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Glorification And Normalization Of Violence In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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Playwrights utilise elements of tragedy to display emotional and psychological attributes defining us as humans. In Elizabethan Era England, playwright William Shakespeare conveyed his perspectives of complex emotions through plays and poems such as ‘The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet’, a world-renowned play published in 1597, featuring lovers Romeo and Juliet, facing obstacles of family and society to retain their relationship. Romeo and Juliet express defining aspects of human nature: impact of deep romantic emotions on our decision-making, influence of rage which causes violent tendencies and desires, and how personal desires conflict with commitments to family. Impulsive decisions caused by strong romantic emotions express complexities of …show more content…

Glorification and normalisation of violence and bloodshed within the Elizabethan Era influenced Shakespeare’s incorporation of physical confrontation throughout the play. This is prominently demonstrated in Act 3, Scene 1, where the Capulets and Montagues fight, causing Mercutio and Tybalt to be slain. Prose within this creates an intense dispute with authenticity, and how it rapidly changed into physical confrontation. Simile of “Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of meat, and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg for quarreling.”, compares Mercutio’s head to an egg, implying his head is corrupted with violent thoughts. The simile also indicates his violent nature will be his downfall, displaying the negative consequences of violent tendencies. Furthermore, personification is present in “And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now”, emphasising how Romeo’s overpowering rage over Mercutio’s death causes a vengeful desire to slay Tybalt. This expresses influences of rage on Romeo, inclining him to engage in violence for revenge, further depicting how rage causes violence overall. Thus, the influence of rage on violent tendencies exhibits an apparent complexity of human

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His personification of “fury” being “fire-eyed”, demonstrates how Romeo’s anger is destructive and deadly, which compels him to fight Tybalt, out of love and revenge for Mercutio. Similarly, Mercutio tried to protect Romeo’s honour, out of love for

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