Conflict in Romeo and Juliet

There are many conflicts in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. One specific conflict I've noticed is one with Juliet and her parents, the Capulets. Juliet's parents want Juliet to marry Paris, but Juliet loves Romeo (who is also her families only enemy). It's first introduced in the first act of the play before the party, when Lady Capulet comes to Juliets' room and talks to her about meeting Paris at the party and considering marrying him. Juliet says she will, but then she falls in love with Romeo and marrys him without telling her parents. Her parents then agree with Paris that he can marry Juliet, and set up the wedding against Juliets wishes. This is an example of person vs. person. This conflict is important because otherwise Juliet wouldn't have had to fake being dead to get out of her wedding to Paris. This developes the central theme of time. Capulet rushes the day of the wedding, forcing Juliet to act sooner.

This conlfict relates to any teenager and their parents. I am always having conflicts with my parents, from cleaning my room to not being able to do what I want. This is significant because it can relate to almost anyone in the world. I can bet that every teenager has had some conflict with their parents. Not as big as Juliets, but it can relate. The conlfict links to the meaning of respecting my parents choices and knowing that they want best. It also teaches parents to listen to what their kids are saying and consider it from their side. I have lots of other conflicts in my life too. Conflicts with my friends, teachers, coaches, society, etc. My friends and I argue about plans or fight over boys. I don't always agree with my teachers. Sometimes my coaches will keep me out of something I want to do for reasons I find unfair. If I do anything that society looks down on, I get labeled for the rest of my high school life. People are always going to have conflicts in their life, from Shakespeares time to now and forever. You just have to learn how to deal with it in the best way possible.

Romeo and Juliet in Modern Culture

The story of Romeo and Juliet is known everywhere. Two people who fall madly in love but are forbidden to be together because of their families and where they came from. One specific movie where I noticed a reference to Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet is The Titanic. The main story the this movie is the actual ship sinking, and the story of that. But the movie also tells a tale of two people who fall in love, Rose and Jack (first similarity, Rose-Romeo, R's, and Jack-Juliet, J's). Rose is of high class, and engaged to someone else of high class. Jack is poor and gambled his way on the ship at the last second. Jack saves Rose from jumping off the side of the ship, and instantly fall in love. They go through lots of people try to break them up, but none of it works. At the end Rose has to let Jack sink to the bottom of the ocean, and she gets saved. It is a very famous tragic love story, just like Romeo and Juliet's.

(Also, the same actor, Leonardo Dicaprio, plays both Romeo and Jack!)