Conflict of Love.
Romeo and Juliet is a famous captivating story of love, lust, and hate. Inside of each of these emotions lies a deeper meaning which drives many of the characters to serious extremes. The characters of Tybalt and Romeo, are examples of how extreme excess emotions lead to deadly consequences. Through an examination of the characters of Tybalt and Romeo, it becomes evident that hatred, love, and the fight for honor, proved to be the ultimate cause for their downfall.
From the very beginning, Tybalt seemed to have a perfuse hatred for the members of the house of Montague. In act one of the play, Tybalt instigates a fight with Benvolio and the other members of the house of Montegue. He refuses to oblige with the idea of peace and forces them to fight. His exaggerated idea of honor to his family blinds him of any sort of ability to act rationally. .
The origin of the brawl introduces the important theme of masculine honor. Masculine honor does not function in the play as some sort of stoic indifference to pain or insult. In Verona, a man must defend his honor whenever it is transgressed against, whether verbally or physically. This concept of masculine honor exists through every layer of society in Verona, from the servants on up to the noblemen. It animates Samson and Gregory as much as it does Tybalt. He constantly persues brawls between the families and further fuels the fire of a age old family feud.
Yet Romeo's deep capacity for love is merely a part of his larger capacity for intense feelings of all kinds. Love compels him to sneak into the garden of his enemy's daughter, risking death simply to catch a glimpse of her; anger compels him to kill his wife's cousin in a reckless duel to avenge the death of his friend, and despair compels him to suicide upon hearing of Juliet's death. Such extreme behavior dominates Romeo's character throughout the play, and contributes to the ultimate tragedy that befalls the lovers.
