How Shakespeare presents conflict

Question 4 (8 marks)

How does Shakespeare present conflict in the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet?

Mark scheme (AO1 + AO2 + AO3, 8 marks):

• The servants begin the conflict — not the lords; the feud has permeated every level of society; the opening brawl is started over nothing (biting a thumb — a vulgar insult) (1–2 marks)
• Tybalt's entrance: "Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death" — language of absolute violence; he rejects any peace; "I hate the word / As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee" — the feud is instinctive, irrational (1–2 marks)
• The Prince's intervention: "Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace" — the feud as a public order problem; his authority frames the feud as criminal (1 mark)
• Juxtaposition: immediately after the violence, Romeo appears speaking of love — the contrast between public conflict and private feeling is established from the start (1–2 marks)
• AO3: The Italian city-state setting; Elizabethan honour culture (insults required response); the political chaos of family feuds mirroring historical Elizabethan tensions (1 mark)