You are on page 1of 2

Themes

In Romeo and Juliet, 3:1 and 3:2, themes run abound. This is the part of the play in which the most action occurs, and a great deal of character development comes for one of the main characters, Romeo. Some of the major themes are conflict, maturity, and the unknown. Of course, the biggest issue in R&J is the conflict between the two houses of Montague in Capulet. This comes to a head when Mercutio (a friend to house Montague) fights Tybalt (a Capulet). To the best of the readers knowledge, the feud has never ended in bloodshed, however, so it raises the stakes when Mercutio dies. Then, when Romeo slays Tybalt, he gets the house of Montague directly involved (as Mercutio wasnt a kinsman to the Montagues it might have been overlooked as just a murder, not part of the feud). One of the biggest themes in these scenes is maturity (Romeos and Juliets specifically). For Romeo, hes forced to mature quickly because his friend died, and its his fault. He deals with this added responsibility by doing the macho/mature thing of the time period and seeking revenge. Similarly, Juliet is forced to mature by learning of Tybalts death at Romeos hand. Shes forced to reconcile this with her notion of who Romeo is. Both Romeo and Juliet also mature when they realize how nave they were to believe that their relationship wouldnt affect their family feud. One thing thats relevant to note is that Romeo is the closest thing that R&J has to a main character or a character that fits the Heros Cycle. His character arc has the most

development (before his death) and hes the one who (hypothetically) saves the day, gets the girl, et cetera. R&J is a slight inversion of the regular pattern, in that the hero dies, but up until that point, its easy to apply the pattern to the story. The biggest thing that happens thematically in this scene is Romeos transition into the unknown. He kills Tybalt and is exiled from Verona (this is expanded upon later, but technically the actual even occurs in this scene). Death obviously factors heavily into this scene, and thus mortality is a key theme at play. In some interpretations of the text the fight scene is taken as a couple of teens fooling around with swords until Romeo intervenes and Overall this section of the play is very important and sets some very specific themes for the second half of the play. This sets the relatively dramatic tone for the latter parts of the play, and creates all the major conflict that the play has.

You might also like