Shakespeare shows violence all through the entire play and it is one of the most common themes used in Shakespeare’s plays. It is an easy theme to develop through different scenes and can be set out in many different ways. In the Elizabethan era, the audience used to love violence because it emotionally involves you with the main character and the immense problems that the character is going through. From the beginning of the play violence is shown by the fighting between the servingmen and as the play goes on, the violence builds up even more which escalates violence into the coming death of Romeo and Juliet.
However, in the play there are characters that seem very calm and collected and are not interested in violence. Benvolio is portrayed as a friendly man who does not like fights or being within a mile of it. “I pray thee, the good Mercutio, let’s retire; the day is hot, the Capels are abroad, and if we melt we shall not scape a brawl.” Benvolio is aware that a combat will take place because the Capulet’s would be comings soon and he strongly did not want this. Mercutio then laughs at him, accusing Benvolio of being scared.
Mercutio is a relative of the Prince and Paris, and is a close friend of Romeo, and Romeo’s cousin Benvolio. Mercutio is played out to be a daredevil and reckless jokester. Though one of Romeo’s best friends, Mercutio’s facetious attitude tends to try Romeo’s patience on occasion, conversely, Mercutio is angry with Romeo’s depression that comes from Rosaline’s denial of Romeo’s love. He seems to be always on the edge and in act 3 scene1 when he says, “Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels? And thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords. Here’s my fiddlestick, here’s that shall make you dance.” Mercutio is saying he’s Romeo’s follower and he does not play with Romeo as if he is a hired musician even though they are good friends.
After Romeo receives a death threat from Tybalt, Mercutio expects Romeo to engage in a duel with Tybalt but Romeo refuses to fight him as Tybalt is Juliet’s cousin and therefore his kinsman. Not knowing this, Mercutio decides to fight Tybalt himself, causing Mercutio to be stabbed right under Romeo’s arm. In Act III before he dies, Mercutio casts “a plague o’ both your (Romeo and Tybalt’s) houses!” And before he finally dies he makes one final pun: “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man...”
Juliet is thirteen years old in the play and in act 1 scene 5 her father states that she “hath not seen the change of fourteen years”. She is portrayed as much older than her age as shown in the first scene, when she demonstrates her disobedience and shows in many ways that she is not dependent on her parents and nurse. However young she may be, she knows exactly what she wants and this is shown when she says the famous line, “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” She is calling upon Romeo and telling him that she loves him so much that she would give up her family for him. Keeping their love a secret caused Romeo and Juliet to turn to other people for help and often these people gave the wrong advice or just betrayed them.
The nurse was one of these people who betrayed the young couple by when she told Juliet, even though she knew how much she clearly loved Romeo, that it would be best if she just married Paris. This is shown in act 3 scene 5 when the nurse says, “I think it would be best you married with the county”. This really hurt Juliet because she was supposed to be one of her only best friends and she felt quite neglected. Juliet was left by herself to make some significant decisions but she showed many times in the play that she was a mature and wise young woman. Sometimes in the play though, she appears hesitant but when she meets Romeo, she matures quickly, she allows him to kiss her when they first meet and when she appears on the balcony on the live plays, she is fully longing for him. “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love is cheap; the more I give to thee the more I have, for both are infinite.” Through that quote she shows her endless love for him.
Romeo, at first announces his love for Rosaline. This quickly changes once he meets Juliet. “If I profane with my unworthiest hand.” Romeo enters Capulet’s party which he was not invited to and falls in love at first sight with Juliet. He takes her hand and begs a kiss. “Then have my lips the sin that they took.” Juliet accepts his kiss and proclaims that if it is a sin to share a kiss with Romeo then she shall be a sinner. Romeo and Juliet’s love is big from the beginning and as time grows, there love for one another does too. During the play Romeo’s attitudes change from happy, calm, joking to merciless, angry and sad through different times in the play.
When Romeo learns of Juliet’s death which she was not, he decides that he has no other reason to live on this planet. “For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light.” Romeo thinking Juliet is dead, says what he thinks would be on her tombstone and that the light of heaven has taken her meaning she is dead. As he reaches to her tomb he is enraged, “Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death, gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth, thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open, and in despite i’ll cram thee with more food.” Romeo is so angry and also sad that he wants to throw himself in the tomb with the love of his life.
The street in Verona, Italy is where all the violence and prejudice began. In act 1 scene 1, Sampson and Gregory servants for the Capulet’s, insult the Montague servants Balthasar and Abram by biting his thumb at them and this is not a good gesture. This leads to a fight, which involves the Lord’s of both families and the Prince. No one died, however the hatred between the two houses grew even more than before and this caused a lot of prejudice against the families which led to more violence.
Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet only speaks thirty-six lines in the play, but you can tell that he is a character full of anger and aggression. He is definitely the most violent through out the play because every time something is heard from him, it is intimidating. In act 1 scene 5 he says, “Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting makes my flesh tremble with different greeting: I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall, now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall.” Tybalt makes it crystal clear that he hates Romeo but will not interfere whilst he is talking with Juliet because he knows that their relationship could never work. They were star-cross’d lovers.
There are many dramatic devices Shakespeare uses in the play like oxymoron when Lord Capulet uses oxymoron saying, “All things we ordainéd festival, turn from their office to black funeral.”Capulet says this quote whilst grieving for Juliet. Oxymoron is then shown again when Romeo says, “When then, O brawling love, O loving hate.” Deep imagery is shown when Juliet is angry as she says to Romeo after he killed Tybalt , “O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face! Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?” Personification is then used during the play like when the mourning Lord Capulet exclaims, “Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir, my daughter he hath wedded.” Shakespeare uses dramatic devices aiming it at the violence that has gone on since violence, love and hate are the main themes of the play. There are dramatic devices used in act 3 scene 1 and are conflict and dramatic irony and this is caused by the entrance of Tybalt and Romeo. The scene progresses with Tybalt’s constant insults undermining Romeo calling him “boy” and “thou art a villain”.
Act 3 scene 1 is the most destructive scene as it is centred around the murders of Mercutio and Tybalt. Both of them are killed by the act of fighting, which is prohibited by the Prince Escales of Verona. I think that act 3 scene 1 was written to shock the audience and add tension to the play because before this scene, Romeo and Juliet were married by the Friar Lawrence. This makes the atmosphere seem calm and relaxed. In addition, the prologue of the play states, “a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life”, meaning that the audience knew that Romeo and Juliet were both going to die but somehow you kind of hope for them and at certain points, you actually think that they’re going to be together for ever but then the prologue tells us the inevitable ending.
The most depressing scene, act 5 scene 3 begins when Paris visits Juliet’s tomb to lay flowers and mourn thinking she is dead. He acts discreet because he does not want anyone to watch him. “Sweet flower; with flowers thy bridal bed I strew- O woe, thy canopy is dust and stones! – Which with sweet water nightly I will dew, or wanting that, with tears distilled by moans.” Paris is grieving for Juliet because of her death and she was going to be his bride before Romeo’s intermission. When Romeo enters he’s determined to force open the tomb. Paris attempts to arrest Romeo but is slain by him. Romeo wants to die now that he believes Juliet is dead. “Here’s to my love! O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” These were Romeo’s last words as he kissed Juliet as he once did when he first set eyes upon her. Romeo shows violence towards Paris on many occasions, because of them fighting over Juliet. As Juliter wakes up she realises that Romeo is dead. She immediately wants to sleep with him forever. “I will kiss thy lips, haply some poison yet doth hang on them, to make me die with a restorative, thy lips are warm.” She then realises he has just slowly died and can still be with him.
I think Romeo and Juliet is a play mixed with violence, hate and love. Arguably, it is Shakespeare’s greatest love story and I think that life during Shakespeare’s time could have helped him to make the play better and influence the main story. The Elizabethan society was strongly patriarchal and the father had the right to treat his daughter like property at an auction. Marriage was a business agreement in that era and that was the main reason Juliet was going get married to Paris before she entwined in a love rollercoaster with Romeo.
The plague in which Mercutio predicts during his slow death, and which eventually halts Friar from delivering the letter which leads to the lovers’ suicide was The Black Death – the terrifying plague which consistently went on in Europe between its first outbreaks in the 14th and 18th century. Thus Shakespeare contrasts the two in which are very different and compares violence and disease and it had its basis from a real fear.
The play is set in the Italian city of Verona which Shakespeare most probably never visited. However, I think he chose to set the play there because of the passion and lust that went on in the city. The text of the play can be read on different levels and this shows layers of meaning and Shakespeare used many dramatic devices. The moral of the story is that we should all learn to tell the truth before misunderstood perception takes place and we regret the events that have taken place. Romeo and Juliet’s love was said to be doomed from the beginning and maybe they were “star-crossed” after all.
In conclusion, from the very beginning of the play, Romeo and Juliet’s relationship was destined for destruction. I think that one of the most important aspects of the play is fate which many people do not seem to recognise. This is because destiny is what brought the two together and destiny is what also killed the two together. The masquerade party was the most important aspect of fate because this is where they met. The fact that Romeo was wearing a mask and his face was hidden allowed Juliet to fall in love with him because if she had known who he was, she probably would never have fallen in love with him. Fate had made this happen and no one could have gotten in the way of Romeo and Juliet’s meeting and also their departure.
