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" (prologue). 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 of their world. When Romeo convinces Mercutio to not confront Tybalt, then Mercutio pays the price with his death--an ambush from his sly opponent. Therefore, what seemed as a positive outcome turns into a great loss for both sides of the feud, which comes across as unfair to whomever looks upon the situation. Then to take revenge upon Tybalt, Romeo runs him through and slays him--to only avenge his friend. Afterward, he is banished from the city for that deed, even though it was Tybalt who had started the whole quarrel. What's done is done, yet Romeo has suffered greatly from something that was not entirely his fault. These instances all show how violence is shown as a very unfair image, and a very rotten one at that.
Aside from that idea, violence is also portrayed
as universal. In the very first scene of the play, there is a barroom
brawl type of event, in which lowly peasants and soldiers get into a quarrel.
This whole fight starts from a mere mentioning of a few words, which sets
off a large reaction between the characters, ending in a large collision.
As said by Samson, "a dog of the house of Montague moves me" (I,
i, 8). To portray the image of violence in the characters, Shakespeare
has Prince Escalus recite a monologue to the brawlers...
The pure visual interpretation of the violent nature here shows exactly how the lower classmen, although not directly, truly involved in the Capulet/Montague rivalry are drawn into the violence among everyone else in the families. The contrasting side of society which higher level, somewhat noble characters such as Paris, Romeo and Tybalt represent also take part in this aggressive violence. This completes the universal image. In this world, we therefore learn that every person can be affected by their violent nature no matter whom they are. Shakespeare makes violent nature out to be a blanket over this world in the play, in which everything is underneath it and ruled by it. No matter who one is, or what they believe, it is still impossible to escape the violence or at least be affected by it in some way. Friar Laurence and The Nurse are not violent characters by nature--but they are still exposed to it and have to deal with it within the play as the events unfold around them. To recap: the idea that violence is viewed as a universal, all-encompassing image is prominent in the play through the fact that each character in "Romeo and Juliet" is forced to deal with the violent world around them.
Not only is the violent behavior universal and unfair, it is also very compelling and powerful. Paris asks an interesting question--"Can vengeance be pursued further than death?" (V, iii, 65) When Romeo tries to break up the brawl between Tybalt and Mercutio, it ends with the demise of his best friend, Mercutio, as stated before. What was once a negotiator, an attempt at peace, Romeo now charges at Tybalt and takes his revenge not through a nonphysical method of justice brought on by so many violent acts in the past. As Romeo stated, instead of rational thinking, “fire-eyed fury be my conduct now” (III, i, 123). As a result of this deed, the feud reigns still, and the battle continues. This shows the audience how overpowering an image violence is, and how it can affect everyone so fluently.
One final image that Shakespeare makes violence into is one of hope. The world of Verona was trapped inside the bloody quarrel of the two families, and it seemed as if it had the continuous affect of a snowball, and that nothing was powerful enough to stop it. Yet, in the end, the violent deaths of Romeo and Juliet is what opens up the eyes of their two fathers, as Lord Capulet looks at the two children as “poor sacrifices of our enmity” (V, iii, 303). Thus the only way that they learn is through the horrible deaths of their children, which ultimately serves to end the feud. This sickening 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 were 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.