Discord sows punishment in Romeo and Juliet - Book Report/Review Example

Discord sows punishment in Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet was a play written by William Shakespeare and performed inpublic around 1594. It was a tragic story about a pair of star crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. They could not unite openly because their families were longtime bitter enemies. The lovers committed suicide because they each thought the other had died and did not wish to carry on living without each other. The only ironic nobility that derived from this tragedy was that the two feuding families of Capulets and the Montagues were eventually reconciled. My thesis is about how discord sowed its just seed of punishment for its perpetuators in Romeo and Juliet. In Act I, the prologue told us that the nature of enmity between the Capulets and the Montagues was; 'From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,' It seemed that it was a trivial grudge that has since been forgotten but for the pride of the two noble families, it could not be resolved. In Act I, Scene I, the servants of Capulet, Gregory and Sampson, deliberately kick up a fight with the servants of Montague, Abraham and Balthasar. Benvolio (Montague's kinsmen) and Tybalt (Capulet's kinsmen) arrive to chance upon this fight of their men servants. Benvolio pleaded with Tybalt to break up the fight but Tybalt was blinded by prejudiced emotions. Benvolio said; 'I do but keep the peace: put up thy sword, Or manage it to part these men with me.' Tybalt answered him with; 'What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee: Have at thee, coward!' (Act I. Scene I). We read how ridiculous the men folk behave, making themselves excited and incensed upon sighting their enemies, when there were no other provocations. The women, Lady Capulet and Lady Montague were more sensible. They advised their husbands to practise restraint but their pleas fell upon deaf ears. Lord Capulet's response was; 'My sword, I say! Old Montague is come, And flourishes his blade in spite of me.' (Act I. Scene I). When Lord Montague saw his foe, he immediately addressed him; 'Thou villain Capulet,--Hold me not, let me go.' (Act I. Scene I). They are saved from bloodshed when the Prince arrived. The Prince warned them to keep their peace or he would sentence them to death. We have met many characters in Act I but Shakespeare has not told us yet what was the exact nature of the quarrel between the Capulets and the Montagues. In Act I, Scene V, Romeo attended the Capulet party wearing a disguise. Tybalt recognised Romeo's voice and immediately wanted to fight with him. He told his servant; 'Fetch me my rapier, boy. What dares the slave Come hither, cover'd with an antic face, To fleer and scorn at our solemnity Now, by the stock and honour of my kin, To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin.' (Act I. Scene V). Tybalt told his uncle Capulet that Romeo had sneaked in but the old man heeded the Prince's warning and instructed Tybalt to show respect for his wishes for peace and to ignore Romeo. Shakespeare did not reveal the origins of the feud but we learnt that the tradition of hating the family's enemy has been passed down to the younger generation and the young accepted it without even knowing what the enemy looked like. Both Romeo and Juliet had never laid eyes upon each other until they fell in love and were identified as enemies. Shakespeare wanted to show how silly it was by creating the paradox of this pair of star crossed lovers. When Juliet found out from her nurse the identity of her new love, she said; 'My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy. (Act I. Scene V). The theme of inherited feud is again mentioned in Act II, Scene I, when Juliet, in her soliloquy, wished that Romeo would disown his parents so that he would no longer bear her enemy's name of Montague. Juliet revealed that what remained of her parent's feud with the Montagues was because of the name. She did not know what or how else to fault the Montagues. Romeo seemed to be blinded by his passion of love and was ready to forsake his parents to be with Juliet. He seemed to be a fickle young man, who quickly forgot his devotion to Rosalind and his parents when he was literally wept off his feet by Juliet. He was in contrast with the older generation of Montagues, Capulets, their respective servants and kinsmen, who are unable to put the feud aside. When Mercutio suffered his accidental fatal wound, he cursed the House of Capulet, as well as his master's House of Montague. He was angry because his death was an ironical twist of fate. He saw himself dying instead of his master, Romeo, or Tybalt, his master's enemy. We see the long reaching effects of the feud when even the servant, Mercutio, was not spared. Mercutio was a martyr for his master's cause. A wronged man's curse carried potent prophecy. Events spiraled downhill from there as his death by the hand of Tybalt incited Romeo to