Violence and Conflict in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Although the play is typically known as a tragic love play, there are
many important scenes in the play which are violent. The play was
estimated to be written in 1597, however it was first performed in
1660.
Two families called Capulet and Montague who live in Verona are both
wealthy and both believe they are the most important family in Verona.
This causes friction which causes violence. Romeo is from the Montague
family and Juliet from the Capulet. They secretly fall in love and
arrange a wedding. Friar Lawrence secretly weds the two lovers. During
all this Juliet’s family are pressuring her into marrying Paris. She
is against this. Romeo has been banished by the prince of Verona to
Mantua for the murder of Tybalt. Friar Lawrence creates a plan so
Romeo and Juliet can live together peacefully. Juliet fakes her death
for forty eight hours by taking a potion, her family believe her to be
dead. A letter was sent out to Romeo telling him of the plan, but he
never receives the message. He hears of Juliet’s’ death and kills
himself. When Juliet wakes she finds Romeo dead by her side, so she
kills herself. This stops the feud between the families as they have
both lost a member of their family.
In the sixteenth century Queen Elizabeth ruled England. People of that
generation enjoyed spending time out at the theatre. The difference in
the class of people was much bigger in Elizabethan times. The rich
would be very rich and the poor very poor. But at the theatre all
classes attended, it would only cost one penny for the cheapest
entrance to see the play. Going to the theatre would last the whole
afternoon and was a very sociable occasion. The play would have been
performed during the day-time: this is because there was no form of
lighting. The actors had detailed costumes and props were used, but no
background scenery was used. If it rained then the audience who were
In the Shakespearean play, Romeo & Juliet, aggression is represented in different ways by the different characters in the play. Tybalt, Romeo, Benvolio, and the others all have their own way of dealing with hate and anger. Some do nothing but hate while others can’t stand to see even the smallest of quarrels take place.
Conflict has many different meanings for both physical and verbal abuse. Conflict could be a viscous feud or a full on physical fight. These days in television soap dramas we intend to see more verbal conflict than physical violence. But over the last couple of years new television programmes have been released which contains a lot of action-packed fighting and physical conflict of some kind. Some programmes include physical and verbal conflict including, “Eastenders”, “The Bill” and other programmes similar to these. The releasing of films such as, “Indiana Jones”, and “Rambo” catches the audience’s attention by involving action-packed, exciting features such as heavy arguments or thrilling battles. Some films are made to include action and excitement but when audiences watch it they cannot help feeling sorry for the victim or just generally sad for the people having the fight. In the same way Romeo and Juliet presents conflict more intense than most soap dramas. When the play was first performed in “The Theatre”, in Shoreditch in the mid 1590’s, the Elizabethan audience was shocked at how Juliet disobeyed her father and also how Romeo and Juliet disobeyed their families. Sympathy must be felt for the audience because they would have never known the idea of a son or daughter disobeying their father. The law at that time stated that the daughter was the property of her father until the daughter got married then her husband “owned” her as property. From this sympathy must be felt for Juliet because she is a victim of arranged marriages. When the play was first performed it got massive great responses which then lead to the play being transferred to The Globe theatre at the start of the 1600’s. Props and different costumes helped ...
William Shakespeare's Use of Conflict in Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet. I believe conflict has a number of different meanings, like a fight or perhaps a feud, or maybe even just an everyday argument. But also it could be referred to as a clash, not as a physical clash but a clash. of two different things completely opposite coming together.
...ave to face responsibility for his death. Thus, he leaves Juliet alone in a vault filled with dead ancestors, as well as recently dead Romeo and Paris, and she kills herself.
Sometimes when people are amongst conflict, they act impetuously in certain situations. In the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, careless actions take place by the characters when they are put into stressful and difficult situations. They are not thought through and result in consequences for more than just themselves. In Romeo and Juliet when in the midst of conflict, characters tend to think and act impulsively and not think of the reaction to their actions. They do not think of the consequences their actions may bring, or how they may affect others in the future.
letter from reaching Romeo never existed, he would have known that the death of Juliet
Shakespeare's Use of Violence and Conflict in Romeo and Juliet in Act 3 Scene 1
Romeo and Juliet is about two star crossed lovers who’s families have a big rival vary and this rival vary will stop Romeo and Juliet from being together this play is set in Italy and in the city of Verona i am going to concentrate on the following three acts and scenes act 3 scene 5 , act 5 scene 3 and act 1 scene 1 .
her appear to be dead. He said that he would send a letter to Romeo
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. It tells the tale of two lovers from rival households and the tragic journey that leads to their destruction. The play shows all the events over the course of four days in Romeo and Juliet’s home town of Verona. Monday through Thursday is all we have to see of the Montague and Capulet families to acknowledge their hatred for each other. The play shows the struggle of Romeo and Juliet in their efforts to stop the hatred between their families and live happily ever after. But despite their efforts, they end up digging their own graves, showing how different actions have different consequences.
He also tells Juliet that "Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, and hither shall hem come; and he and I shall watch thy waking, and that very night shall Romeo bear thee to Mantua" (Act 4, Scene 1.) Unforeseen to neither the Friar nor Juliet that an error such as the one of Friar John’s would prove to be deadly. Poor Romeo was not able to receive the letter. Friar Lawrence plays a significant role in the plan for Juliet to "sleep."Friar Lawrence plays an important rule in the actual deaths of Romeo, Juliet, And Paris. Friar Lawrence is unable to reach Romeo with the news of Juliet’s "death." Romeo, thinking Juliet is dead rushes to Verona, but not before buying some fast poison.
‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare incorporates the theme of conflict through many different characters and situations. The definition of conflict is “a fight, battle, or struggle; especially a prolonged struggle; strife” The play mainly focuses on the tragic lives of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet; the two characters belong to the Montague and Capulet households respectively, which have held ongoing grudges against each other for years. The play ends with both main characters committing suicide, to be together in heaven. As with many of Shakespeare’s works, the theme of conflict is a strong one. For a start, there is the ongoing conflict between the two families; the Montagues and the Capulets. The audience is unsure how this grudge started; this reflects how tedious some ongoing grudges can be. This is a vital conflict to keep the structure of the story, as without this conflict Romeo and Juliet would not have encountered the problems they had with their marriage. However, there are different ways of putting this grudge across - through dialogue, such as Mercutio’s intell...
Argumentative behavior and hostility can force people to take undesired actions and change their morals. In Romeo and Juliet, many characters experience the rapid moral change in themselves after a fight starts between the Montagues and the Capulets resulting in them only able to follow orders since they sided with a family. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet delves into the duality that conflict can be damaging and altering in one’s mind as a consequence of Sampson and the Montague guards, Romeo and Juliet, and the Montagues and the Capulets.
until one person gets killed. In those days if you said no to a duel,
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in the time of Elizabeth I. Romeo & Juliet is one of his most famous plays and has always been extremely popular in mainstream and in contemporary media, mainly because the ideals and issues brought up in the play are still very valid in modern times. The play revolves around the, aptly named, Romeo & Juliet and their forbidden love and their struggle to love one another with each others families, Capulets and Montagues, feuding with each other, underneath the romanticism it is a story of a plan going wrong. I am going to analyse and interpret how two very contrasting things; love and violence relate to each other in the play, the effect they have on the characters and the events that unfold.