The second scene, which has violence and conflict portrayed within it, is Act 3, Scene 1. Romeo and Juliet have just got married. The same issues cause an argument to break out again. It involves Tybalt, Mercutio and Benvolio. Benvolio wants to avoid another fight with the Capulets so therefore suggests to Mercutio that they should go home. “I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire: The day is hot, the Capulets are abroad.” This illustrates that Benvolio is a pacifist. However, Mercutio is in a confrontational mood, being full of himself and ready for a fight. Tybalt turns up. Benvolio, worried, says, “By my head, here comes the Capulets.” To which Mercutio replies, “By my heel I care not.” Meaning he is not bothered and is ready for them when they arrive. Tybalt and Mercutio speak; there is tension between them. “Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo.” Tybalt asks. Meaning, do you associate with Romeo. Mercutio responds by saying, “Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels? And thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords. Here’s my fiddlestick, here’s that shall make you dance. Indicating, are you saying that this is wrong? Are you trying to make a fool out of me? Here is my sword lets fight.
Romeo enters. Tybalt now picks a fight with him because he showed up at his families’ party uninvited, Tybalt is angry. Romeo refuses, he is of noble birth and so proposes peace. As he is now related to Tybalt through Juliet he believes it would be wrong of him to fight. Tybalt does not know they are married so continues to annoy him. The fight escalates; Mercutio starts to defend Romeo his friend, as he will not defend himself. Romeo becomes angry and stands between them to prevent it. Tybalt stabs Mercutio from under Romeo’s arm, he could not see the dagger coming. After this, Romeo’s feelings change. He is cross, vengeful and hurt. He shows this when he says, “ This but begins the woe others must end.” Romeo then kills Tybalt as an act of revenge. He is angry with him for killing his friend. He did not think about the consequences. The Prince then banishes Romeo away from Verona to Mantua. He will never see Juliet again.
I think that Mercutio and Tybalt were mostly to blame for the killings. There are a number of reasons for this. The foremost of which was that Benvolio warned Mercutio that the Capulets were coming giving him an opportunity to leave. However he decides to stay and to face Romeo. Then when Romeo wants to walk away from the fight he will not let him. Tybalt was over confident and wanted to fight Romeo; he would not back down.
Juliet and her father have a quarrel in Act 3, Scene 5. The subject of the conflict is her reluctance to marry Paris. Her father wishes her to marry him because he is a nobleman. He thinks that by marrying Paris, Juliet will once again be joyful alleviating her depression caused by the banishment of Romeo. He has, therefore, brought forward the wedding. When Juliet is still adamant that she will not marry Paris, her father becomes irate and believes that she is being defiant and unappreciative of his efforts. Juliet implores her father to understand her feelings, but wants to please everyone. As she is already married to Romeo, she is unable to marry again. Juliet provokes the fight between her and her father because her emotions got the better of her. The conflict between them is significant in this scene because it depicts the relationship of Juliet with her father and how it breaks down.
If I were to direct Act 3, Scene 5, I would change some of the characteristics of the scene, but keep to the main storyline. Although the plot has significant relevance to today, it would be better understood using a modern setting and contemporary language. I would keep the setting in Italy, but use modern props on stage.
In Act 5, Scene 3, Paris, Romeo and Juliet all die. Juliet has run away from Paris and her family, on the day she is due to marry Paris, to go to Romeo. She seeks advice from Friar Lawrence who comes up with a plan. He gives Juliet a sleeping drug, which she takes after apologising to her parents. In the morning, she is found and is thought to be dead. Meanwhile, Friar Lawrence has sent a letter to Romeo to inform him of the plan, but Romeo does not receive the letter. He does, however, hear that Juliet has died. He obtains a poison and visits Juliet’s tomb where he drinks the poison and dies. When Juliet wakes up and finds Romeo is dead she uses Romeo’s dagger to stab herself and dies. This is a very important scene in the play as it is the culmination of all the violence and conflict that has occurred throughout the story.
For this scene, I would leave the killing of Paris out entirely, as it is not essential to the end of the play. Everything else would stay much the same, as the end scene gives a great authenticity to the play, which, is practical.
The language used is in old English, which makes it more difficult to understand today. There are a lot of words and phrases, which are not now in common use. Shakespeare uses lots of puns and plays on words throughout all his plays. One example is when Sampson says, “My naked weapon is out.” This could be interpreted as two meanings. Another quote is when Sampson exclaims, “I will bite my thumb” which also has a double meaning. My final quote that proves my point is from Mercutio when he states, “you shall find me a grave man.”
I believe that the play contains an equal part of violence and love. If there had not have been the two rival families Romeo and Juliet might never of met and I think that having the violence in the play brought them closer together. It made them more determined to be together what ever the cost. The film and the play are two very different things, they both contain the main plot but the film misses out a lot of the key points in the play. My favourite scene in the play is Act three, Scene five. When Romeo and Juliet are together for the last time I think it is sad that they never see each other again. It shows great emotion and gives us an insight into what they would have been feeling if the play were true. I think it was witty how Shakespeare made us ponder over the idea they might never see each other again and how Romeo had to say goodbye to Juliet.