Through this conversation the two young men are boasting, they are having a match with words to see which one of them is the stronger. This conversation shows how strong is the feeling that all involved in the House of Capulet have against the Montagues.
Further on in this scene two servants of the house of Montague enter and become involved in conversation with the servants of the House of Capulet because Sampson makes a rude gesture towards one of the Montague servants.
Sampson: “Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them, which is disgrace to them
if they bear it.”
Abram: “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?”
Sampson: “I do bite my thumb, sir.”
Abram: “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?’’
Sampson: “Is the law on our side if I say ay?”
Gregory: “No.”
Sampson: “No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir.”
Gregory: “Do you quarrel, sir?”
Abram: “Quarrel, sir? No, sir.”
Sampson: “But if you do, sir, I am for you. I serve as good as man as you.”
This leads to a fight demonstrating the depth of feeling and rivalry that exists between the two houses. Half way through this fight Benvolio (a Montague) enters and stops the fight proving that the younger people involved take the rivalry more seriously. After this Tybalt (a Capulet) enters and he tries to restart the fight leaving Benvolio outnumbered. The fight restarts. Suddenly police officers enter the scene and break up the fight. The entrance of the Prince follows this.
The Prince is furious about the unnecessary brawl and gives them all a final warning or death will be the penalty.
Prince: “Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace
Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel
Will they not hear? What ho, you men, you beasts!
That quench the fire of your pernicious rage.”
‘To old Free-town, our common judgement place.
Once more, on the pain of death, all men depart.”
The weakness of the rivalry between the older members of the families shows when a Montague is invited to a Capulet party. In this scene a servant of the Capulet’s is given an invitation list to a party, he cannot read and comes upon Romeo and asks him to read the list for him. Romeo asks where they should go and the servant replies to his master’s house. He then issues Romeo with an invitation to the party and says:
“Now I’ll tell you without asking. My master is the great rich Capulet, and if you be
not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine. Rest you
merry.”
This shows that the Montague’s were not welcome at the Capulet’s party, however an omission has been made and the servant in thanks for reading out the list has invited Romeo.
When Tybalt hears Romeo’s voice at the party he says:
Tybalt: “This, by his voice should be a Montague.
Fetch me my rapier, boy”
“To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.”
When Capulet hears of this he says:
“Content thee, gentle coz; let him alone.”
The argument between Tybalt and Capulet continues with Tybalt wanting Romeo to go but Capulet insisting he should remain. As a result of this Romeo meets Juliet and they kiss. When he leaves Juliet asks her nurse who Romeo is and she says:
‘His name is Romeo, and a Montague
The only son of your great enemy’
Juliet: “My only love sprung from my only hate!
To early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy.”
Juliet acknowledges that she has fallen in love with a hated enemy. This shows that she is also very aware of the rivalry between the two families. However, the love between the two of them proves to be too strong to be denied and they meet the next day and arrange to marry. They do this deciding to put all rivalry to one side, as it seems unimportant:
Juliet: “Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?”
Romeo: “Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike.”
After the marriage has taken place Romeo meets up with Tybalt and Tybalt tells him that he is a villain and that he has injured him, a thing that he can not excuse, he challenges Romeo to turn and draw his sword. Romeo is trying to stop the rivalry and says:
““I do protest I never injuried thee’
But love thee better than thou canst devise,
Till thou shalt know the reason of my love;
And so, good Capulet, which name I tender
As dearly as my own, be satisfied.”
In this quote Romeo is telling Tybalt that the name Montague is no different from the name Capulet and there should be no rivalry between the two families. Tybalt refuses to accept this and draws his rapier and he fights with Mercutio who has been defending Romeo to Tybalt. In the course of the fight Mercutio is injured and dies of his wounds. Romeo says to Tybalt:
“Now. Tybalt, take the “villain” back again
That late thou gavest me, For Mercutio’s soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company:
Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.”
Earlier Tybalt had called Romeo a. villain and Romeo is now using this as an excuse to start a fight with him to avenge Mercutio’s death. They fight and Tybalt is killed.
As a result of Romeo murdering Tybalt the Prince exiles him:
“And for that offence
immediately do we exile him hence”
Juliet is told of the fight and Romeo’s exile. She cries, not for Tybalt’s death, but for Romeo and asks to be taken to him. Romeo is distraught to find he has been exiled and says that Heaven is where Juliet is and cannot bear to think of a life without her. At the end of the play Romeo believes Juliet to be dead and travels to Verona to die alongside her. On the way he fights with Paris, who tries to arrest him, and kills him. He lays Paris in the tomb next to Juliet, whom he believes to be dead, and drinks a poison potion and dies. Juliet awakes and sees Romeo dead next to her and draws Romeo’s dagger and stabs herself through her heart.
My conclusion of this is that the young men and servants are the most involved in this rivalry and they take it to much higher lengths to be better than the other family. How ever the older and wiser people that have matured do not take part in fights and try to keep the peace but seem very happy to take the blame for all of this. Romeo tries not to belong to any gang, but at the end I feel he did the right thing and killed TybaIt who earlier killed his brother.
The servants are very much a part of the rivalry between the two families as can be seen by the first quote used. Another example of this is seen when Romeo talks to the servant and reads the party guest list. A further example can be seen by Juliet’s nurses’ reaction to the fact that she has fallen in love with Romeo, a member of the rival family.
The feud between the young men is equally visible and can be seen very strongly in Mercutio and Tybalt. Romeo would probably have been a part of the rivalry if he had not met and fallen in love with Juliet. This caused him to instead wish for an end to the rivalry and put him in the role of a peacemaker. The older family members are more used to the feud aid do not show their feelings so openly, thus at the party the senior Capulet tries to smooth over the fact that Romeo has gone to the party and to make the peace between him and Tybalt. Even outsiders to the family are aware of the feud and the Prince orders the rival servants to cease their feuding under the sentence of death.
The fighting and deaths that have occurred both during this play and in the past heighten the rivalry and it can only be hoped that the circumstances of Romeo and Juliet’s deaths will finally bring it to an end. In the end the family rivalry overcomes all and causes the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet who were forming a bridge across the rivalry and uniting the two families.
