In "Romeo and Juliet" there are two main forms in which conflict comes into the play. These being physical conflict between people and the mental and emotional conflict of their feelings. The main physical conflict within this play is the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. This conflict between the two families is first shown in the first scene of the first act with servants from the conflicting families engaging in abuse which leads to physical conflict. . “Draw if you be men.” The next major form of physical conflict within the plot is the death of Mercutio “They have made worms’ meat of me” and then Romeo killing Tybalt through revenge “There lies the man, slain by young Romeo”. Later on in the play in Act 3 scene V there is yet more physical conflict but this time it is between Juliet and her father Lord Capulet. This is caused over Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris. “To go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church, / or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither” Although there is no actually physical contact this is showing that Capulet is prepared to use force in order to make Juliet marry Paris. The final demonstration of physical conflict comes in Act 5 scene III when Romeo and Paris fight outside of Juliet’s tomb. Romeo kills Paris “O I am slain”.
The other main form of conflict within the plot of this play is the emotional and mental conflict of the main characters feelings. Most of the conflicting feelings are based around the theme of love. The first demonstration of this is in Act 1 scene I in which Romeo tells of his unrequited love for Rosaline. “Out of her favour where I am in love” which shows the conflict of emotions between himself and Rosaline in which he loves her but his love is not returned. The greatest demonstration of the conflicting emotions is Act 1 scene V after the ball. Romeo discovers that the girl with whom he has just fallen in love with is a member of the house of his sworn enemies. “Is she a Capulet? / O dear account, my life is my foes debt.” Juliet makes the same discovery and her words serve to emphasise the conflict of their love against their hate. “My only love sprung from my only hate.”
In order to show and emphasise these conflicts William Shakespeare uses a variety of devices. The most obvious one is visual; this is the actual physical fighting on stage between some of the players and their deaths. This is shown especially in Act 3 scene I when the most dramatic of the fight scenes takes place resulting in two deaths, one of each family. Another visual device William Shakespeare uses is the positioning of good and bad scenes and good and bad characters next to each other. This emphasises the conflict between the different moods and personalities through the device of juxtaposition. For example in Act1 scene I Tybalt and Benvolio are presented together and this accentuates their conflicting personalities. Benvolio being a peace maker “I do but keep the peace” Which is directly followed by Tybalt who is of an aggressive nature saying “What, drawn and talk of peace. I hate the word”. Also a love-based scene being Act 2 Scene VI which is the marriage is immediately followed by a scene of much hate being Act 3 scene I which is where two people end up dying. William Shakespeare also carries on this juxtaposition of opposites in his imagery “whiter than new snow upon a raven’s back” he saying that against the black raven the snow’s whiteness is emphasised.
Throughout this play William Shakespeare uses many conflicting images, he does this to create a greater sense of opposites and to emphasise the conflict already present in the play. The main opposition in "Romeo and Juliet" is love and hate. This is part of the plot and is used in the imagery as well. For example “o brawling love, o loving hate” and “Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love” serve to highlight the conflict running throughout the play and the love and hate in the plot. He also uses the oppositions of light and dark “Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon” for the same effect.
William Shakespeare uses the language within his play to create more conflict and to emphasise the conflict formed within the plot. The main language device he uses to emphasise the conflict is oxymorons. In one of Romeos speeches about his unrequited love for Rosaline he uses many violent oxymorons, for example “O heavy lightness, serious vanity” and “Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health.” By using these oxymorons William Shakespeare is emphasising the conflict which is running throughout the play.
William Shakespeare also uses the historical context of the time in which the play is set in order to create yet more conflict within the play. An example of this is the arranged marriage between Juliet and Paris. At the time in which the play is set it was common for rich families to arrange marriages. Also it was expected for children to be dutiful to their parents and elders. The fact that In Act 3 scene V Juliet did not want to marry the man of her parent’s choice and she was not doing what they wanted her to do caused another scene of great conflict. Also again the historical context of the play introduces another area of opposition, this being male against female “And therefore women being the weaker / vessels.” This demonstrates that
The theme of conflict is the central theme in this play and if it were not for this theme this play would be a romance and would not have been a tragedy. It was only due to the feud between the two families that there was such a problem with the romance between Romeo and Juliet. They were of equal standing and if it were not for the conflicts their marriage would have been perfectly acceptable. William Shakespeare uses many devices, physical, emotional, imagery etc to make the conflict into a major part of this play, which turned it from being a romance, into a tragedy and led to the inevitable result of the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. This play reflects Elizabethan society but this does not diminish its appeal because it is to some extent still occurring in some cultures around the world today. This gives this play an eternal appeal that will not die out.