Music itself has the power to create emotions within people, whether its to put them in a partying mood,

to make them to feel depressed, or to give them hope. Whatever the intention, when music is placed in a film, it is to most likely define a character. In Romeo and Juliet, Coldplays Us Against the World defines Juliets malevolent beauty while Jack Johnonss Good People describes Benvolios strength to keep peace between the Capulets and the Montagues. Shakespeare manipulates the character of Juliet to demonstrate the trouble her captivating beauty can bring. When Romeo took first sight of her, he instantly fell in love with her, as did Paris. Romeo accuses Juliet of trespass sweetly urged, for Juliet is encouraging crime of Romeo by her beauty after their first kiss (I.v.107). By saying this, Shakespeare leaves the impression that Juliet may be more trouble than she is worth, but her beauty is so captivating that Romeo is blind and does not see this. Though Romeo describes Juliets action as sinister but her beauty captivating, Coldplay could describe her as the devil as [shes] talking with those angel eyes. This line basically states the devil of Juliet, her actions and beauty, are quite seducing in an unintentional, yet sinister way; her eyes, though, being those of an angel, stuns all so that they cannot escape. In a part of the song, Coldplay writes Lift off this blindfold, let me see again, using the blindfold to represent Juliets beauty blinding all that meets her. The inability for Romeo and Paris to escape Juliet helps illustrate Juliets captivating beauty, no matter how sinister it may be. On the other hand, Shakespeare emphasizes the role of Benvolio to demonstrate the intense rivalry between the Capulets and Montagues. Shakespeare dictates Benvolio as a person who continuously attempts to make peace without the thought of giving up. Near the beginning of the play, as Tybalt enters in the middle of Sampson and Gregorys confrontation with Benvolio, Tybalt accuses Benvolio of starting a fight with the enemy, though Benvolio only drew his sword to do but keep the peace (I.i.61). When Tybalt claims his hate for the Montagues and Benvolio begins to fight back, Shakespeare makes it seem as though the rivalry between the two families can never be resolved, no matter how hard Benvolio tries. The line that We thought this was low/It's bad, getting worse describes the tension between the two families growing by the day; Benvolio is used to emphasize the growing rivalry as he begins to lose the ability to keep peace and control due to the worsening of the rivalry. As the play progresses, Benvolio begins to lose is ability to peace keep. He says, I pray thee, good Mercutio, lets retire. The day is hot; the Capulets, abroad (III.i.1-2). By saying this, he wants to avoid all trouble that can be caused. Mercutio describes Benvolio now as a man that can easily be upset because the littlest things can make him lose his temper. The line How many train wrecks do we need to see metaphorically uses train wrecks to talk about fights, saying that we dont need to see anymore fights. Though Benvolio may seem an unimportant character in Romeo and Juliet, his role is quite significant in the showing of the growing rivalry between the two families. In essence, the visual representation in Us Against the World of a devil with angel eyes represents Juliets blinding beauty that can put anyone she meets under her spell. Comparatively, the degrading of the lack of good people in Good People helps emphasize Benvolios lacking of ability to peace keep and suggests the irresolvable tension between the two families in Romeo and Juliet. In conclusion, Shakespeare uses ideas of blinding love and growing hate that can be found in many songs today.

Works Cited

Coldplay. Us Against the World. Mylo Xyloto, 2011. CD. Johnson, Jack. Good People. In Between Dreams, 2005. CD.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. John Crowther. NY: Spark Publishing, 2003.