It is ironic that nobody knows the actual reason for the feud, but each character has still been brought up knowing that they should feel hatred towards the other family. Shakespeare tells the audience that the two families are “both alike in dignity.” It would be quite interesting for the audience to know why they act in this contradictory manor towards each other, as they would probably get on together, as they appear to have many things in common.
The contrast between Benvolio and Tybalt’s characters adds to the contradictions in the play. Benvolio is a peacemaker, compared to Tybalt who is described as a fiery character, and when peace is mentioned says, “ I hate the word”. These contradictions make the play more exciting and engrossing for the audience.
Love and death exist alongside each other throughout the play. “Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love.” This is evident at the start of the play, when Romeo is in love amidst the action of the families at war. This illustrates Romeo’s character to the audience. He is not a hateful or violent character, or he would have been fighting, but instead he is peaceful, loving and romantic. This leads on to be a major contradiction of character when Romeo kills Tybalt.
Throughout the play, women always infatuate Romeo. Shakespeare uses Romeo’s infatuation with women as a contradiction between the different types of love in the play. Shakespeare expresses Romeo’s love for Rosaline in conventional terms. This is in contrast to the way in which he expresses Romeo’s love for Juliet, which is voiced in religious language. When Romeo talks about Rosaline, he says that he is ill and sad. “In sadness cousin, I do love a woman.” The love between Romeo and Juliet is expressed through a sonnet, where they talk in harmony, and show their love through religious language. “Palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.” Shakespeare connects Romeo and Juliet’s love with religion to make it stand out to the audience as something divine, in contrast to Romeo’s early love for Rosaline, which made him feel “ill”.
Romeo and Juliet were flouting the moral conventions of the day, as they were not dutifully following their parents’ wishes. As they were from opposing houses, they should have hated each other, not loved each other. Shakespeare makes this clear to the audience through Juliet, “My only love sprung from my only hate.” Again the strength of this statement is reinforced by the use of antonyms. Shakespeare used their wrongful love to involve the audience in the play. They would experience a conflict of feelings between their sympathy for the untouchable love between Romeo and Juliet and the fact that they were disobeying their parents’ wishes.
Shakespeare created a generation gap between the younger generation and the older generation, showing the older generation to contradict themselves and to act in a contradictory manner. Shakespeare created this gap to make the play more complex and unpredictable.
In the Shakespearean times, it was common for wealthy parents to have a distant relationship to their children, as a nanny would bring them up. As the Capulet’s were wealthy, Juliet was not close to her parents, perhaps if she had been, none of the later tragedies would have happened. She might have been able to confide in her parents about her love for Romeo, which could have lead to a bridge being built between the two families. Perhaps if the friar had not tried to unite the two families by aiding the “star-crossed lovers”, the later tragedies would not have happened. Alternatively, if he had told the families what the children were intending to do, the bridge might have been formed. The way in which Juliet loses her relationship with her confidante, the nurse, and does not trust her anymore because of the advice she gave could have helped lead to her death. The nurse advised her to marry Paris; “I think it best you married with the County.” If the nurse had given different advice, then Juliet might not have drunk the potion, saving herself and Romeo. Each of these encounters does not produce the conventional outcome, it contradicts our expectations. All these unfortunate factors lead up to the inevitable downfall of the protagonists, Romeo and Juliet.
The whole play seems to be based on unfortunate coincidences, which Romeo and Juliet’s love cannot overcome. One coincidence is when Capulet acts in a contradictory manner at the party. Capulet said that Romeo could stay at his party, even though he knew that Romeo was from the House of Montague. This left fiery Tybalt full of anger and wanting revenge, as he despised all Montagues, “As I hate hell, all Montagues.” It also gave Romeo and Juliet the chance to meet. At the time they did not know they were from opposing houses. The inevitable coincidence that Romeo should be seen by Tybalt and fall in love with Juliet leads to the downfall of the younger generations, perhaps it was all down to the contradictory behaviour of Capulet. Shakespeare uses these coincidences to create mounting tension within each character, which the audience can feel, making them more involved in the play.
Shakespeare expresses lots of the contradictions within the play through oxymorons to give it more depth and to make it more thought provoking for the audience. After Romeo has killed Tybalt, Juliet is confused and does not know what to think. Her confusion is made clearer to the audience through oxymorons, “A damned saint, an honourable villain!” Shakespeare also uses oxymorons to highlight the main themes, lines and events of the play. The verbal conflict in these words of opposite meanings reflects on the characters emotional conflict.
After Romeo has left Juliet, Lady Capulet comes to talk to her. She believes that her daughter grieves for the death of Tybalt, which contradicts the real reason for Juliet’s grief. She is actually grieving for Romeo’s departure. The two understandings are kept in the play throughout the dialogue, Juliet meaning one thing and Lady Capulet taking a different meaning.
It could be thought that Shakespeare filled “Romeo and Juliet” with contradictions to make it unique, to make it stand out from all other love stories. It is a tragedy about love! It does not follow the pattern of any other love story. It contradicts the audience’s expectations. The contradictions of the plot do not allow the audience to predict what will happen next. Each sentence apparently contradicting itself, a play on words much appreciated and expected by the audience of the day. The audience would experience a conflict of feelings between their sympathy for the irreproachable love between Romeo and Juliet and the fact that the lovers were flouting the moral conventions of the day and not dutifully following their parent’s wishes. Perhaps the biggest contradiction within the play is the way in which it ends. It is not the love between Romeo and Juliet which binds the feuding families together in marriage, but their deaths which bring the families together in grief.