Romeo and Juliet "Violence and Conflict are central to 'Romeo and Juliet'". Discuss this statement and explain how far you agree or disagree.

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Romeo and Juliet

"Violence and Conflict are central to 'Romeo and Juliet'". Discuss this statement and explain how far you agree or disagree.

In any play written by William Shakespeare, the famous actor/playwright born in 1564 under the reign of Queen Elizabeth, there is bound to be plenty of 'meat on the bone' (i.e. romance, tragedy, action) in regards to the script. Beneath the three necessary fundamentals important to any story - character, plot and theme - Shakespeare is able to produce some very complex and unique ideas. One of Shakespeare's more famous plays is the tragic romance of 'Romeo and Juliet', written by Shakespeare most probably between the years 1594 and 1596. Throughout 'Romeo and Juliet', many of Shakespeare's ideas and images are induced - one of the key ones being the violence that surrounds the city of Verona.

In Verona, the feud between the Capulets (Juliet's family) and the Montagues (Romeo's family) reigns supreme, and seems to completely outrule the obvious elements of love, justice and tragedy, as "civil blood makes civil hands unclean" (Prologue, line 4). The image of violence being so unfair exists so obviously in the deaths of so many of the cast. We see the two obvious images of the tragic death brought on by violence, in the two main charaters Romeo and Juliet. Their young, innocent lives are brought to a sordid end through the violence around them. If the feud between the Capulets and Montagues hadn't been so great, then they would have been able to marry in peace and happiness, instead of doing all that they could, but only to end up dead together in Juliet's tomb. This is an example of the infustice shown throughout the play. This image, along with the death of Romeo's friend Mercutio, helps to convey the idea that violence is an unfair, powerful aspect of their city. When Romeo convinces Mercutio not to confront Tybalt, Mercutio pays the price with his death, via an ambush from his sly opponent. Therefore, what seemed as a positive outcome turns into a great loss for both sides of the feud, after Romeo takes revenge upon Tybalt and kills him. As a result, he is banished from the city, even though it was Tybalt who had started the whole fight. What's done is done, yet Romeo has suffered greatly from something that was not entirely his fault. These instances all show how violence is shown as a very unfair and nasty image.

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Aside from that idea, violence is also portrayed as 'universal'. In the very first scene of the play, an argument between men of each household erupts and soon a brawl breaks out. This whole fight starts from a mere mentioning of a few words, which sets off a large reaction between the characters, resulting in the brawl. As said by Sampson, one of Capulet's servants, "a dog of the house of Montague moves me" (Act I, Scene I, line 7). To portray the image of violence in the characters, Shakespeare has Prince Escalus recite a monologue to the brawlers;

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