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Violence and aggression in Romeo and Juliet
Theme of war and violence in Romeo and Juliet
Violence and aggression in Romeo and Juliet
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The Relation Between Pacifism and Violence Coined by French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud, pacifism is opposition to war and violence, meaning a pacifist is one who opposed to war and violence. In Romeo and Juliet, Benvolio is a prime example of a pacifist. Pacifists are oftentimes, and almost always the peacemakers of a story, dismantling fights and arguments. Through pacifistic ideas, anger, and Mercutio’s optimism, Shakespeare tells us that Benvolio is a peacemaker who does not wish for quarrels. Many times, throughout Romeo and Juliet, Benvolio is found breaking apart a quarrel. Benvolio asks of Mercutio and Tybalt to retreat from public, saying “We talk here in the public haunt of men. Either withdraw unto some private place (…)” (3.1.53-54).
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.
When asked by Benvolio to make peace in the streets, Tybalt bluntly responds,” talk of peace, I hate the word. As I hate hell all Montagues.” This is the attitude of Tybalt throughout the play. He believes he is doing all for the best and uses violence as his tool. He gets angry at the ball with Romeo being there, “villain as a guest,” and believes it best to defend his family’s honor by later taking revenge. When Tybalt finds Romeo, he thinks it best to fight him and when he ends up killing Mercutio he believes he has done his duty by causing Romeo the same hurt he has brought Tybalt, “the injuries that thou hast done me.”
In the article “Juliet’s Taming Of Romeo” Carolyn Brown discusses that Juliet “tames” Romeo in the play Romeo and Juliet, however, I do not really agree with that. While some believe that Juliet controls Romeo throughout the play, I maintain that it is almost impossible for Juliet to completely control Romeo because of the fact that they barely talk throughout most of the play and because Friar Lawrence is controlling most of the play.
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 ...
In William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, Benvolio and Tybalt are portrayed as characters with distinctly opposing personalities that is apparent in many different instances throughout the play. Romeo's best friend, Benvolio is depicted as the classic nice guy, incorporating all the personalities necessary to be one. He is calm, patient, an advocate of peace between the two rival families, and always viewing the cup as half full instead of half empty. During the first quarrel between the Montagues and the Capulets in the play, Benvolio tries to bring peace by saying " I do but keep the peace. Put up thy sword, / Or manage it to part these men with me " ( , , 62-63). It is apparent that Benvolio has good intentions and that he favours peace over mutiny. In addition, his control over himself allows him to carefully analyze the situation. Shakespeare intended for him to be the typical protagonist that tries to save everyone from a crisis, where in this case the crisis is a civil battle between two noble households. Furthermore, Benvolio has the ability to empathize with people and understand their feelings. Proof of this is shown when Lady Montague questions Romeo's missing to which he responds with "So early walking did I see your son;/ Towards him I made, but he was 'ware of me/ And stole into the covert of the wood; / I, measuring his affections by my own,/ Which then most sought where most might not be found,/ Being one too many by my weary self,/ Pursued my humor not pursuing his, /And gladly shunned who gladly fled from me. ( , , 117-124). Benvolio was able to figure out that something was wrong with Romeo, and that he wanted to be alone, and so Benvolio responded with just leaving him alone. He shows all the ch...
But not for the positive aspects, no, the negative ones. For instance, not only does Benvolio look good being a peaceful character, yet when it comes to the quote “Away to Heaven, respective lenity,/and fire-eyed fury be my conduct now,”” (3.1). It is apparent how strong Romeo’s reaction is. Yet Benvolio did not have the same. And instead shows how angry or quick to one Romeo is. He also does this in the city scene, where the Montagues run into the Capulets. Benvolio is quick to mention no fighting in public, yet Romeo doesn’t seem to care or pay any notice to him. (3.1). Benvolio obeyed the headings of the prince, Romeo however ignores
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.
