What are the main conflicts in Romeo and Juliet

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What are the main conflicts in Romeo and Juliet?

Who are they between and how have they come about?

How does Shakespeare’s use of stagecraft and language convey the conflict between the characters?

What is meant by conflict?  The dictionary defines "conflict" as "a struggle to resist or overcome; contest of opposing forces or powers; strife; battle, antagonism”. No matter how hard one tries to avoid it, conflict enters our lives.  All drama involves conflict, without conflict there is no drama!  Different forms of conflict exist, usually either, man versus himself, man verses man or man verses nature.   Every story should have conflict on at least one of these levels, as conflict brings the plot to life keeping the audience hooked.  Characters need to go through conflict, before there can be a  happy ending or the happy ending won't mean anything.  The central conflict in Romeo and Juliet is the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets.  Members of each family hate, insult and fight each other, even the household staff become caught up in this rivalry.  Shakesphere’s Romeo and Juliet is essentially known as love story, although, it is entwined with different types of conflict, and this is what I will be examining throughout this essay.

The Prologue is a fourteen line sonnet and would have been read to the audience providing an introduction to the play. The Prologue does appear to have a deeper, more important function, as it does not merely set the scene of Romeo and Juliet; it tells the audience exactly what is going to happen.   The Prologue refers to a pair of ‘star-cross’d lovers,’ which means, literally, against the stars.  In Elizabethan times, stars were thought to control people’s destinies.  The Prologue itself creates this sense of fate providing the audience with the knowledge that Romeo and Juliet will die even before the play has started, and also that their tragic deaths end their parents’ feud. “Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife”. Shakespeare uses this technique called ‘dramatic irony’ throughout the play, it enables the audience to watch the play with expectation and sense the tension.  The Prologue also reveals themes and imagery to bring the themes to life, such as, love, conflict, time, fate, life, death and power.  It begins with the word ‘Two’, and just in those 14 lines there are seven examples of the word ‘two’, emphasizing two sides of conflict.  

Shakespeare’s use of oxymorons or contradictory word pairs throughout the play also accentuates conflict of two sides, Montagues versus Capulets, love versus hate.  The first oxymoron is found in the Prologue, “From forth the ‘fatal loins’ of these two foes, a pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life” where ‘fatal’ means death and ‘loins’ depicts birth, suggesting that the children of these mortal enemies were destined to die.  Romeo’s opening speech contains nine oxymorons, which again emphasizes opposing forces, he talks about his love for Rosaline, how love and hate have become mixed together, conjuring up images of chaos and confusion. He describes his state of mind through this series of oxymorons, “Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health” (1:1:171).  It appears to be a statement that he is ready to be in love rather than actual love.  The Prince’s closing speech also contains an oxymoron ‘glooming peace’ (5:3:309).  It is a sad kind of peace, sad because Romeo and Juliet have taken their own lives, but peaceful, as it is the end of the feud.  These oxymorons serve to reinforce the major theme of conflict.

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As the audience is led through the opening scene, it is exposed to the depths and severity of the feud between the Capulets and Montagues.  Shakespeare initiates using the technique, ‘word-play’ with banter between Sampson and Gregory.  They state crude, sexual innuendos about conquering Montague men and women.  The sexual punning continues throughout the play, contrasting to the lyrical imagery used later by Romeo and Juliet to express their love. The servants’ references to “tool” and “naked weapon,” together with repeated images of striking and thrusting, illustrate how images of love and sex are intertwined with violence and death. The sudden switch ...

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