Question

Read the excerpt from Act I, scene i of Romeo and Juliet. Capulet: What noise is this? Give me my long sword, hjo! Lady Capulet: A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword? Capulet: My sword, I say! Old Montague is come, And flourishes his blade in spite of me. What is the purpose of this dialogue? to foreshadow the tragedy to describe the setting to provide comic relief to help build suspense

Answer 1

Comedic Relief

Capulet calls for a sword, but Lady Capulet's lines 'offer' him a crutch instead. This is used to show how old and incapable Capulet would be in a street brawl with much younger and stronger fighters. Capulet refers to Montague 'flourishing his blade in spite' of him, which shows that Montague is not taking part in the actual fight either, just waving his sword around. This shows that the head of both houses are not actually effectual within the fight, but encourage its continuation regardless.