(Violence and Conflict)

Question 1

How does Shakespeare show conflict though the play?

Answer 1

• Violence and Conflict -
• Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy and so includes a substantial amount of conflict. Shakespeare uses the possibility of conflict as a way of building tension within the play, then the violence which ensues releases the tension.
• Shakespeare shows two different types of conflict:
• External which is shown through the dispute and fighting between the Montagues and the Capulets.
• Internal conflict which is the mental struggle characters may feel towards their feelings and what is happening to them.

Question 2

How does Shakespeare show conflict though household conflicts?

Answer 2

• Household Conflict -
• While the main conflict in the play is between the two opposing households, the Capulets and Montagues, there is still conflict inside each of the households as they come to terms with their own conflicts. Shakespeare may have done this to explore the complexities and intricacies that are apart of the human existence.
• Capulets:
• Act 1 Scene 5:
• The first time the reader sees conflict in the Capulet household is in Act 1 Scene 5 during the “old accustom’d feast” between Tybalt and Lord Capulet
• When Tybalt sees Romeo Montague at the “feast” he states that the “Villain is a guest” and that he shall not “endure him”
• Tybalt is a hot-headed and loyal Capulet who believes it is his duty to protect his family from the Montagues
• However, Lord Capulet becomes angry at this remark claiming he “shall be endured He then asks “Am / the master here, or you?”. The rhetorical question reaffirms Lord Capulets authority while at the same time discrediting my authority that Tybalt believed he had
• Lord Capulet’s language in this section [lines 74-91) is extremely patronising to Tybalt. For example, he calls Tybalt a “saucy boy” which is belittling to Tybalt as he is a grown man. The term “saucy” means someone who is saly and likes to cause trouble. Tybalt inevitably says will withdraw” as he succumbed to what Capulet wants, realising that Lord Capulet has the true power in the household
• Act 3 Scene 5:
• There is further conflict in the Capulet household when Juliet disobeys her father and refuses to many Parts Due to this disobedience Lord Capulet becomes aggressive and violent.
• Marriage Paternal Involvement in who women were la marry was common in Shakespeare’s time. Marriage was often used to forge new alliances with families. For Juliet to disobey her father the patriarch of the family, was extremely disrespectful
  → Lord Capulet explodes in her face saying “Hang thee, young baggage Disobedient wretch!”
  → He goes on to say that his fingers itch” meaning that he feels a need to slap her. Here we see how violence is apart of their way of life. The verb “itch” shows the audience that his body is telling her to punish her but he is using self (control to stop himself.
  → The violent imagery used in the list “hang, beg, starve, die in the streets” creates a vivid image in the reader’s mind. The words used also illustrate the level of disregard that Lord Capulet has for Juliet if she does not do as he says his own daughter becomes nothing better than trash.
• Juliet is disowned by her father which would have been the expected reaction from her father.
• Through these examples, it is clear that conflict arises in the Capulet household when someone threatens Lord Capulet’s authority.

Question 3

How does Shakespeare show conflict though external conflict?

