In Act 3 Scene 5, Juliet confesses that she does not want to marry Paris. Lord Capulet is infuriated at her disobedience:
“Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!...My fingers itch!”
As Lord Capulet is on the verge of crossing the border between verbal conflict and physical violence, Shakespeare uses this to create a feeling of intense pressure on both Lord Capulet and Juliet.
In Act 1 Scene 1, Romeo expresses his confusion with love and how it mixes things up, creating chaos and disorder:
“Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms, Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!”
By using these opposing oxymorons, Shakespeare plays on the conflict inside Romeo’s head; His emotions, his opinion of love and his outlook on life.
In Act 4 Scene 5, Lord Capulet is grieving for Juliet’s supposed death, comparing her wedding-to-be with her funeral:
“All things that we ordained festival, Turn from their office to black funeral, Our instruments to melancholy bells, Our weeding cheer to a sad burial feast.”
These conflicting antithesis express the anguish and bereavement that Lord Capulet is facing as he comes to terms with the fact that Juliet’s funeral will happen instead of her wedding.
Physical violence plays an important role in the progression of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as it is the motive of the key event in each act.
In Act 1 Scene 1, the hatred that runs between the Capulets and the Montagues by the fighting of the servants from opposite families. When Benvolio attempts to keep the peace, Tybalt spurs the Montagues to fight:
“As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. Have at thee, coward”
Tybalt’s attitude towards fighting the Montagues is surprisingly positive as he is a bloodthirsty and vicious character. Shakespeare uses this conflict to set the tone for the rest of the play by making the two families, from the servants to the lords of the families, seem as though they have been savage rivals for a long time.
In Act 3 Scene 1, Mercutio is killed by Tybalt, trying to defend Romeo’s honour. Mercutio’s last words blamed both the Montagues and the Capulets for his death:
“Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world. A plague on both your houses!”
Mercutio curses both families for his death because of the murderous feud that is fought between them. Had Tybalt not come to challenge Romeo to a duel for his honour as a Capulet, then Mercutio need not of died to save Romeo’s honour as a Montague. Shakespeare uses Mercutio’s death to spur Romeo on to regain his honour and kill Tybalt, which has dire consequences for both the Montagues and the Capulets. These acts of violence change the tone of the play from, at the end of Act 2, happiness and joy for the marriage of Romeo and Juliet, to darkness and despair for both families at the loss of Tybalt and Mercutio.
