It then escalates to a full blown battle with even the ladies and lords getting involved .In the end, the Prince intervened and said "If ever you disturb our streets again your lives will pay the forfeit of the peace " (If you fight again you will be killed ) The most serious conflict was definitely the scene where Mercutio picks a fight with Tybalt. Mercutio draws his sword on Tybalt. Tybalt accepts this challenge and they fight. Romeo remembers the Prince's threat and attempts to stop them, but it didn't help. Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo's arm, and he dies after cursing plagues on the houses of the Capulets and the Montagues.
This, hopefully would have resulted in him not killing Tybalt. People could argue that Romeo only killed Tybalt simply because of his bad temper. A reason to support the view stating Romeo is fortunes fool and this bad act was destined to happen is the fact that Romeo is a Montague and Tybalt is a Capulet. This shows us that Romeo was born into bad luck, as both the families had always been rivals. Romeo and Tybalt are unable to prevent being born into these families, stating Romeo and Tybalt only fought considering that they were both born into families which had forever been enemies making Romeo bound to have killed Tybalt, or death could have easily occurred the other way round.
This feud brought problems along with it, such as the killing of Tybalt by Romeo. Juliet had said: “What’s in a name?” which explains her ill fate of being a Capulet and Romeo being a Montague. When Romeo tells his servant, “Ay, mine own fortune in my misery.” This sentence tells us he does not care for what Juliet’s name, nor his is. Bad luck plays a major role in the story of two-star-crossed lovers. There is an example of this when Romeo attends the Capulet’s party, and this is where he is first exposed to Juliet and where the misfortune begins.
However, this is instantly contradicted by the use of vocabulary such as ‘ancient’ grudge and ‘new mutiny’. This shows us that the feud between two very similar families affects the rest of the play. He does this to give a little insight to the play. However, in a way he ruins the play right from the start. He speaks of how only the deaths of two star crossed lovers will break the violence, although it is said in a way that will not be noticed by those viewing the play for the first time.
That is, except for the star crossed lovers, Romeo Montague, and Juliet Capulet. This theme of hate in this play written by Shakespeare, encourages us to think about how others hate can come between your own love. Romeo and Juliet took their lives as they could not live without each other. This love that has come to a tragic end has brought the two feuding families to peace. They see that their own hate for one another has ended with the death of the ones they love most, and that they cannot let this continue.
The audience is made aware that this is a society where swords are drawn for very little or no reason at all and that the honour of a man’s household must be defended at all costs. Finally, the fight is broken up by Prince Escalus, and then he forbids any further conflicts and threatens them with the death penalty if they disobey him. The brawl ends, but the hatred between the families continues to grow. Benvolio, Lord Montague (Romeo's father) and Lady Montague (Romeo's mother) are the only people still in the scene and Lady Montague is concerned for Romeo because he had been seen outside Verona. Romeo is now introduced to the audience and you find out he has an unrequited love for Rosaline.
The play introduces the primary characters and their ongoing feud with each other, which eventually leads to the fatal death of the two main characters. In addition, the rhyming couplet at the end begs the audience to be patient and to pay attention to the play, because if they don’t understand, the “toil” of the actors will surely clear up any misunderstandings. In Act One Scene One, hate is the strong emotion that emerges before love; Shakespeare introduces the emotion of hatred before love because it lays the foundation and also established the feud between the two houses, so the audience can see how hard Romeo’s love for Juliet is later on in the play. Shakespeare’s ironic use of the sonnet tells the audience that ‘A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life’; this spoils the ending of the play by subtly saying that both Romeo and Juliet are going to die in the end. During Elizabethan times the stars were thought to control people’s destinies, being ‘star-cross’d’ or against the stars, creates a sense of fate.
But do not overlook Shakespeare’s inclusion of servants in the story: the perspectives of servants in Romeo and Juliet are often used to comment on the actions of their masters, and therefore, society. The things servants say often change the way we can look at the play, showing that while the Montagues and Capulets are gloriously tragic, they are also supremely privileged and stupid, since only the stupid would bring death upon themselves when there is no need for it. The everyday cares of the lower classes display the difficulty of their lives; a difficulty that the Capulets and Montagues would not have to face were they not so blinded by
Benvolio shows that he doesn’t believe in conflict when it is not needed - ‘Put up your swords, you know not what you do.’ As Tybalt, Lady Capulet’s nephew, gets involved, Benvolio is then forced into a fight himself. Tybalt shows the first sign that the families hate each other from
The conditions forced because of the animosity between the families made the couple feel prohibited to be together and thus hiding their love. Due to the rivalry two other important characters were killed, altering the ending of the play. Additionally, the star cross lovers can be held somewhat liable because overall it was their decision to take their own lives and their decision to continue with their relationship knowing all the risks and ramifications. Undoubtedly the most significant influence was fate. Fate predetermines every outcome of the play, because it is an intense energy that no one can control or change.