Answer 3

• External Conflict -
• The play is all about the conflict between the “Two households”, the Montagues and the Capulets, who are “both alike in dignity” The prologue sets the scene of the conflict, it tells us that their “ancient grudge” makes “civil hands unclean”
• Shakespeare makes it very obvious to the reader that the tragic fate which awaits the lovers would not be there if not for the “mutiny between their parents
• The importance of conflict is affirmed in Act 1 Scene 1 which starts with violence between the Montague and Capulet servants. Shakespeare starts the play in media res to immerse the audience in the action and the fast-moving pace earlier on in the storyline.
• It starts from a small insult “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?” and the resulting arguing builds dramatic tension. This tension is laced with humour as the servants try to catch each other in technicalities in language.
• For example, the men act as though they want to start a fight but also keep the pretence of civility by using “sir”
• However, the quick transition between comedy in lines 1-38 of the first scene to violence and danger demonstrates the rapid pace that later dictates the play and its sequence of events.
• The Prince’s speech:
• The Prince is used as a way to explain the effects of the Montague and Capulet conflict on the people of Verona. He explains that the families have “Have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets” which shows that conflict and violence have become a regular occurrence in the city. He explains that the violence they bring has made Verona’s ancient citizens, Cast by their grave-beseeming ornaments, To wield old partisans in hands as old”
  The Prince then presents the extent of the conflict when he declares that if they start another fight on the streets of Verona again their “lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace”. This means that if there is conflict again then they will die. The speech is therefore foreshadowing later events in the play as the audience know that members of the family will die which of course means that there will be more conflict to come
• Violence-Act 3 Scene 1:
• Violence can be seen as a manifestation of conflict. One of the biggest accumulations of confict in Romeo and Juliet occurs halfway through the play in Act 3 Scena 1 where fighting between Mercutio, Romeo and Tybalt results in the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt Just before this scene in Act 2 Scene 6 Romeo and Jullet have just had their marriage ceremony in which Friar foreshadows that their “violent delights have violent ends” Act 3 Scene 1 juxtaposes the previous scene which perfectly encapsulates the story of Romeo and Juliet, while there is a lot of love and desire, there is also a lot of violence and bloodshed
• Shakespeare opens Act 3 with Benvolio’s discussion of “mad blood stirring” which creates. tension and pace. The personification of blood as “mad” could imply the fact that the familles are about to clash, and so familial blood will take over
• Romeo and Juliet follows a clear structure in which the climax occurs right in the middle of the storyline which is the traditional structure for stories following Freytag’s Pyramid (the structure of a play or tragedy developed in Gustav Freytag in 1863). By putting this scene right in the middle, Shakespeare provides catharsis for the audience as the tension which has been building throughout the first hall is quelled through fighting
• Mercutio’s last words before his death are “A plague o both your houses!” This is not only foreshadows events which come later in the play but the scene also acts like a catalyst for the events that come
• After Mercutio’s death. Romeo becomes filled with a murderous rage and kills Tybalt. Due to his actions Romeo is banished from Verona: the Prince says “Immediately we do exile him hence” This banishment sets in motion the tragic ending of Romeo and Jullet as they try to be together.

Question 4

How does Shakespeare show conflict though internal conflict (Juliet)?

Answer 4

• Internal Conflict -
• Aside from the obvious external conflict which manifests itself through violence within the play, characters also suffer from internal conflict.
• Juliet:
• Juliet suffers a lot of internal conflict as she struggles between her love for Romeo and her loyalty to her family. Due to the conflict between the houses she is forced to choose her family or to follow her heart and pursue a relationship with the son of her enemy.
• Balcony scene - Juliet’s soliloquy
• After the party, Juliet goes to her balcony trying to rationalise her feelings and even find ways to overcome the problem. In Juliet’s balcony soliloquy the audience is able to see how desperate she is to have a way in which Romeo could not be a Montague. This desperation is what leads Juliet to go to the Friar after Romeo’s banishment for the potion which leads to the tragic ending.
• (1.v.34-36):
• “Deny thy father and refuse thy name Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”
• Juliet is saying that Romeo should no longer be a Montague or if he truly loves her, she will stop being a Capulet. However, this is, of course, impossible and just wishful thinking.
• (Ι.ν.40-41):
• “What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part”
• Juliet then becomes more desperate, trying to figure out what is so special about a name. By listing parts of the body, Juliet tries to show the audience how meaningless the name is. Maybe she is trying to get the audience to sympathise with her position.
• (Ι.ν.38-46):
• “That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, Retain that dear perfection which he owes”
• Finally, Juliet uses the metaphor of a rose to illustrate to the audience again that a name truly means nothing. A rose is a symbol of romance which is known for its smell and beauty. however, a rose has thoms. It is possible that Shakespeare uses this image to exhibit the duality of love, that while it can be soft and beautiful, it can also be harsh.
• Act 3 Scene 2:
• After Juliet finds out that Romeo has killed her cousin Tybalt she is conflicted and doesn’t know what to think. The man she fell in love with and married is a murderer. The sequential use of oxymorons “serpent heart” and “beautiful tyrant” between lines 73 and 77 help to portray this conflict between seeing Romeo as the gentle man she loves, and him as a murderer.
• Ending:
• As the Prince says in the end “Never there a story of more woe than Juliet and her. Romeo”. Shakespeare Bustrates to the audience that conflict will lead to pain and “woe”