take revenge for him. Romeo killed Tybalt. This episode was important because it showed how the thirst for vengeance has led to the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. All along, the elder generation had been cursing one another with their longstanding quarrel but nothing serious happened until Romeo and Juliet fell in love. They seemed to be keeping up the feud to maintain their family pride and honour although no one wanted to talk about the exact nature of the feud. Shakespeare is still relevant to the modern world. Recently, in 1996, Romeo and Juliet was made into a movie, with a screenplay written by Craig Pearce. The former setting of Verona street had been modified to Verona Beach. There were adaptations, especially to modernise the dialogue, but the essence of the old play remained the same. The producer wanted to show that although the passage of time has been some four hundred years, yet Shakespeare's message remained relevant. Do not seek an eye for an eye, nor a tooth for a tooth, for we might loose more than an eye or a tooth. When we try to exact revenge for a perceived wrong, what we get in return maybe far worse than if we never sought to address the fault. Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet were all dead because of their families' feud which sought to maintain the atmosphere of discord in the community. Romeo and Juliet were lovers without ethics. They forgot their moral values and omitted seeking parental consent because they thought it would never be granted. They committed moral crimes against their parents and were punished by their willful disregard of their immediate superiors, who were their parents. As the Capulets and Montagues live together in the same area, they were in communal living although they are not living in harmony. Capulet and Montague are both Lords serving under the Prince and had a high degree of interaction in the political and social circles. They belong to an intentional community and should share, cooperate and most of all, live harmoniously. In Act I, Scene I, the Prince appeared to order Capulet and Montague to disarm and maintain a truce or forever be silenced. He told them that they who; 'Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets, And made Verona's ancient citizens Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments, To wield old partisans, in hands as old, Canker'd with peace, to part your canker'd hate: If ever you disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.' (Act I. Scene I). This showed that the Prince valued peace in their communal living above the companionship of his lords serving under him. In Act III, Scene I, Benvolio, Mercutio and Romeo were at a public place in town when they were confronted by Tybalt. Tybalt challenged Mercutio to a fight and killed him. It is ironic how the sins of the forefathers have visited upon the children and it is the children who suffer whilst the perpetuators live on in error. We see how the elderly, weaker and perhaps original perpetuators of the feud remain alive at the end of the play whilst their young die as consequent results of their upbringing hating their enemies. In Act V, Scene III, Capulet, Montague and the Prince lament over the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, which the Prince said were punishment from heaven, for engaging in discord. This is Shakespeare's message; evil begets punishment. Montague and Capulet finally come to self-realisation that their children were 'poor sacrifices of our enmity' and they reconciled. The modern 1996 production of this play had the Captain Prince say; 'See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love. And I, for winking at your discords too, have lost a brace of kinsman. All are Punished. ALL ARE PUNISHED!' (Act V, Scene III). Since the parents did not know how to love themselves by forgiving themselves and others, heaven has mete out the punishment by removing their beloved children from them. It has not been explicitly expressed but the lovers were punished too by their ill-fated union. The dead are spared torment upon earth and those who remained alive were not lucky because they grieve for their beloved departed ones. Romeo and Juliet had succeeded to unify their families post-humorously, what they could not attempt to do while they were alive. I think Shakespeare wanted to convey the message that people should live righteously and harmoniously, for everyone within the community is interdependent and discord sows punishment with far reaching consequences. The End. Works Cited. Martinelli, G. (Producer), & Luhrmann, B. (Director). (1996). William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1996). [Motion picture]. USA: 20th Century Fox. William Shakespeare info. (2005). Play Script - Text. Romeo and Juliet. Mar. 1, 2007 from http://www.william-shakespeare.info/shakespeare-play-romeo-and-juliet.htm Shakespeare, W. (1998). Romeo And Juliet. U.K.: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd Read More