There are some important scenes in “Romeo and Juliet” which contain violence. The first violence scene is Act 1 Scene1.
The violence starts when a Montague servant goes towards a Capulet servant and bites his thumb, but in those days it was like sticking up two fingers which is an insult. The Capulet servants started to get angry and drew his sword, to start a fight. Benvolio tried to stop the fight but then Tybalt intervened and was fighting Benvolio. The fight did stop but it took the police and four armed citizens. The Prince with his train arrived, he was not happy with the behaviour of the two families and said if this happens again they would have to pay with their lives, ‘your lives shall pay the forfeit.’ The Prince’s speech is so important because it sets the scene for later in the play warning them of the consequences of fighting each other.
There is more violence in Act 3 Scene 1 because Mercutio and Tybalt die. It starts when Mercutio was having a conversation and Tybalt with his friends came along and Romeo comes between the two. When it said ‘by my heel’ which basically means he intends to stay and fight and not runaway. But Benvolio is one character that seems to realise the potential dangers such as when he tries to dissuade Mercutio from starting another fight. He also tells Romeo to leave the fight because he has a good idea of the Prince's reaction, Then Tybalt wounds Mercutio from behind Romeo, and then runs away, followed by his men. But the only reason why Mercutio is fighting is because Romeo wouldn’t. So Mercutio thinks that it was a scratch ‘Ay, ay scratch, a scratch’ but it was more than a scratch because Mercutio drops on the floor with his hand on the wound and slowly dies with Romeo holding his head up. The prince enters the scene after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, he shouts angrily, ‘Romeo slew him; he slew Mercutio. Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?’ Then Tybalt and Benvolio return, and Romeo is so angry that he says to Tybalt, lets fight and Romeo gets his sword ‘this shall determine that’ and kills Tybalt but after all this is, who to blame for Mercutio’s death, because Romeo interfered with Tybalt’s fight with Mercutio and consequently but I think Romeo was the cause of Mercutio’s death. This leads to Romeo seeking out Tybalt and slaying him in revenge ‘ either thou or I, or both, must go with him.’
After act 3 scene 1, things tend to speed up. Many important events take place throughout the rest of the play. One major event is when Lord and Lady Capulet telling Juliet that they think that because of all the pain she is experiencing with the loss of her cousin Tybalt, that they should be wed on Thursday. The day is now Tuesday. The minute the words leave her mother’s mouth she refuses. She cannot marry County Paris she already has a husband. At once she goes to Friar Lawrence, whom has made all the arrangements before, and tells him of her woes. The Friar gives Juliet a poison that will make her appear dead for forty hours. She is to take it on Wednesday night before her wedding and then where her parents find her she will be dead and buried in the family vault. When she wakes up Romeo and the Friar will be there to take her away so that Romeo and Juliet will live happily ever after.
The final and perhaps the most important scene that contains violence is Act 5 Scene 3, because of the consequences of the feud between the families when Romeo and Juliet die. It all happens by Juliet sleeping and Romeo didn’t know that she was asleep, so he had some poison to make himself die because he had nothing to live for ‘by heaven I love thee better than myself. For I come hither armed against myself. Stay not, be gone; live, and hereafter say.’ Later on Juliet finally awakes to see Romeo lying down with a bottle of poison in his hand, she got his dagger and stabbed herself ‘O happy dagger, this is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.’ The couples have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their forbidden love
The Capulets, Montagues and Prince discover what has happened to Romeo and Juliet. It was up to Friar Lawrence to explain what happened, and Montagues and Capulets were in tears and forgot all about what happened in the past.
I think that the play is violent because the important scenes have violence in and also there are two families which totally hate each other who always solve must problems with fights. I mostly remember the hatred and love from reading and watching “Romeo and Juliet.” I don’t really have a best scene because there are too many scenes, which are good. For example, when Romeo and Juliet die, when Mercutio and Tybalt die and finally when the two families start a fight. Then the Prince said that if it happens again then you would pay with your life, so basically I would think that Romeo and Juliet is a really good play written by William Shakespeare. Finally it shows passion, both in love and hate can be an emotion that clouds your judgement.
