Violence and conflict are central to "Romeo and Juliet." Discuss this theme with reference to at least three scenes in the play.

        The next important scene is Act3 Scene 5. The scene is important because it shows Juliet’s relationship with her parents. The scene opens with Romeo and Juliet standing at the window of Juliet’s bedroom. They are discussing what will happen next. Juliet says “wilt thou be gone?...” Romeo replies “…I must be gone and live, or stay and die,” Juliet does not want Romeo to leave; however Juliet soon realises that Romeo must go he shall be put to death. The nurse enters, she tells Juliet her mother is coming. Romeo soon leaves the scene. Juliet is heartbroken. Lady Capulet enters, to find Juliet sitting on her bed weeping. Lady Capulet misunderstands the situation “evermore weeping for yours cousins’ death?” Lady Capulet soon realises that Juliet is weeping over the loss of Romeo not Tybalt. Lady Capulet then tells Juliet that Lord Capulet has arranged for her to marry Count Paris. Juliet is angry to hear this sudden news and says “…I pray you tell my lord and father, madam, I will not marry yet. And when I do, I swear it shall be Romeo…” This clearly shows Juliet still loves Romeo. Capulet and Nurse enter on scene. They see Juliet in floods of tears. Lord Capulet, like his wife, assumes she is still crying over the death of her cousin. Lady Capulet soon puts this assumption straight and tells Capulet that Juliet will not marry count Paris. Capulet is confused and says “how? Will she none? Doth she not give us thanks? Is she not proud?” Juliet replies “Not proud you have, but thankful even for hate that meant love...” Capulet is furious and tells Juliet to marry Paris of he doesn’t want to know her. Juliet goes to see Friar Lawrence to see what he thinks about the marriage and she says “If all else fail, myself have power to die” Juliet shows how much love she has for Romeo in this scene. She argues with her father about the marriage. Although she knows there is possibility that Romeo may not return she still stands by the fact that she loves him. This scene also shows that Juliet’s parents do not really care what their daughter wants, just want to keep their reputation by having her marry Count Paris.

        If I had to direct act3 scene 5 I would use a traditional setting. The stage would be a room in a grand house, with big golden chandeliers and red velvet curtains. The balcony would be covered in beautiful roses, to show the love in the scene. Juliet would be wearing maybe a white garment, to show purity as would Romeo would be wearing light colours. Lord Capulet would not hit Juliet but would raise his voice; Juliet would stand up to him and shout back. I would do this to show how strong Juliet is in the scene for disagreeing with the marriage to count Paris.

        Act 5 scenes 3 is the last important scene I will discuss. This scene is important because the two young lovers both die. The scene opens with Paris and his page in the Capulet vault. Romeo and Balthazar soon appear armed with tools. Romeo sends Balthazar away. Romeo enters the tomb Paris realises its Romeo and tells him to leave. Romeo is in no state to be provoked, however Paris does not leave. Romeo says “wilt thou provoke me? Then have at thee boy” They begin to fight, Paris is wounded and dies. Romeo starts to speak to himself; he believes that Juliet is dead, although he does not know that Juliet only drank a sleeping potion, because he believes that Juliet is dead, he drinks a poison and dies Friar Lawrence and Balthazar enter and move Romeos Body into the vault. Juliet wakes and asks Friar Lawrence where Romeo is. Friar Lawrence tells her what happened. She tells Friar Lawrence to leave. “What’s here? A cup closed in my true lovers’ hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. O churl. Drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after?  I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them to make me die with restorative [she kisses him} thy lips are warm,” this is what Juliet says, this shows that she too has no reason to lie now her “ true love” is dead, that she wants to die. She hears noises and says “Yea noise? Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger. This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die” she stabs herself falls on Romeo and dies. If I was to direct Act 3 scene 3 I would have the stage look as if it was set in a pretty church with flowers everywhere to create a peaceful and religious atmosphere. I would show how upset Juliet is by having her scream and fall to the ground crying when she sees Romeo dead. This would show the grief, the audience would also think she was going mad with grief. Although the scene would be set in a church because the death of the two young lovers is so dramatic, it wouldn’t matter where it was set, because the audience would be focused on the events going on.

        In my opinion Romeo and Juliet is quite a violent play, looking at these scenes, I have noticed that although the play is based on love, along the way the two lovers had to tackle the violence, loss and grief of those around them. From watching the film I remember the love side of the pay, but reading the play I remember the violence side more. In my opinion the pay does have equal amounts of love and hatred. My favourite scene was the last scene where both Romeo and Juliet die. This is my favourite scene because this scene shows how much they would sacrifice for each other. I also like this scene because it has drama, tragedy, grief all in one and the two families reconcile, although it took the death of their children to make them realise what they had.