In Act II, scene i, the audience knows that Romeo and
Juliet have met at the Capulets' party where they have exchanged words and shared a
"holy kiss." They've each discovered that the person they've fallen so quickly in love
with is a member of the family their own family despises. Juliet says "my only love
sprung from my only hate."
The audience has witnessed their
rash and romantic actions. But in the beginning of this scene, Romeo's friend Mercutio
and his cousin Benvolio (and some other men) are searching for Romeo and when they don't
locate him, the assume he is with the girl he "loves," Rosaline. As far as they knew,
Romeo was still in love with her. In fact it was only a few short hours ago that he was
wallowing in his misery because he loved a woman so much who did not return the
feelings.
Dramatic irony occurs when the audience (or
reader) knows something that the characters do not. Think of a horror movie. The
audience knows the killer is in the basement, but the character walks innocently into
the trap in order to investigate some small noise. In this scene, the audience knows
that Romeo and Juliet are in love but characters such as Mercutio believe that Romeo is
still hung up on Rosaline.
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