Conflict in Romeo & Juliet

One of the primary conflicts in Romeo & Juliet is one that both of the protagonists face: choosing love over family. Romeo, being a Montague, and Juliet, being a Capulet, are forever sworn to be mortal enemies. But because they are so in love, all loyalty to their families in their ongoing feud disappears. At first, their struggle was finding a way to marry in secret (which ends successfully, thanks to Friar Lawrence), but in a single act of passionate anger, Romeo kills Juliet's cousin, Tybalt after he slaughters his best friend, Mercutio. Because of his moment of fury, he is banished from Verona... and pulled away from Juliet. Now, more so than ever, Juliet has to decide who she is loyal to. Her own family, or her one true love and husband? Her instinct, it seems, is to justify Tybalt's murder by telling herself that he surely would have killed Romeo if he had not been slain. It really shows the strong bond they have when she sides with her husband of one day over the family that she has been devoted to her entire life.

Although the murderous family rivalry, dueling in the streets, and banishment are not the most relatable events, the core ideas are things that most people could identify with. Wanting to be with someone that either your family or friends don't approve of and having to choose between them and what everyone around you is saying is something a lot of people could relate to. Or even just wanting or doing anything at all that the people you're surrounded by don't agree with is something virtually everyone has experienced. And most people can probably see where Romeo and Juliet are coming from with picking each other over their unreasonable families. Most people would probably do what they want to do instead of doing what their loved ones say they should do (within reason). I think that Romeo & Juliet is a very easy story to identify with if you look at it for it's central meaning and look past the outlandish fights and dramatic actions.

Connecting with Romeo & Juliet

I personally, while reading Romeo & Juliet, connect with Romeo the most. He takes things that to most people seem like no big deal, and manages to blow them way out of proportion. I'm not nearly as dramatic about it as he is, but I do have a habit of making things seem worse than they are. Like when Benvolio goes to speak with him and finds out that he is upset about Rosaline not loving him. Romeo seems to be under the impression that his life no longer has meaning without his current one true love, when in reality, he's going to get over it and move on with his life.

Reading the play on my own hasn't been too difficult. I love reading Shakespeare and it mostly makes sense to me. I really enjoy reading his work because it's so poetic and fluid. And it also helps having it read aloud in class, because I feel like it's easier to understand when you're hearing it and not just reading it. It also makes a big difference that before we started reading, I watched the play with my step dad who explained a lot of it for me (he has taken many classes on Shakespeare's writing and has a very strong understanding of it). I think that it's safe to say that Romeo & Juliet has been my favorite reading assignment so far this year.