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Romeo & Juliet: Explore the ways in which Shakespeare presents and uses the idea of conflict in Romeo & Juliet BY Jolt 234 Romeo & Juliet: Explore the ways In which Shakespeare presents and uses the Idea of conflict In Romeo & Juliet William Shakespearean Romeo and Juliet, portrays conflict In many different ways. This essay will aim to discover the techniques that have been used to show conflict and will analyses the wordplay of the characters.
Additionally, the way conflicts affect the characters’ behavior and reactions to each other, along with the different types of language the characters use, will be examined with preference to the Elizabethan society. A spirited exchange of vulgar Jokes between the Caplet servants begins Act, Scene 1 after the prologue and immediately links sex with conflict. In their bawdy quarrel, the servants’ references to tool’ and ‘naked weapon,’ together with repeated images of striking and thrusting, illustrate how images of love and sex are intertwined with violence and death вЂ?? and will continue to be throughout the play.
The sudden switch from the comedic interplay between the servants to a potentially life-threatening situation demonstrates the rapidly hanging pace that drives the action of the rest of the play. For Instance, Benevolence, whose name means ‘goodwill,’ tries to act as a peacemaker by dividing the servants, but the quick-tempered Table forces him to draw his sword, and the atmosphere changes from harmony to hatred within a few lines. Romeo blames himself for Americium’s death because he placed his love for Juliet before consideration of his friend; hence Romeo attacks Table to assuage his guilt.
However, by doing so, he disregards any effect that his choice may have on Juliet. His action is impulsive and reckless. Romeos rage overpowers his sensibility, and his fortunes are sealed. By attacking Table in a blind fury, he has become one with fiery Table; one with quick- tempered Mercuric, and one with the embittered patriarchs, from where the feud first began. Table’s death brings Romeo a moment of clarity as he realizes that he Is the helpless volt of fate, ‘O, I am fortune’s fool! ‘ he cries, struck deeply by a sense of anger, Injustice, and futility.
Shakespeare uses a hyperbole here, to emphasis Romeos ill luck and misfortune. The tragic events of this scene, allows the audience o empathic with ill-fated Romeo. In Act 3, Scene 1, the speed with which Mercuric and Table’s deaths occur, together with Romeos marriage and subsequent banishment, all contribute to a sense of inevitability вЂ?? that a chain of events has been set in motion over which the protagonists have no control. Americium’s dying curse upon the houses resonates as the voice of fate itself.
Gullet’s interaction with both her mother and her father in Act 3, Scene 5, confirms the failure of parental love because, their sole concern is with a socially acceptable marriage that will Improve he wealth and status of the Caplet family rather than the happiness of their daughter. When Caplet refused, In Act l, Scene 2, to consent to his daughter’s marriage to Paris unless she also was willing, he seemed concerned for Gullet’s welfare. Such parental concern altogether evaporates Into authoritarian, patriarchal ranting as Caplet snouts epithets, calling Juliet ‘baggage’ and ‘carrion’ tort retuning his order.
Caplet now uses Gullet’s youth to mock her reluctance to marry, calling her a crying child and whining puppet. Caplet has degraded his daughter to chattel вЂ?? an item to be brokered for value. In his fury, Caplet threatens Juliet with violence and disinheritance if she continues to disobey him, ‘Hang! Beg! Starve! Die in the streets! / For by my soul I’ll newer acknowledge thee. ‘ Caplet’s sudden transformation from seemingly concerned parent to vengeful adversary illustrates his tendency toward impulsive, cruel, and reckless behavior. These tendencies may have contributed to the origination of the feud itself.
He has shown such tendencies previously вЂ?? he wanted to engage the Montage’s in a sword fight using his long sword; he viciously denounced Paris for wishing to duel Romeo at the masquerade all; and now he has turned on his only daughter with threats of disinheritance. He literally places her in a ‘nothing to lose’ position and thereby encourages the defiance he resents so mightily. While Gullet’s parents react with extreme bitterness, Juliet handles herself with striking maturity. No longer the dutiful teenage daughter of the Caplet’s, she is a young woman, a bride, a wife. Her answers are skillfully truthful yet pragmatically deceptive.
