Oppositions in Romeo and Juliet.

GCSE Coursework

Oppositions in Romeo and Juliet

Patrick Brosnan

Romeo and Juliet is a play full of oppositions. Write an essay explaining those oppositions in the play which you find interesting and discuss how you think they should be made clear to an audience watching the play in the theatre.

Romeo and Juliet is a play which throughout has many opposing themes. The most evident opposition is between the two families featured in the play. This conflict is shown in the play by physical, verbal and mental means and can be revealed by a director in a number of interesting ways. The play is also filled with contrasting characters. The use of oxymorons helps the audience see more clearly the dissimilarities in play.
        The main rivalry in the play is obviously between the Montague and
Capulet families. The two families have differences and similarities. The Montagues have a son while the Capulets have a daughter. Both families have a nephew. The families are worst enemies and despise anything or anyone to do with the each other. “Two households both alike in dignity…from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil brawls make civil hands unclean” This is the opening speech in the play; it tells the audience about the play and the rivalry of the families. It also tells the audience that it is a violent grudge and there will not only be verbal fights but physical ones too.
        The opening scene sets the tone for the play. It begins with some men of the Capulet house laughing and joking in the market place. One of them spots some Montagues. “Draw thy tool, here comes two of the house of Montague.” This quote again shows the hatred between the families and the risk of war between them. There was no sign that the Montagues had come looking for a fight but the Capulets drew their swords just because it was the Montagues.
        On a stage this opposition between Montague and Capulet could be put across to an audience in a number of ways. The Capulets could be wearing one colour of clothing and the Montagues a contrasting colour e.g. Montagues in black and Capulets in white. A controversial idea would be to cast the Montagues and Capulets with different skin colour e.g. black and white. However this could have racial connotations and put a different slant on the play. Another option would be to separate the stage so Montagues entered and left on one side and the Capulets the other.
        Within the Families there are characters who oppose each other. The nephew of Old Montague and the nephew of Lady Capulet, Benvolio and Tybalt are examples of this. We learn they are opposites in the first scene. Benvolio breaks up the fight and asks Tybalt to help him “keep the peace” Tybalt’s reply is “…I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues and thee.” Tybalt shows how much hate he has towards the Montagues by comparing his hate for them with the hate he has for hell. Benvolio shows he is a peacekeeper while Tybalt shows he is a fighter.

These two characters could be played by actors with contrasting physical appearances e.g. Benvolio being of small stature and Tybalt being tall and broad. This would give the effect that Tybalt is a bully and the crowd’s sympathy will be drawn towards Benvolio, “the good guy”.
Other examples of contrasting characters are Romeo and Juliet and the way in which their families treat them. Juliet is very protected by her parents. She has a nurse who is always around her and acts as a parent figure. “Thou wast the prettiest babe that e’er I nursed.” This quote shows that the ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

These two characters could be played by actors with contrasting physical appearances e.g. Benvolio being of small stature and Tybalt being tall and broad. This would give the effect that Tybalt is a bully and the crowd’s sympathy will be drawn towards Benvolio, “the good guy”.
Other examples of contrasting characters are Romeo and Juliet and the way in which their families treat them. Juliet is very protected by her parents. She has a nurse who is always around her and acts as a parent figure. “Thou wast the prettiest babe that e’er I nursed.” This quote shows that the nurse has always been with Juliet. The nurse acts as her mother here by telling Juliet how pretty she was as a baby. It also shows how Juliet has always been protected with someone there for her even when she was a baby. A reason for this over-protection could be that Juliet is Capulet’s only daughter and he is therefore keen to protect her.

Romeo on the other hand is very independent and does not rely on his parents or the people around him. In act one scene one Romeo’s mother and father don’t even know where Romeo is. “O where is Romeo? Saw you him today?” Lady Montague’s comment shows how autonomous Romeo is. He is not over-protected. The balcony scene shows this opposition well. Juliet is concerned about the fact that she should be in her room and not talking to her enemy. However Romeo seems lethargic about the whole scene. This perhaps shows the difference in discipline the two characters have been brought up by.
Both Romeo and Juliet are very young but have elder people to talk to. Juliet converses and shares secrets with her nurse. E.g. the nurse is the only person Juliet tells about her marriage to Romeo. The nurse is like her mother figure. Romeo alternatively converses and shares thoughts with Friar Lawrence. “Then plainly know my heart’s dear love is set on the fair daughter of rich Capulet.” Romeo tells the Friar whom he loves, something personal, which shows how much trust he places with the friar. The two young lovers both have older role models.

In Act 1 Scene 3 the Nurse uncontrollably chatters about Juliet’s youth. This embarrasses Juliet, you see this when Juliet angrily yet affectionately says “Nurse!” The Nurse simply chortles to herself and carries on. At this point the nurse becomes like a stereotypical grandmother. This shows the huge dissimilarity between the ages of Juliet and the Nurse.

Friar Lawrence and Romeo also show a great opposition of ages in the play. In Act 2 Scene 3, Friar Lawrence says “That’s my good son!” When he uses the word “son” with Romeo the audience would see a stereotypical grandfather, elderly men often call young people “son”. This could also portray Friar Lawrence as Romeo’s father. They have a trusting and loving relationship, almost resembling a father-son relationship. This again shows the large breach in age between the young and old characters in the play. Age difference is a common feature throughout the play.

These age variations could be shown clearly by a director in a number of ways, for example, the difference in costume- the elder in more sombre, sensible costumes and the young in bright, lively costumes. This would give the effect of the younger characters being full of life and the elder characters being more sensible and not running by emotions.
Both Romeo and Juliet use oxymorons to show oppositions in the play. After Romeo kills Tybalt Juliet is upset and confused “O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face” This means that she thinks Romeo’s looks hide his evil inside. “Dove-feathered raven, wolvish-ravening lamb!” This again means that Romeo has two sides, ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’. Juliet does not know which of the sides is real, her emotions are confusing her.

Another time when oxymorons are used is when Romeo is talking about Rosaline. He loves Rosaline however she does not love him back. “O brawling love, o loving hate.” This is an oxymoron because you cannot have a hate that is loving! This shows how confused Romeo is. He obviously loves Rosaline but also hates the fact she does not love him.

A great deal of the oppositions in the play are very evident. Many of these can be traced back to the main rivalry between the Montagues and Capulets. There are also many opposites between the main characters Romeo and Juliet. Some of the dissimilarities would be very simple to show to an audience by a director but others would be a lot more difficult.

Oppositions in Romeo and Juliet.