Romeo and Juliet-the Church and the State

Romeo and Juliet successfully portrays the conflicting ideas and problems between the church and the state relevant to all contexts. Dramatic techniques highlight their responsibility for the tragedy. The ruler of Verona, Prince Escalus is a symbol of the state, and of municipal law and order. Through the use of dialogue he attempts to implement peace between the households. He tries to explain the seriousness of violence and hatred, by using insulting, distasteful language to describe them ‘enemies to peace’, and metaphorically likening them the inferior traits and savagery of ‘beasts’. However, his public commands to the two families to cease their feuding are paralleled in turn by Friar Laurance, the representative of the church and a member of the Order of Saint Francis. The Friar is a man of reason, and takes the determination for appropriate moral conduct into his own hands. This at times is problema...