This key facts covers Love and Conflict — Key Facts within Theme: Love & Conflict for GCSE English Literature. Revise Theme: Love & Conflict in Romeo and Juliet for GCSE English Literature with 12 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 11 of 16 in this topic. Use this key facts to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
📋 Love and Conflict — Key Facts
- The feud's origin is never explained. Shakespeare deliberately omits the cause — inherited hatred without a remembered reason is his point.
- Romeo and Juliet meet at the feast because Romeo crashes the Capulet party to see Rosaline — his love for Rosaline is already self-consciously a performance of conflict between desire and impossibility.
- The word "love" appears over 150 times in the play. The word "hate" appears far less. Shakespeare weights the play toward love as the dominant force — making the conflict's destruction of it more costly.
- Three people die because of the wedding day collision in Act 3: Mercutio (killed by Tybalt), Tybalt (killed by Romeo), and Romeo's relationship to Verona (he is banished).
- The reconciliation — Capulet and Montague shaking hands — happens onstage for only one exchange. Shakespeare gives it very little text. The golden statues are guilt, not triumph.
Practice questions for Theme: Love & Conflict
Which of the following is an oxymoron spoken by Romeo in Act 1 Scene 1 to describe the feud?
Identify the technique Shakespeare uses in 'O brawling love! O loving hate!' (Act 1 Scene 1) and explain what it achieves about the relationship between love and conflict. (2 marks)