An author’s usage of time can involve manipulating it to emphasize certain points to develop a theme. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the characters consistently rush time in their urgency, settings and characters in just five days, or acts. In Act I, a battle ensues between Montague and Capulet, Romeo and Juliet hastily fall in love at the banquet, and exchanging vows at the day’s end. Shakespeare lays the background, settings, and tinders the fire to build the audience up for what is to come. These rapid event shifts create a persistent tone, one that is unpredictable. A conflict between the two households in introduced, kindling, if you will. Things begin to take flight for the couple in Act II, where Romeo visits Juliet at
