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How does Shakespeare present the Theme of Conflict in Romeo and Juliet?
Shakespeare’s Tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, opens in “Verona”, a city in northern Italy where the hot, narrow
streets are the perfect place for tempers to flare
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Honour was seen as one of the most valuable
possessions one could have; if one were to questions another’s honour, be it simply by “biting” their
“thumb” at them, people could expect a fight
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In the Prologue, there are references to fate and destiny
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In Shakespeare’s time, people
believed that the stars determined human destiny, so by describing Romeo and Juliet’s love as “Starcrossed” (which means thwarted by the stars), Shakespeare illustrates the misery that their love will bring
them and those around them, and how inevitable that misery is
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However, this vile language is undercut by the form of the Prologue, as
it is written in the form of a Sonnet, a type of poem that was associated with romance in the Elizabethan
era
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In Act 1 Scene 1, there is a fight between the Capulets and the Montagues
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The “men” in this quote is
representative of both courage and masculinity, so Sampson is questioning the Montagues’ honour by
attacking these two characteristics
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Later in Act 1 Scene 1, Romeo is introduced into the play
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His inner conflict about his unrequited love for Rosaline is shown when he uses oxymorons, “O loving
hate!”, and metaphors, “a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes”
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Romeo constantly using over-blown language is an
intentional decision by Shakespeare, who is making fun not just of Romeo, but of the very concept of a
Petrarchan lover, presenting them as too emotional and dramatic
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In Act 1 Scene 5, Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time
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The Sonnet’s lines are spoken by both Romeo and Juliet,
Romeo says the first quatrain, Juliet the second, they share the third and the final couplet is divided evenly
between them
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The conflict here is between sex and religion, there is the vocabulary of the body, such as “hand” or “kiss”,
and the vocabulary of religion, such as “pilgrim” or “holy”
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For example, Romeo refers to his lips as “two blushing
pilgrims”, this metaphor attests to the seriousness of their relationship, as their physical attraction to eachother, represented here by Romeo’s lips, is spiritual and pure in nature, demonstrated by him referring to
them as “pilgrims”
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How does Shakespeare present the Theme of Conflict in Romeo and Juliet?
At the end of their sonnet, they’ve reached an understanding that a “prayer” is a “kiss”, so they can “kiss”
without problems
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However, after the shared sonnet Romeo calls their kiss a “sin”
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By likening his kiss (which we can infer is a metaphor for sexual
activity) to a sin, which is an offense against God, he is telling Juliet and by extension the audience that
their romance is immoral, and perhaps even blasphemous
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By kissing and associating their “sin” to religious figures such as Pilgrims and Saints, Romeo and Juliet are
challenging the established, punishing social norms
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Therefore, Shakespeare
demonstrates in Romeo and Juliet’s first kiss the conflict between sex and its freedom, and religion and its
strict rules
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Mercutio tells Benvolio, “thou art as hot a
Jack in thy mood…” There is a sense of irony here, as Benvolio, who is presented as peace-making and who
was likened to Jesus in Act 1 Scene 1, is being called hot-headed by the unpredictable, provocative
Mercutio
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A language technique here is the assonance and alliteration in, “…and as soon
moved to be moody, and as soon moody to be moved
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Another, likely intended effect, is that because of the care-free
word play, the audience would be expecting another comedic conversation, and later a fight with no main
character deaths, just like what happened in Act 1 Scene 1
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So, the nonchalant personality and lines of Mercutio makes the audience much less prepared for
the deadly conflict that follows, which draws out more emotion from the viewer
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He threatens to take
her to the church “on a hurdle”, which was used to drag criminals to their execution, and he also threatens
to disinherit her “And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets”
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And if one would dare
to oppose this, the father could cast her out and dis-inherit her
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His angry, rambling speech and his scolding of his
disobedient daughter show the family structure of Elizabethan society as one where the father and the
elder had power over their children
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And just as she had demonstrated
her new-found confidence by refusing to obey her Father, he was so shocked that he instantly went into a
frenzy and shouted her into submission, showing how rare the disobedience of woman and children were,
and how intolerant men were of this
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How does Shakespeare present the Theme of Conflict in Romeo and Juliet?
At the end of Act 5 Scene 3, Montague and Capulet put aside their differences and make themselves family
again, shown by Capulet referring to Montague as “O brother Montague”, the “brother” demonstrates the
unity of the two feuding families into one family
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For when Capulet asks for Montagues hand, saying that he
can’t demand anything else, Montague tries to assert himself by saying that “I will raise her statue in pure
gold”
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But this is more likely a demonstration
of wealth more than a demonstration of kindness
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Shakespeare
acknowledges this in a joke, as Capulet says that that Romeo and Juliet were “Poor sacrifices of our
enmity!” Enmity here refers to their conflict
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In Act 5 Scene 3, Shakespeare shows that resolution between the families is only temporary
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But another possible interpretation is that the peace itself is glooming, not because
of the circumstances that it came to be, but because it is not real peace, and that the Prince doesn’t expect
the feud to end
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This is only temporary, as the families will try
to “punish” others for their misdeeds, and it is implied that once the grief from Romeo and Juliet’s death
has subsided, each family will blame the other family for it, igniting the conflict again
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Even
instances where people’s free-will try to steer the fate of the couple to a happier ending, such as when
Juliet decides to fake her death, were made futile by fate, demonstrated by the Friar’s messenger never
reaching Romeo
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The fight in Act 1 Scene 1 reveals the extent that men’s
honour prevailed throughout Shakespeare’s time, where a mortal fight involving the royalty could start
from a small argument between four lowly servants
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The structure
of Romeo and Juliet’s shared sonnet demonstrates the compatibility of the couple
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This is demonstrated further when
the couple marry without their parent’s consent
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In Act 3 Scene 5, we are shown that Romeo and Juliet, even though it had concerned
itself with Romeo and Juliet’s romance for the last act, still takes place in a very patriarchal society
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In the last scene, the reconciliation between the
families is shown to be a farce, whose only reason for existing is the grief from Romeo and Juliet’s death,
but even that tragedy, as the prince is implied to believe, will not stop their conflict for long

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