AQA English Literature GCSE
Romeo and Juliet: Themes
Violence and Conflict
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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.
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 I the master here, or you?”. The rhetorical question reaffirms Lord
Capulets' authority while at the same time discrediting any 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 silly and likes to
cause trouble. Tybalt inevitably says “I 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 marry Paris.
Due to this disobedience Lord Capulet becomes
aggressive and violent.
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➔ 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.
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”.
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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
conflict in Romeo and Juliet occurs halfway through the play in Act 3 Scene 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 Juliet 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” c ould imply the fact that the families
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 half 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 Juliet as they try to be together.
Internal Conflict
Aside from the obvious external conflict which manifests itself through violence within the play,
characters also suffer from internal conflict.
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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.
Line Number Quote Analysis
(I.v.34-36) “Deny thy father and refuse thy Juliet is saying that Romeo should
name no longer be a Montague or if he
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my truly loves her, she will stop being
love, a Capulet. However, this is, of
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” course, impossible and just
wishful thinking.
(I.v.40-41) “What’s Montague? It is nor hand, Juliet then becomes more
nor foot, desperate, trying to figure out
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other what is so special about a name.
part” 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.
(I.v.38-46) “That which we call a rose Finally, Juliet uses the metaphor
By any other word would smell as of a rose to illustrate to the
sweet. audience again that a name truly
So Romeo would, were he not means nothing. A rose is a
Romeo called, symbol of romance which is
Retain that dear perfection which he known for its smell and beauty,
owes” however, a rose has thorns. 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
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As the Prince says in the end “Never was there a story of more woe than Juliet and her
Romeo”. Shakespeare illustrates to the audience that conflict will lead to pain and “woe”.
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