Conflict in
Romeo and Juliet
GCSE English Literature
Les van English
In deze les zitten 30 slides, met interactieve quizzen en tekstslides.
Conflict in
Romeo and Juliet
GCSE English Literature
Lesson 5 of 5. The final writing task is phrased generically so it works for extract-based and whole-text questions alike - adjust the wording to match your exam board. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop Image credit: Edwin Austin Abbey, The Death of Mercutio / Wikimedia Commons, public domain
What causes conflict between people?
Expect jealousy, pride, money, family, love, misunderstanding. Keep the web visible - most of these appear in the play. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Lesson Aims
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
Identify the different types of conflict in the play
Analyse how Shakespeare presents conflict in key scenes
Write about conflict using evidence and context
Modify these aims as you see fit! Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Types of conflict
The family feud - the "ancient grudge" between the Montagues and Capulets
Parents and children - Juliet against her father's authority
Honour and masculinity - young men who must answer every insult
Inner conflict - Juliet torn between loyalty to her family and love for Romeo
Love and hate - opposites that clash in the language of the play itself
Students could copy this list and add one example for each type as the lesson goes on. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
The family feud
Parents and children
Inner conflict
What do you already know? Add an example of each type of conflict
A quick retrieval task using what students know from earlier lessons. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
The opening brawl - Act 1 Scene 1
Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Act 1 Scene 1
The play opens with servants trading insults - a thumb bitten at a rival is enough to start a fight.
The brawl spreads until even the old heads of the families call for their swords.
Prince Escalus stops it with a warning: "If ever you disturb our streets again, / Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace."
Point out that the feud reaches even the servants - it infects the whole of Verona, not just the two families. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop Image credit: Frederic Leighton, The Reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets, c.1853-55, Agnes Scott College / Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Key quotation
What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.
Tybalt, Act 1 Scene 1
Benvolio has drawn his sword to part the fight. Tybalt refuses even to hear the word "peace" - hate is his whole identity.
Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Key quotation
O brawling love, O loving hate,
O any thing, of nothing first create!
Romeo, Act 1 Scene 1
Romeo's confused feelings are expressed through oxymorons - love and hate are tangled together from the very first scene.
Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
"O brawling love, O loving hate" is an example of...
An oxymoron
A simile
Pathetic fallacy
A soliloquy
An oxymoron puts two opposite words together. The technique mirrors the play's central conflict - a love that grows out of hate. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
The turning point - Act 3 Scene 1
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Act 3 Scene 1 - the fight scene
Why does Romeo try to avoid fighting Tybalt - and what makes him change his mind?
BBC Bitesize for Teachers - "Shakespeare Unlocked: Act 3 Scene 1, the fight scene". Checked September 2026. BBC clips are sometimes unavailable outside the UK - replace or delete if it will not play. Further analysis: Mr Bruff - Act 3 Scene 1. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Act 3 Scene 1
Benvolio warns: "The day is hot, the Capels are abroad, / And if we meet we shall not scape a brawl."
Tybalt challenges Romeo, who refuses to fight - secretly, Tybalt is now his cousin by marriage.
Mercutio fights instead and is fatally wounded under Romeo's arm. Enraged, Romeo kills Tybalt.
The heat is a form of pathetic fallacy - tempers are running hot too. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop Image credit: Frank Bernard Dicksee, Death of Mercutio / Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Key quotation
A plague o' both your houses!
Mercutio, Act 3 Scene 1
Mercutio curses both families for his death. The curse comes true - and a real plague later stops the Friar's letter reaching Romeo.
Mercutio repeats the curse three times as he dies, which gives it the weight of a prophecy. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Why does Romeo change his mind and fight Tybalt?
Look for - grief and guilt for Mercutio, honour ("Thy beauty hath made me effeminate"), rage ("fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!"). Romeo's choice links to the fate and free will debate. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Parents and children - Act 3 Scene 5
Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Key quotation
An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend;
An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,
For, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee
Lord Capulet, Act 3 Scene 5
When Juliet refuses to marry Paris, her father threatens to disown her. The list of verbs shows the full force of patriarchal power.
Link back to the context lesson - a daughter who refused her father's choice of husband could be left with nothing. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Juliet's inner conflict
Loyalty to family
Love for Romeo
Tybalt, her cousin, has been killed - by her new husband.
Her family expects her to grieve for Tybalt, hate Romeo and obey her father.
Disobedience risks losing her home and her family.
When she hears the news, she calls Romeo "Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!" (3.2)
Within moments, love wins: she decides her loyalty belongs to her husband.
She chooses Romeo over her family - even at the risk of death.
The oxymorons in 3.2 echo Romeo's in 1.1 - both lovers express conflict through the same technique. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Drag each quotation to the type of conflict it shows
The family feud
Parents and children
Love and hate
"From ancient grudge break to new mutiny"
"My only love sprung from my only hate!"
"I would the fool were married to her grave!"
"hang, beg, starve, die in the streets"
"I hate the word, / As I hate hell, all Montagues"
"O brawling love, O loving hate"
Family feud - the Prologue ("ancient grudge"), Tybalt (1.1). Parents and children - Lady Capulet (3.5), Lord Capulet (3.5). Love and hate - Juliet (1.5), Romeo (1.1). Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Quick-fire quiz
Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Who is the first character to die in Act 3 Scene 1?
Tybalt
Mercutio
Benvolio
Paris
Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
How does the Prince punish Romeo for killing Tybalt?
He has him executed
He banishes him from Verona
He forgives him
He sends him to prison
Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
How does the feud between the families finally end?
The Prince forces a peace treaty
Their children's deaths reconcile them
Romeo and Juliet's wedding is made public
It never ends
Only "their children's end" can remove their rage - exactly as the Prologue promised. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
The family feud
Parents against children
Honour and masculinity
The lovers' inner conflicts
Which conflict is most to blame for the tragedy?
Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Writing about conflict
A strong answer will:
Make a clear argument about how conflict is presented
Use short, well-chosen quotations from across the play
Analyse Shakespeare's methods - language (oxymorons, insults, imagery) and structure (the brawls in Acts 1 and 3)
Link ideas to context - honour, patriarchy, the feud
Be written accurately, in a clear and organised way
These criteria are deliberately general. Adapt them to the assessment objectives and mark scheme your exam board uses. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
How does Shakespeare present conflict in Romeo and Juliet? Write your opening two paragraphs.
minute
second
Fifteen minutes. If your exam board uses an extract, give students Act 3 Scene 1 or Act 3 Scene 5 as a starting point. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.
Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson, so they can judge their own learning. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Write down 2 things you want to know more about.
Students name two things they want to know more about - this builds involvement and ownership. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.
This shows you which parts of the material students still find difficult, and gives a starting point for the next lesson. Image credit: LessonUp Romeo and Juliet series backdrop
Not confident yet
A little confident
Quite confident
Very confident
How confident do you feel writing about conflict in the play?
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