One of the most important themes portrayed from the very beginning of the play, is that of conflict. The opening scene shows two members of the Capulet family as they encounter two from the Montegue household. The rivalry between the families is shown straight away, but in a light-hearted, comic manner. Benvolio, Romeo’s cousin attempts to stop the fight, as he is a peaceful man, “Part fools! Put up your swords.” The comic value quickly changes as they are quickly presented with the threat of death, which shows the danger of the situation Romeo and Juliet find themselves caught up in. Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, is in someways Benvolio’s opposite, as he is very much a man of war, “Peace, I hate the word, as I hate hell…”. This already sets up the impending violence and destruction that Tybalt will cause, through his unruly behaviour. In the second half of the scene, Romeo is introduced. He appears to be very depressed and is acting unusual as he locks himself away in his room. His melodramtic behaviour is shown in conversation with Benvolio as he uses oxymorons excessively, “O brawling love, o loving hate…feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health”, bringing the themes of conflict and love together. However, his love for Rosaline also appears to be superficial as it is based purely on looks.
The relationship between the males is presented as Romeo and Mercutio talk about his love for Rosaline. Romeo talks asif his love is a burden or a curse in the way that he is depressed and angry as he feels that she does not love him back, “Under love’s heavy burden do I sink.” Mercutio attempts to comfort and support his best friend, whilst also turning it into an inuendo by refering to the heavy weight that two lovers feel on eachother during sex, and advises him to, “borrow cupid’s wings”, as Romeo says he has been “injured by cupid’s arrow”. Romeo’s love is very physical as they use crude language and inuendos, “prick love for pricking”, showing that they are still immature and Romeo is acting on impulse. This is also shown through the way that Romeo talks about his love for Juliet after his first meeting with her, and even though he forgets about Rosaline almost instantly, his love for Juliet seems much more convincing as his language changes, “Did my heart love till now?”, and is much less crude. The idea of the Petrachan ideal is presented, setting up the idea of elevated love and that the woman is idealised and rarefied. After their first kiss, their relationship becomes very different to his relationship with Rosaline, as it breaks away from tradition and is mutual love. It is also seen as much more sincere, as their sonnet shows. As they talk, their lines rhyme together, presenting the idea of soulmates. The religious imagery also sets their relationship apart, as it becomes courtly and spiritual love. Romeo talks of their first kiss as his “sin is purged”, setting up the idea of a purifying experience and even though they realsise that they are from rival families, this does not stop them, but only makes them more determined to make it work, “My life is my foes debt”. Juliet also says “My grave is likely to be my wedding bed”, which is somewhat prophetic.
