Violence and conflict are central to Romeo and Juliet. Explore Shakespeares presentation of this theme with reference to at least three scenes in the play.

Authors Avatar

Alice Swetenham

‘Violence and conflict are central to Romeo and Juliet. Explore Shakespeare’s presentation of this theme with reference to at least three scenes in the play.’

In Romeo and Juliet there are two families; the Montagues and the Capulets. These two families have a rivalry against each other. There are a lot of ways that Shakespeare expresses these rivalries and conflicts. I aim to discuss these points by looking at a number of scenes in detail.

The play begins with a fight between the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo is depressed that someone he loves will not recognize him. So he goes to a party to forget about her. There he meets Juliet and they fall in love straight away. He finds out that she is a Capulet and he is a Montague. He decides that he loves her anyway and shows it in the famous “balcony scene” in which they agree to secretly marry each other. Juliet’s father has already planned for her to marry Paris. The Friar marries them hoping that the union will help to stop the two families fighting. Unfortunately the fighting gets worse and Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend, is killed by Tybalt, a Capulet. Romeo seeks revenge and kills Juliet’s cousin. The prince of Verona had already warned that any more fighting would be punished and Romeo is banished from Verona and threatened with death. At the same time, the Capulet's are planning Juliet's marriage to Paris, whom Juliet does not want to marry so she arranges with Friar Lawrence to fake her own death. She is given a small sleeping potion that will make everyone think that she is dead. Friar Lawrence promises to send word to Romeo to meet her when the potion wears off to save her. Unfortunately, Romeo does not receive this message on time. Juliet’s nurse finds her thinking she is dead and tells the rest of the Capulets. When the word reaches Romeo he decides to risk going back into Verona and buys some poison himself. He meets Paris at Juliet’s burial chamber and fights him, killing Pairs. After kissing Juliet Romeo drinks his poison and dies just as Juliet is waking up. Julie is distraught after seeing her dead husband and picks up his dagger and stabs herself. The two families find the bodies and are both terribly sad. The prince punishes the two families and they both make up.

Shakespeare wanted to show the Elizabethan audiences that living in violence and conflict, like the people in the play, is not the best way to live, and how it leads to tragedy. He used many dramatic techniques in the play. One of these techniques is the abrupt shift from romantic to tragedy. At the beginning of the play the first part of the play is lighter but when Mercutio dies the play becomes more serious and dramatic. Shakespeare also uses sub-plots to offer a clearer view of the actions of the main characters. For example; Shakespeare uses the characters Rosaline and Paris and Romeo and Juliet’s feelings for these characters as a comparison between Romeo and Juliet’s feelings and love for each other. This shows the audience the seriousness of their love and marriage.

Join now!

Violence and conflict are central to Romeo and Juliet and are portrayed in several ways throughout the play. They both highlight the love element in Romeo and Juliet because they are such a contrast. The violence is shown through the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. In the very first scene we see a fight between the servants of the two families and these hostilities occur throughout the play. Violence is also shown through the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt during a fight that Tybalt started in order to provoke Romeo. Near the end of the play Romeo ...

This is a preview of the whole essay