Violence and Conflict in 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare

Violence and Conflict in 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare

In any play by the well-known William Shakespeare, there is bound to

be plenty of meat on the bone in regards to the script. Underneath

the concrete elements of character, plot and theme there are very

complex and unique ideas and images. Throughout one of Shakespeare's

more established plays, Romeo and Juliet, many images are evoked

through the playwright's mastery--one of the key ones being the

violence that envelopes the world of Verona. Shakespeare produces

fantastic visions of violence in the world, through what happens in

the play. A few main violent images brought about by the work is that

it is unfair, universal, and overpowering, yet it also ultimately

serves as a sense of hope and rebirth.

In Verona, the feud between the Capulets and Montagues reigns supreme,

and rules seemingly over love, over justice, in an almost unfair

manner, as "civil blood makes civil hands unclean". The image of

violence being so unfair exists prominently in the deaths of so many

of the cast. We see the two obvious images of the tragic death

brought on by violence, in the two lovers Romeo and Juliet. Their

young, pure lives are brought to a despicable end through the violence

around them. Had this whole bloody feud between the Capulets and

Montagues never of been so great, then they would have been able to

marry in peace and happiness, instead of doing all that they could,

but only to end up dead together in Juliet's tomb. Quite an unfair

notion. This image along with the death of Romeo's friend Mercutio

helps to convey the idea that violence is an unfair, powerful aspect

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...ickening and depressing image turns

violence into a vision of hope almost--in that after war comes peace,

and after violence comes rebirth.

Without the unfairness, omnipresence, and power that Shakespeare's

Romeo and Juliet's violence incorporates, the play itself may had not

as turned out so effective. Imagine if diplomatic measures were taken

to try and cease the feud between rival families, and the fuel behind

the characters’ actions was just not as strong. However, the

conflict’s closure through the violent ends of Romeo and Juliet tie

the play up well, in that it also shows that from all this violence it

also serves as an image of hope and rebirth. Shakespeare strengthens

the intensity and interest we take in viewing or reading the work, and

helps to portray the themes and lessons to be derived from doing so.