‘A plague o’ both your houses! You have made worm’s meat of me!

’ - Mercutio How does

Shakespeare explore the consequences of conflict in his play Romeo and Juliet? Consider the
question in light of Mercutio’s quote above and the play more broadly.

In the play Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare uses the themes of characterisation as well as the
technique irony of death, in order to show how the conflict between the opposing families
tears apart the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. The 1595 romantic tragedy play
Romeo and Juliet, is a world renowned drama focusing on the consequences of conflict,
specifically between the families The Capulets and the Montagues. It also explores how the
start-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet battle the conflict between their opposing families in
the pursuit of peace and love. During the course of their pursuit, they realise that they have
to take most drastic measures in order to achieve their final goal, that being marriage and
ultimately sex.

In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses the technique of characterisation to explore
the irony of death. He explores this through the characterisation of Mercutio who acts as a
threshold between pure banter and death. During Mercutio and Tybalt’s fight, Mercutio
receives a fatal wound to the chest, while slowly dying Mercutio exclaims the words, “A
plague o both your houses! You have made worm’s meat of me!” This sparks a turning point
in the play as up until now most of the Capulet and Montagues interactions have been
strictly banter with nothing tragic happening until now. Mercutio’s death is a turning point
in the play as it foreshadows the fact that as long as there is conflict between the two
houses no one is safe. Including Romeo and Juliet. After Romeo and Tybalt’s duel Tybalt says
the words “Wretched boy, you hung out with him here, and you’re going to go to heaven
with him.” This quote demonstrates the irony of death in it’s purest form as

Shakespeare uses themes of fatal relationships to depict increasing conflict.

Not only has the conflict between the two houses led to the death of Mercutio, but also
indirectly the reason Romeo and Juliet suffer the same fate. Due to Romeos banishment
from Verona, he isn’t fully informed on the plan and so when he comes to find Juliet in a
casket he goes into a state of shock exclaiming ‘O no! a lantern, slaughter'd youth, for here
lies Juliet, and her beauty makes This vault a feasting presence full of light.” Before shortly
ending his own life as he realises that a life without Juliet isn’t a life worth living. Due to the
deaths of Romeo, Juliet and Paris the whole town goes into a state of unrest because of the
sheer randomness in which these events occurred………

Conclusion
Throughout Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses various visual and literacy techniques to
explore the consequences of conflict. Through the use of characterisation and themes
Shakespeare is able to explore the detrimental impacts of conflict.
‘A plague o’ both your houses! You have made worm’s meat of me!’ - Mercutio How does
Shakespeare explore the consequences of conflict in his play Romeo and Juliet? Consider the
question in light of Mercutio’s quote above and the play more broadly.