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet uses opposing forces to express the differences and problems splitting Verona. He uses themes of Life and death, Light and dark, young and old, free will and fate and many other themes that are constantly being brought up throughout the play. Shakespeare used many of these opposing forces and sonnets as at the time he wrote the play this was very big and popular among the people.
Shakespeare cunningly gives the audience an early indication of Benvolio’s personality through his name. Benvolio translated literally means “good-will” or “well wisher” a role he consistently fills, although sometimes unsuccessfully throughout the play, striving to keep himself and others around him out of any conflict. In the very first scene of the play, Benvolio quickly establishes himself as the peacemaker as he tries to stop the fight between the Montague and Capulet servants by saying, “Part fools! Put up your swords, you know not what you do.”(I.i.64-65) Wanting peace he warns them to stop arguing before things evolve into a grave situation. In that statement, Shakespeare references the Gospel of Luke “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), using his skillful use of the written language to allude that Benvolio was taking on a Christ like peacemaker role in the play. Benvolio’s moral convictions do not change over the course of the play. His stance on peace is evident in all three scenes. In Act III, as Mercutio and Tybalt begin to fight, Benvolio once again attempts to be the voice of reason, “We talk here in the public haunt of mean: eithe...
Tybalt is ~'king of cats~', quick to anger and act without thought, prone to act fast and violently if he feels insulted or dishonored. Benvolio is called a peacemaker (even his name is from the root of ~'benevolent~' or kind), and tries many times to soothe frayed tempers and hurt feelings. Benvolio is also asked by Romeo's parents to keep an eye on Romeo, and he is the one the Prince approaches to get to the bottom of the street fight between Romeo's friends and Capulet's supporters. Tybalt is the opposite in character, being unfriendly and self-serving.
Romeo on the other hand would much rather use his words than resort to violence. In Act 3, scene 1, during the violent encounter between Mercutio and Tybalt, Romeo is seen as trying to settle the feud between the two men rather than them getting into a fight. “Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up. / Draw, Benvolio; beat down their weapons. / Gentlemen, for shame! forbear this outrage!” (3.1.83-86). Romeo is once again portrayed as more feminine since he is trying to diffuse the situation using his words and not actions. However, later in the scene when Mercutio is murdered, Romeo’s feminine traits as well as masculine traits are portrayed since he only then resorts to violence in order to defend Mercutio’s honour and avenge his death. This shows that Romeo has the capability to show his more masculine side when he choses. Unfortunately, when faced with difficult circumstances, Romeo is forced to choose between the two sets of
Montague and his wife discuss Romeo’s strange behavior with Benvolio and ask him why he is acting that way. They find Romeo and have Benvolio talk to him. Benvolio advises him to forget Rosaline, but Romeo refuses.
It was a hot summer day in the town square of Verona when the two households came face to face, both feeling and showing their emnity. In the play of Romeo and Juliet, written by Shakespeare, Tybalt wishes to fight Romeo and since Romeo is refusing to battle him, Mercutio steps up and takes Romeo's place. Benvolio is, like always, begging and pleading for them to keep the peace. All through the tale, Romeo's best friends, Benvolio and Mercutio, try to help Romeo with their own particular methods. Surprisingly, there are no characters that differ from each other more than Benvolio and Mercutio. Although Benvolio and Mercutio are alike because they are both very loyal to Romeo, they are different because Benvolio is calm, level-headed, and honest and Mercutio tends to be a sarcastic, wild person who follows his emotions more than his common sense.
Pacifism covers an array of views and there are many subcategories of pacifism, some of which I will cover, but the main definition of the word pacifism is the opposition to war and/or violence. Perhaps the most famous use of the word pacifism is found in the “Sermon on the Mount”, where Jesus claims the “peacemakers” are blessed. In this passage, the Greek word eirenopoios is translated into Latin as pacifici, which means those who work for peace. One common and simple argument for pacifism among religious groups or god fearing people is the argument that god’s revealed words says, through the bible, “Thou shalt not kill.”
until one person gets killed. In those days if you said no to a duel,