William Shakespeare's play 'Romeo and Juliet has a major theme of conflict. The main conflict in the play is the feud between the two wealthy families: the 'Montagues' and the 'Capulets'

Conflict also occurs between individuals and authority. For example Romeo’s return to Verona causes conflict because he is violating the orders given to him by Prince. Shakespeare uses conflicts like this to give power to the authorities. Friar Lawrence provides another example of conflict when he marries Romeo to Juliet in opposition to the authority of their fathers. This conflict is unique because Romeo and Juliet’s fathers did not found out about the marriage until towards the end of the play. This creates suspense in the story. Sometimes there is conflict inside the mind of individuals. Romeo visualizes where his destiny leads him to. ‘I fear too early, for my mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars’. This line shows disturbing pictures of Romeo’s fait. Shakespeare uses conflicts inside the minds to create mystery.

Love and hate is a very common occurrence in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. There are many characters that show a loving attitude towards someone. Romeo and Rosaline love was not pure Romeo was just infatuated with Rosaline, this all stopped once Romeo meets Juliet. Another example of love is between Romeo and Friar Lawrence. Romeo and Friar Lawrence love is different. This is because they share a brotherly type of love. Nurse and Juliet provide another example of love in the play. Their love is similar to the love that Romeo and Friar Lawrence share. However the love between the Nurse and Juliet is considered to be stronger because Nurse has nurtured Juliet since she was a baby. There is evidence of this in the play. ‘On Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen’. This line suggests that Nurse has known Juliet since she was born.

Alongside love in the play there is constant simmering hatred. An example of this is the first street fight. The brawl was sparked of because of hatred from previous bouts. Shakespeare deliberately makes this fight occur because of previous fights to emphasize how pointless the feud is. Another example of hatred is Tybalt at his uncle’s party. Tybalt is only angry because a Montague has invaded his uncle’s party. This is an example of pure hatred because he is only enraged because an enemy has entered the party. Youth and age is also a major contrast in the play. Older characters are shown to be calm during a situation while younger characters are quick to react during incidents. Older characters keep the feud going. They set a bad example to the younger characters by letting the feud expand and by involving the younger characters in the conflict. Shakespeare contrasts youth and age to show that not only the young can be naïve.