In response to her mother’s desire to have Romeo killed, Juliet remarks that she ‘never shall be satisfied / With Romeo, till I behold him вЂ?? dead. Gullet’s mother interprets this as anger over Romeo killing Table. However, in the Elizabethan context, a man’s death also means his sexual climax. Since Juliet has just ventured into the realm of physical love, she desires it again вЂ?? both as a youthful desire for pleasure as well as a mature yearning for further spiritual contact with Romeo. In the Elizabethan era, women were shown to be weaker than men and laws were put in place to degrade women.
Women were not allowed to enter the professions, such as law, medicine, politics, but they could work in domestic service as cooks, maids etc. In addition, they were not allowed to vote and could not inherit their father’s titles. Sampson also refers to this in Act 1, Scene 1, Page 2, whilst speaking to Gregory, ‘… And therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall’. ‘Men were considered to be the leaders and women their inferiors. Women were regarded as “the weaker sex”, not Just in terms of physical strength, but emotionally too. ‘l This was the type of culture in the Elizabethan era, which many people followed.
Until Mercuric dies in Act 3, Scene 1, Romeo remains emotionally distinct from the other characters in the scene. Romeo walks atop his euphoric cloud marked by blissful thoughts of marriage to Juliet, peace, unity, and harmony. In response to Table’s attempts to initiate a fight, Romeo tells Table that he loves thee better than thou cants devise. ‘ The word ‘devise’ means understand, which Table finds hard to do, because Romeo does not tell him about his marriage to Juliet. Ironically, Romeos refusal to duel with Table brings about the very acceleration of violence he sought to prevent.
Table seeks revenge against Romeo because a Montague appeared at a Caplet ball. While Romeo no longer labels himself Montague, Table still sees Romeo as standing on the wrong side of a clear line that divides the families. Mercuric is disgusted by Romeos abandonment of traditionally masculine aggression. Table does not understand why Romeo will not respond to his dueling challenge �? a traditional method to assert and protect masculine nobility. Romeos separation from these typical means of interaction is both an abandonment tot traditional masculinity and a departure trot the divisive perspective tot the teed.
Romeo and Gullet’s love embraces an awe-inspiring, intensely unified concept of love. Their extraordinary love removes them from the animosity that drives the feud; however, that love is also flawed by Romeo acting out of anger rather than out of his love for Juliet. In the confrontation with her parents after Romeos departure, Juliet shows her full maturity. She dominates the conversation with her mother, who cannot keep up with Gullet’s intelligence and therefore has no idea that Juliet is proclaiming her love for Romeo under the guise of saying Just the opposite.
Shakespeare situates this maturation directly after Gullet’s wedding night, linking the dead of development from childhood to adulthood with sexual experience. Indeed, Juliet feels so strong that she defies her father, but in that action she learns the limit of her power. Strong as she might be, Juliet is still a woman in a male-dominated world. One might think that Juliet should Just take her father up on his offer to disown her and go to live with Romeo in Mantra. That is not an option. Juliet, as a woman, cannot leave society; and her father has the right to make her do as he wishes.
Though defeated by her father, Juliet does not revert to being a little girl. She coziness the limits of her power and, if another way cannot be found, determines to use it: for a woman in Verona, in the Elizabethan times that cannot control the direction of her life, suicide, and the brute ability to live or not live, that life can represent the only means of asserting authority over one self. In Act 3, Scene 1, Americium’s final speeches reflect a mixture of anger and disbelief that he has been fatally injured as a result of the “ancient grudge” between the Montage’s and the Caplet’s; he repeatedly curses, ‘A plague o’ both your houses. Shakespeare uses the quinine of foreshadowing here, by referring back to the prologue, where it states, ‘A pair of star-cross’s lovers take their life’. From the prologue, the audience can infer that two lovers will take their lives – which Romeo and Juliet are, the ill-fated ones. Romeo and Gullet’s relationship is a conspiracy amongst their families, as only Friar Laurence and they know about it. This link between the two families helps the audience to understand that Mercuric is giving another hint about Romeo and Gullet’s ‘… Death marked love’.
