their families, but at a dreadful cost.

Analysis of dialogue in Act 1 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet

•Sampson and Gregory, two servants of the Capulet household, discuss their rivalry with the Montague family.

•They declare how they will fight the Montague men and push their women to the walls.

•Gregory questions Sampson’s bravery, but Sampson is clearly willing to fight.

•Abram, a member of the Montague household, enters the scene, and a quarrel ensues between him and Sampson.

•Sampson bites his thumb at Abram, which is seen as a gesture of disrespect and starts a fight between the two households.

Analysis of the First Scene of Romeo and Juliet

•Sampson and Gregory, two Capulet servants, encounter Abram, a Montague servant, on the street. They exchange insults and Sampson threatens violence.

•Benvolio, a Montague, enters, and Gregory tells Sampson to say “better” when Benvolio approaches. Sampson retorts with “yes, better.”

•Abram calls Sampson a liar, and Sampson and Gregory draw their swords. Benvolio tries to break up the fight but is interrupted by Tybalt, a Capulet, who enters and challenges Benvolio.

•The fight increases, and Capulet and Montague enter with their wives, demanding their swords. The Prince arrives and orders the men to stop fighting. He condemns their actions and warns them to end their brawl or face harsh punishment.

Notes on Romeo and Juliet Act 1, Scene 1

•The Prince warns the Capulet and Montague households that any future disturbance will result in death.

•Montague and Capulet are ordered to meet the Prince at Free-town later in the day to discuss the situation.

•All characters except Montague, Lady Montague, and Benvolio leave the scene.

•Benvolio explains to Montague that he tried to stop the fight between the servants of the two households but failed.

•Lady Montague asks Benvolio if he has seen Romeo. Benvolio tells her that he saw him walking early in the morning under a sycamore tree.

•Montague reveals that he has noticed Romeo frequently going into his chamber and locking himself in, creating an artificial night.

Analysis of Romeo’s emotions in Act 1, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet

•Montague and Benvolio discuss Romeo’s melancholy state, which he keeps secret even from his friends and family.

•Romeo enters and reveals his heartache over being out of favor with the person he loves, causing him to suffer.

•Benvolio sympathizes with Romeo’s troubles and describes love as both gentle and tyrannous in its effects.

•Romeo continues to lament love’s contradictions and compares his feelings to “misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms”.

•Benvolio tries to cheer Romeo up, but he remains stuck in his misery, saying, “such is love’s transgression”.

Romeo and Juliet’s Conversation

•Romeo expresses his griefs and how Juliet’s love adds more to it.

•He describes love as a madness that is both a choking gall and a preserving sweet.

•Romeo feels lost and not himself anymore before revealing to Benvolio that he loves a woman.

•Benvolio learns that Romeo’s love interest is fair and chaste.

•Romeo worries that Juliet’s strict vow of chastity will not allow her to fall in love with him.

•He feels hopeless and dead because of her vow.

•Benvolio advises Romeo to forget about Juliet by looking at other beauties.

Analysis of Romeo & Juliet Act 1, Scenes 1-2

•The play begins with Benvolio asking Romeo to forget his love for Rosaline and join him for a party at Capulet’s.

•Capulet and Paris discuss the possibility of Paris marrying Capulet’s daughter, but Capulet insists she is too young to marry.

•Capulet invites Paris to a feast that night, with the promise of seeing the most meritorious woman as his potential bride.

•Capulet’s servant is ordered to invite guests from a list he was given, and is directed to approach them courteously. 

Note: Act 1 sets the stage for the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet by unraveling the feud between the Capulets and Montagues and foreshadowing the eventual alliance between the two families. Romeo is introduced as being distraught over unrequited love, while Capulet’s discussions of marriage for his daughter set the premise for the conflict between love and arranged marriage later in the play.

Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Scene 2

•The serving man is looking for people whose names are written in a letter.

•Benvolio tries to comfort Romeo’s heartbreak with poetic language.

•Romeo suggests taking on a new love interest to forget his ex.

•The serving man asks Romeo if he can read.

•Romeo reads the names on the letter and realizes there is a feast at the Capulet’s that night.

•The serving man invites Romeo and Benvolio to come to the feast.

•Benvolio agrees to go to the feast.

•Act 1 Scene 2 ends with the mention of the feast.

Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Scene 3: Lady Capulet and Nurse discuss Juliet’s age

•Romeo compares Rosaline’s beauty to other admirèd beauties of Verona, and declares that none match her except for one he knows.

•Benvolio challenges Romeo’s judgment, suggesting he compare Rosaline to other women at a feast.

•Lady Capulet asks the Nurse to summon Juliet, who enters.

•Lady Capulet asks Nurse to leave, revealing her intention to talk to Juliet in secret.

•Lady Capulet reminds the Nurse of Juliet’s age, and the Nurse responds with an anecdote about her weaning on a particular day.

•Nurse concludes that on Lammas Eve, Juliet will turn fourteen.

Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Scene 4 Dialogue

•Romeo hesitates to enter the party and instead requests a torch.

•Mercutio encourages Romeo to dance but Romeo refuses, citing his heavy heart and lack of nimble feet.

•Mercutio suggests Romeo use Cupid’s wings to fly away from his woes, but Romeo feels too weighed down by love to do so.

•Mercutio advises Romeo to roughen up and fight back against his love’s prickly nature.

•Benvolio and Romeo enter the party while Mercutio stays outside to mock their delays.

•Romeo shares his dream with Mercutio, who dismisses it as a fabrication of the imagination influenced by Queen Mab.

Romeo and Juliet Act 1, Scene 5

•Capulet invites his cousin to dance, but they are too old for it. They discuss how long it has been since they last wore masks at a party.

•Romeo asks his servingman about a lady he sees and describes her as “beauty too rich for use, for Earth too dear.”

•Tybalt recognizes Romeo’s voice as belonging to a Montague, and Capulet tries to stop him from fighting.

•Tybalt insists on fighting Romeo, but Capulet insists that he behaves politely as a guest in his house.

•Tybalt insults Romeo, saying he will not endure his presence.

Capulet’s anger towards Tybalt and Romeo’s encounter with Juliet

•Capulet insists that he will endure someone at his party despite protests from his servant.

•Tybalt objects and Capulet scolds him for being saucy, warning him of consequences.

•Romeo takes Juliet’s hand and confesses his desire to kiss her.

•Juliet initially protests, but Romeo convinces her to let their lips do what their hands do.

•Their conversation is interrupted by the Nurse, who informs Juliet that her mother wants to speak with her.

•Before parting, Romeo and Juliet kiss again and the Nurse reveals her bond with Juliet.

Analysis of Romeo and Juliet Act 1 Scene 5

•Romeo expresses his interest in an unknown woman, but fears that she might be a Capulet, his family’s enemy.

•Juliet learns from the Nurse that Romeo is a Montague, the only son of her family’s enemy.

•Juliet is devastated at the realization that she has fallen in love with an enemy, stating that their love was destined to be a tragedy.

•The Nurse calls for Juliet, interrupting her thoughts about Romeo.

•The guests begin to exit and Capulet invites them to a banquet.

•Juliet asks the Nurse about a man she danced with and the Nurse reveals that he is Romeo.

•The scene ends with the Nurse and Juliet leaving.