Summary of Romeo and Juliet

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William Shakespeare wrote ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in the 16th century, when tragedies were very popular. It is a romantic tragedy about two conflicting families, who have bitterly hated each other for generations, and frequently fight each other. Romeo is an eighteen-year-old boy from the Montague family and is very much in love with a woman called Rosaline. Juliet is a fourteen-year-old girl, who is arranged to marry a man called Paris and is from the Capulet family. Juliet and Paris have an engagement party and Romeo and his friends decide to crash, as Romeo wants to see Rosaline and they want to irritate the Capulets. However, at the party, Romeo and Juliet catch each other’s eyes and instantly fall madly in love, unaware of the fact that they are from conflicting families. This causes complications, as they would be forbidden to be together if their families discovered their relationship, so

they resort to keeping their romance a secret, which leads to a bitter tragedy. In this essay I will be exploring the themes of conflict and violence in act 1 scene 1, act 3 scene 1, and act 3 scene 5.

In act 1 scene 1, a fight occurs between the Montagues and the Capulets, in which the prince has to intervene. The fight begins with Sampson biting his thumb at the Montagues, which was an offensive action in those days. Abram, of the Montague family, asks, “Do you bite you thumb at us, sir?” and Sampson replies, “I do bite my thumb, sir.” This causes tension and encourages both verbal and physical violence. When Gregory, of the Montagues, asks Abram “Do you quarrel sir?” Abram replies “Quarrel, sir? No, sir.” Sampson then says that he will join the quarrel by saying “But if you do, sir, I am for you. I serve as a good a man as you.” and Ab...

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... but this was perfectly acceptable in those days, as men were considered the superior sex.

This situation creates a conflict between the members of her family, as Juliet’s father is insisting that she will marry Paris. A quote to back this statement up is “but fettle your fine joints ‘gainst Thursday next, to go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church”. Another quote to show that Capulet is forcing Juliet to marry Paris is “or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither”. These quotes show that Juliet has no choice but to marry Paris and if she doesn’t, then he will drag her to the church himself.

There is then a conflict between the Nurse and Juliet’s father, as she defends Juliet by saying, “God in heaven bless her! You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.” This aggravates her father even more because he is already furious, as he is never disobeyed in his household.

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