Through foreshadowing, the reader is reminded of the key homes of this play: death and conflict. Also, the reader perceives this as, a scene full of tension, leading onto suspense, which intrigues the reader. Furthermore, even his witty characteristic turns bitter as Mercuric treats the subject of his own death with humorous wordplay, ‘Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. ‘ The word ‘grave’ is very ambiguous. It can mean refer to death, such as a burial place or a serious situation. Shakespearean ambiguity is easily understood by the reader, due to the events that occur in the scene.
Another example of foreshadowing would be in Act 3, Scene 1, when Romeo says ‘This but begins the woe others must end’. The use of the word Woe’ shows Romeos misfortune and misery. When he says ‘others must end’, it foreshadows more death later on in the scene. The use of foreshadowing death many times in the scene will leave the audience astonished but will hint at scenes to come. Shakespeare uses metaphors throughout the play, that quench the fire of precious rage with purple fountains issuing from your veins,’ This line illustrates the severity in which the two families: Caplet’s and Montage’s, seek enhance on each other.
They wish to satisfy their anger in fountains of each other’s DOD’ The word attains’ conveys the amount tot hatred one Tamil NAS tort the other, as it is used in the context of death and murder. Furthermore, in this line, Shakespeare uses the metaphor to show the tone, authority and rage that is present in the Prince’s voice. The Prince is outraged and Shakespeare clearly conveys this through the metaphor. Moreover, the metaphor represents that the Prince is powerful and of a higher status in comparison to the other characters.
The Prince ND the two families have a subtle conflict arising between themselves, which is overshadowed by the more overpowering conflict between the Caplet’s and the Montage’s. The Prince is aggravated by the continuous and repetitive brawls in the streets of Fair Verona that are increasingly affecting the civilians. In addition, rhetorical questions are used very effectively in Act 1, Scene 1, Page 6. Will they not hear? – What ho? The Prince is angry with their defiance to disobey his orders. This line shows that he is questioning the authority of the naively arrogant families.
Furthermore, the use of the ‘- ‘is to represent a dramatic pause. This indicates that the Prince is challenging them to defy him any further. Act 3, Scene 1 is an anti- climatic moment, for the reason that, it plays an important role to the entire story line. The negative emotions brought forth by the death of Mercuric are in contrast, against the positive Joyful emotions earlier in the scene between Romeo and Juliet when they are married. Some may argue that Shakespeare is trying to create a melancholic atmosphere, which makes the reader doubt their emotions towards the Tory.
As soon as the street brawl starts, the weather instantly changes, this is an example of pathetic fallacy which Shakespeare used. ‘For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring. ‘ The metaphor, ‘mad blood stirring creates a foreboding atmosphere in the scene. Also, from this line the reader can perceive that the moods of the characters are in such a state that the natural order has been disturbed. Shakespeare uses contrast very effectively; he makes the reader pleased that two loved couples are happily married and then does a twist and creates suspense paving the reader shocked at the death of Mercuric.
Light in darkness – this is the imagery that constantly reoccurs in Romeo and Juliet. ‘O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright,’ Romeo says when he first sees Juliet. ‘It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / Like a rich Jewel in an Tiptoe’s ear’ Variations on this imagery are repeated again and again – images of Juliet as a sun rising in the darkness, of Gullet’s eyes shining in the sky, images of Romeos body cut out in little stars, of Romeo and Gullet’s love as a bright furious lightning flash.
At times, the image of a flash of light separating into the dusk seems to symbolize both the brilliant strength of Romeo and Gullet’s love, as well as its transience. The imagery of light and darkness also picks up the plays emphasis on the contrasts between love and hate, passion and death. Shakespeare has used a variety of language techniques to portray the main theme of conflict. While the conflict elevates through the play, the characters become more provocative and daring. The style of language also changes to express their reactions, and a common technique throughout this play has been wordplay.
The inflicts that have occurred in Romeo and Juliet convey a lot about the type of society in the Elizabethan times. Male pride and honor was a huge part of this play, as the main fight in Act 3, Scene 1 (Mercuric dies, Romeo kills Table) caused a link of chain reactions to be set off. Foreshadowing has been used several times throughout the play, as to give the audience a hint tot what will happen in the upcoming scenes. Overall, Shakespeare represents conflict in a highly complex way, where the audience has to piece together the parts and deal with a sentimental love story.