Conflict ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Essay

How important is the theme of scrap in the play Romeo and Juliet?Shakespe atomic number 18s play, Romeo and Juliet, is the most famous love composition in English literature. However love isnt the only theme that runs through the play. Shakespeare makes this typical love story more striking when he pits the romance in the context of family feuds, fights and deaths. The issue of action is as central to this play as the issues of love/honour/ perfidy and death. It should come as no surprise that Shakespeare would include bouts in this play as otherwise the play would simply be a dull didactics on teenage love. Adding the meshings highlights the tensions that the teenagers feel between their attachments to their own families and each other. Also, adding the conflict is important for dramatic effect. We see this clearly in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet but alike see it in many modern forms of storytelling, such as film.The film Slumdog Millionaire is another example of two star-cr ossed lovers struggling to be together against their familys wishes. The conflict in the film is between brothers, but also with others outside the characters immediate families. The dramatic effect of the conflict has the hearing on the edge of their seat, willing the partner off to escape their terrible lives of abuse and live happily ever after. Slumdog is Romeo and Juliet for the 21st Century.As in Shakespeares play, in Slumdog the listening are told what will happen in the story by way of a prologue The prologue in Romeo and Juliet tells the audience the story and the ending (the two lovers will mend their family feuds by taking their own lives)From fore the fatal loins of these two foes. A pair of star-crossed lovers take their emotional state. .The prologue is an unusual storytelling device as it reveals the end of the story at the beginning. But it also draws the audience is to know why the lovers take their own lives and the audience remains shocked by that event, desp ite being warned about it. In Bas Learhmanns film the audience is surprised when Juliet wakes from her sleep to find Romeo lying dead next to her. Her reaction of killing herself is a shocking ending to the film (play) despite the audience acute what is coming. In Shakespeares prologue theChorus describes two noble households in the city of Verona. The houses hold an ancient grudge against each other that remains a parentage of violent and bloody conflict.The audience are told that the families live in Fair Verona and who the main characters in the play are. So within a few proceeding of the play commencing the audience (reader) is primed with enough information to generate an interest to read on. The first scene comes immediately after the prologue and Shakespeare commences the scene with two Capulet servants (Sampson and Gregory) who chew out about the conflict between the two familys. It is interesting that even though they are servants (Slaves) they say that the familys feud is their feud The quarrel is between our know and us their menIt is important to remember that the play is written at a time when servants were obliged to honour their masters, and that included laying down their life for their betters. The tone of the conversation between the two servants replicates the conflict that we hear about in the prologue. Shakespeare has established a thread for the reader to follow here. The violence of the conflict is clear when the two servants talk of what they will do to the Montague women once they defeat the Montague men. Brutalising the women of a defeated enemy is something that has happened throughout history. True and therefore women, being the weaker vessels,are ever thrust to the wall therefore I will pushMontagues men from the wall, and thrust his maidsto the wallThe public brawl started by Tybalt is joined by members of both families, including the Montague and Capulet fathers. Seeing old enemy (Montague) Capulet says to his wife My sword, I say Old Montague is come,And flourishes his blade in spite of me.The street fighting and crime between the Capulets and Montagues is only one form of conflict in Shakespeares play. Shakespeares writing about conflict extends to Juliets family too. In Act 3 Scene 5 Juliet is toldby her mother that she will marry. Juliets unhappiness at this arranged marriage (she is told to report to the church on Thursday) leads to a conflict with her father who calls her a young baggage and disobedient wench. The family conflict repeats one faced by some young women whose husbands are chosen for them. This pagan obligation is also made clear by Juliets mother when she says to Juliet that by the age of 14 (Juliets age at the time of the play) she was already pregnant with Juliet. The tradition of marrying girls off young, and to wealthy older men, has largely been overcome in some communities, however, in others it still creates tension. Sometimes with tragic outcomes.The theme of conflict is i mportant in this play because it reflects the type of social conditions that existed at the time that Shakespeare wrote his play. It is interesting that although our social conditions have changed, the underlying themes and circumstances here could apply to our partnership today. Young, violent, men fighting over territory/honour and (like Tybalt) being killed in the crossfire. Shakespeares decision to talk about the unfairness of Juliets fathers insistence that she marry, may be a brave attempt to raise the issue of forced marriage. But, alternatively, it could also be seen as a source of contentment and merriment for the Shakespearean audience. Despite some really difficult language, Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet is a play that transcends time in terms of its underlying themes. This makes the play as relevant now as it was when it was first played.