Romeo And Juliet
a ) Conflict is at the centre of all drama.
From a prescribed Shakespearean play you have studied, select two moments where there is conflict. Discuss how this conflict contributes to making these moments dramatic. Support your response with reference to your chosen moments.
Title: Romeo and Juliet.
Conflict is often used in Romeo and Juliet to create dramatic moments. I chose two key moments which I think best highlight this.
The first key moment that I selected where conflict contributes to making moments dramatic is during Act 3, Scene 5. In this scene, Lady Capulet walks in to see Juliet crying. She assumes that Juliet is upset over her late cousin Tybalt. This is a use of dramatic irony as we know Juliet is crying because Romeo has left for Mantua since he has been banished by the prince. To cheer her up, Lady Capulet tells her that she will marry Paris on Thursday. Juliet is very upset by this as we know that she is married to Romeo. She tells her mother how she will not marry yet and “when I do, I swear, it will be to Romeo whom you know I hate rather than Paris.’‘
At this point, Capulet walks into Juliet’s room. He is horrified that his daughter would disobey him and threatens to disown Juliet he goes on to say “An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, for by my soul, Ill ne’er acknowledge thee.”
The conflict creates an atmosphere of tension as Juliet is set to get married. The tension rises as Capulet enters the scene. This helps to grab the audience’s attention and make the moment more dramatic as they are left in suspense wondering how Juliet is going to deal with the situation. The use of dramatic irony really makes this scene more memorable and dramatic.
The second key moment I chose where conflict contributes to making moments dramatic is during Act 4, Scene 3. At this point in the play, Juliet has the sleeping potion which Friar Laurence gave her.
Juliet asks her nurse and Mother to leave her alone. She then gives a soliloquy expressing her thoughts and feelings towards the vial. This is a dramatic scene as Juliet does not know what is going to happen to her when she takes the potion. The plan is that it will make her appear dead and that Romeo will save her from the family vault, but she is scared that this plan is not going to work. The use of foreshadowing in this scene makes it much more dramatic.
Juliet thinks about what could happen if Romeo is late or if he doesn’t come at all, she worries that the vial won’t work and she will have to marry Paris and she fears that maybe Friar Laurence has tricked her and wants to kill her in order to hide the fact that he married her and Romeo. ‘’What if it be a poison, which the friar subtly hath ministered to have me dead’’. She also worries about seeing the dead remains of her ancestors, especially Tybalt who had only recently died. She fears that she will go mad and use their bones to bash her brains out. Eventually, she drinks the vial that the friar gave to her in hope of waking up in Romeo’s arms, showing both her bravery and her love for Romeo.
The conflict in this scene is presented through Juliet’s love for Romeo alongside her fear of the unknown potion. This conflict contributes to the dramatisation as it makes us think about all of Juliet’s fears which she expressed in her soliloquy and what would happen if they came true. As Juliet drinks the potion, the drama is heightened as the audience fear that the plan may not work.
Both key moments I chose show conflict that came from family. They both have the capacity for terrible consequences which further heighten the drama.
Enda's English Notes 