Violence and Conflict in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Violence and Conflict in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare. This

play is about 'star crossed lovers' who are from two different warring

families, the Capulets and the Montagues. Romeo, the leading male of

the play is of the Montague family and his destined lover Juliet is of

the Capulets. In this essay I am discussing the violence and conflict

in four of the scenes, Act 1 scene1, act 3 scene 1, act 3 scene 5 and

act 5 scenes 3.

'Romeo and Juliet' is probably the most famous play written by

Shakespeare. Even though it was written around five hundred years ago

it is still popular now. The play was first played in Elizabethan

times. Elizabeth the first was on the throne and she was a great fan

of Shakespeare's plays probably because of their unique language and

modern themes. Going to the theatre must have been a completely

different experience; the crowd often threw rotten vegetables and

fruit at the actors and there was never silence. Also the building the

plays were performed in were open air so the poor people who could not

afford a covered seat got wet, very hot or cold watching the

performances. Other kinds of entertainment people in the 16th century

went to watch was bear bating and cock fighting which were both grosum

so the theatre was probably a change. 'Romeo and Juliet' would have

been a popular play because it has the themes, comedy, violence and

most importantly romance.

The first scene is violent and opens with a 'civil brawl' between

Benvolio of Montagues and Tybalt of the Capulets. Be...

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disturb our streets again, your lives will shall pay the forfeit of

the peace." In this scene I would have Romeo killing Tybalt in a fit

of rage, whith dramatic music and it will be at night and the Prince

will come through the audience speaking so it seems that he is

addressing the whole of Verona.

My favorite scene in the play is act 3 scene 1. This is my favorite

scene because it has a broken friendship that causes us to see Romeo's

violent side that has not yet been exposed in the play. This scene

also lets the play move on and is a surprise coming after the scene

were Romeo and Juliet are married. I think that this play has a

mixture of both violence and love but more violence, but I could think

this because the violence in the play is more emphasized even though

love and destiny are the main themes.