The play "Romeo and Juliet" takes place over a very short span of time. Absolute bliss and abject despair are in constant competition, often violently or radically replacing one another. The characters are trapped in a whirlwind of events dictated by Romeo's brash nature as well as a pervasive rush that finish in the double suicide of Romeo and Juliet. From the first scene's spark of unreasonable violence follow Tybalt's heated hatred, Romeo and Juliet's instant love and its irony, the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt and Romeo's banishment. Juliet's forced marriage and expulsion from her house, her dangerous plan, Romeo's ignorant reaction and the deaths of the lovers and Paris form the final, tragic cascade. Swift, passionate action, most often inspired or initiated by Romeo, is a major factor in the development of all the play's significant shifts, inevitably concluding in tragedy. In William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," speed and lack of moderation both play important roles in the outcome of the play.
The first scene of the play sets the tone dramatically, displaying a battle of passion between soldiers of the Capulets and Montagues, two feuding families. The feud itself is presented as meaningless passion overriding good sense, this tiny drama a microcosm of the grander hatred that is eating away at Verona. The Prince explains that "old Capulet and Montague, / Have thrice disturb"d the quiet of [Verona's] streets". (Shakespeare, I.i.83-85) The feud is never explained in the play and its origins are, in fact unimportant. No one has any real reason to hate anymore, but the heady power of emotion drives both families ever onwards. While Romeo, as Montague's son, did not start this battle, he is a child of its frenzy, and his irrational actions pre- contain its finale. .
In the fifth scene of the first act, Capulet throws a fateful party in which two major events occur. Firstly, Tybalt sees Romeo and is offended by the presence of a member of the rival Montagues.
