Violence and Conflict in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
It is the violence and conflict that make this play exciting and
thrilling. You would think that Romeo and Juliet's main theme would be
that of love. However, violence and conflict also became one of the
main themes in this play. There were all kinds of examples of
different types of disorder and conflict, brawls and fights between
the two houses, the Montagues and Capulets, the violence of angry
passion and the unnaturalness of love. At every turn the two lovers
were faced with some kind of violence. The violence and conflict seems
to carry the theme of love between Romeo and Juliet to its tragic end.
The images of darkness portray death, violence, sadness and the
secrecy of the two lovers. Romeo and Juliet did not quarrel with each
other; the love between them was deep and passionate. It was more
powerful than hatred and death.
Romeo and Juliet did not have any disagreements between them. But they
were caught in the middle of a violent feud between their two
families. The war between the Capulets and the Montagues was an (The
prologue- Line 3) 'ancient grudge' that had lasted many generations.
The Capulets and Montagues were unable to be civil towards one
another, this is the main reason why the feud lasted for many
generations. Shakespeare never expresses, in the play, the reason why
the two families felt hatred towards each other. Even though the two
houses were losing loved ones in the dispute, they still continued to
have disagreements and fights with each other.
From all the characters in the play, there is only one that expresses
his deep hatred openly t...
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...c love story. If the Montagues and
the Capulets had just put all their differences aside then Romeo and
Juliet would not have contained any violence and conflict; what a
boring trouble-free love story Romeo and Juliet would have been
without all the violence. Violence and conflict is one of the main
themes in Romeo and Juliet which, keeps the audience entertained. All
of the brawls that the two families faced showed the deep hatred
towards one another. However, it is ironic that the two houses were
only able to put their differences aside when they lose the two things
that were most precious to them, Romeo and Juliet. This also showed
how stubborn the Montagues and the Capulets were. Shakespeare included
the violence and conflict into the play to show that Romeo and Juliet
was not just a love story with a happy ending.
Shakespeare's Use of Violence and Conflict in Romeo and Juliet in Act 3 Scene 1
Romeo and Juliet is known as one of the greatest love stories, but it has its fair share of tragedy as well. The story riddles with themes throughout. Love is the first theme and there is no greater love than the love Romeo and Juliet share. Shakespeare offers his audiences just as much hate as love in Romeo and Juliet. The families of both Romeo and Juliet involve themselves in centuries of feuding. The ongoing feud between the Montagues and Capulets drives Romeo and Juliet into a life of secrecy, which ultimately causes their deaths. Youth is another theme and ties directly to how young both Romeo and Juliet are both in their age and their relationship. The story of Romeo and Juliet uses sex as a theme as well although not in the intimate details of more modern stories. The two lovers concerns are not with the wishes of their warring families, they just want to be together “Deny thy father and refuse thy name / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn by my love / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.34-36). Love is the first theme Shakespeare displays in this play.
Conflict is essential to the success of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. In the play, Romeo and Juliet are from two powerful families, the Capulets and the Montagues, which are rivals of each other. Romeo and Juliet fall in love, despite this, complicating the families rivalry as they attempt to be together despite their heritage. Conflict leads to more conflict, revealing the personalities and true intentions of characters in the play, unfolding the plot, and causing unforeseen consequences.
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.
Since Lord Capulet and Lord Montague are in an unnecessary feud, Mercutio, Romeo, and Juliet have all lost their lives. This theme is important to the story because the unnecessary fighting is causing many casualties, and disturbing the peace of Verona. If the feud never existed, then Verona would have order, and the six people who died would still be alive. This fighting is the driving force between all of the negative events in the play.
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two young lovers, whose love was destined for destruction from the beginning because of the hatred between the two families, Montagues and Capulets. Shakespeare juxtaposes the themes of love and hatred. He continuously puts them side by side, and even though they are opposites, when seen together you realise that they are driven from the same thing; passion. Shakespeare uses many different language and dramatic techniques to convey this idea.
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 ...
Throughout Romeo and Juliet love and hate are combined. However even though they are combined love still remains the principal theme in the play. Although in the play the theme of hatred can be just as important and sometimes it intensifies the theme of love. For example Romeo and Juliet’s love wouldn’t have been so extreme and powerful unless there was the hatred between the Montague’s and Capulet’s.
The hatred between the Montagues’ and the Capulates’ are also working against the couple. While Romeo and Juliet are seemingly deeply in love, the rest of their families were continually battling it out, with death usually being the end result. How could two lovers keep a relationship together with so much violence and hated without totally abandoning their families? I feel that this is another example that the couple wasn’t deeply in love. This hate is shown with several “battle” scenes between the two families.
The most visual form of chaos is physical violence. The beginning of the play itself, involves the two families, the Capulets and Montagues, threatening each other, insulting each other and creating turmoil in the town. The magnitude of hostility between them is clearly evident when the Prince of Verona proclaims them as, “Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace.” This violence intensifies as the play goes on leading to the massacre of two loved ones; Mercutio, by Tybalt’s sword under Romeo’s arm and Tybalt, slain by Romeo with anger sparked by revenge. A “plague on both of your houses,” curses Mercutio as he dies. The climax finally busts when Friar Lawrence’s prophesy comes true, “These violent delights have violent ends.” This violence doesn’t only derive from the chaos between the families, but among the families themselves. The families are caught up with their rivalries that the relationship between the parents and the children are torn apart. In the beginning of the play, it took long for Romeo’s parents to find out that he has gone missing but didn’t show much concern when they found out that he did. In fact, the nurse has a much closer connection to Juliet th...
Girls were seen as the property of their fathers – to be given away to
Firstly, the Capulets and Montagues are at odds with each other. Members of each house and servants break into a sword fight, clashing with each other. Sampson says "Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember thy swashing blow." (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 60). The feuding between the two families motivates Sampson to challenge the Capulets. Another example of how the two houses despise each other is what Romeo and his friends have to do to get into the Capulet feast. So they will not be recognized, Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio wear comic masks to hide their faces. Mercutio says, "Give me a case to put my visage in" (Act 1, Scene 4, Line 29). They do not want to be recognized because of the hatred between the two houses. Also, Romeo and Juliet are not supposed to be in love: "My only love sprung from my only hate! / Too early seen unknown, and known too late! / Prodigious birth of love it is to me, / That I must love a loathed enemy." says Juliet (Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 137-140). They are not supposed to love each other because it just so happens that each of their houses despise each other. It is unfortunate for Romeo and Juliet that their two families are against each other, because this means that they are not supposed to be married.
‘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...
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.