Skip to main content

What three passages in Romeo and Juliet portray the role of disorder and hatred as well as the consequences?

The beginning of Act I, Scene 1 is a prime example of the hatred and disorder which is prevalent on the streets of Verona because of the bitter feud between the Montagues and Capulets. The Capulet servants, Gregory and Sampson, have nothing better to do than walk the streets describing how they would like to rape the Montague women and, when they come across the Montague servants, are quick to resort to demeaning insults (biting their thumbs) in order to instigate a fight. The hatred is increased when Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, comes on the scene and threatens to kill Benvolio, who is attempting to calm the situation. Rather than agree to peace, Tybalt expresses his intense acrimony:




What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.
Have at thee, coward!



The brawl is eventually broken up when the Prince arrives on the scene. The consequence of this disorder is that the Prince declares that further fighting in the streets will be punished by death:





If ever you disturb our streets again,
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.





Hatred again rears its head in Act I, Scene 5 as Tybalt becomes enraged at hearing the voice of Romeo at Capulet's party. Once he recognizes Romeo, who is wearing a mask, he becomes disorderly, calling for his sword and alerting Lord Capulet to the situation. Tybalt is perfectly willing to disrupt the party and challenge Romeo. Lord Capulet, however, is unwilling to have his party destroyed by the feud, but it takes some convincing to get Tybalt to back down:





He shall be endured.
What, goodman boy? I say he shall. Go to.
Am I the master here or you? Go to.
You’ll not endure him! God shall mend my soul,
You’ll make a mutiny among my guests,
You will set cock-a-hoop, you’ll be the man!





The consequence of this episode comes later. Tybalt, not able to engage Romeo, sends a letter to the Montagues, challenging Romeo. This challenge comes to fruition in Act III, Scene 1.



As in Act I, Benvolio is the voice of reason as he urges Mercutio to get off the street and to avoid a confrontation with the Capulets. Once Tybalt enters the scene, however, disorder rules the day. He and Mercutio trade insults and when Romeo arrives, Tybalt is ready to fight. Romeo, who has just married Juliet, is quick to back down, telling Tybalt that he actually loves him. Mercutio, who knows nothing of Romeo's relationship with Juliet, cannot stand this acquiescence and challenges Tybalt himself:





O calm, dishonorable, vile submission!
Alla stoccato carries it away.
Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk?





The fight between the two ends with Mercutio killed. Romeo, in a fit of hatred and revenge, assaults Tybalt and kills him. The consequences include two dead men and Romeo banished. Instead of wielding the death penalty against Romeo, the Prince has mercy and simply banishes him from Verona because of the nature of the conflict.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more