Inner conflicts occur when a character struggles with what to do in a certain situation. The inner conflicts that occur are with Juliet mostly. In Act III, scene 2, the Nurse delivers the horrible news that Romeo killed Tybalt. Juliet has an inner conflict because she cannot believe that her love could kill her cousin. However, she is now married to Romeo and must support him unconditionally. She struggles with this a bit, but decides she must stand by her husband and accept his actions.
The next example is also Juliet's. After Romeo is banished, Lord Capulet has set up the wedding for her to marry Paris. She can't do this and after turning to both her mother and the Nurse, she finds that she is on her own. Her inner conflict occurs in Act III, scene 5. She has no support from either woman, so she goes to the Friar. Her inner conflict is that she will talk the Friar into helping her, or she will take her own life. She truly doesn't know what to do, but she goes to the Friar for advice and will have to make a decision.
The most prominent of all inner conflicts has to be the famous soliloquy of Juliet (Act IV, scene 3) in her bed as she prepares to take the potion that the Friar gave her to make her appear dead. She can't decide whether to take it or not. She has 3 main concerns: that the Friar is secretly trying to kill her, that it won't work and that she will have to marry Paris, and that she'd wake too early and be surrounded by dead bodies in the tomb. These three quotes support this inner conflict.
"What if this mixture do not work at all?"
"What if it be a poison, which the friar
Subtly hath minister'd to have me dead""How if, when I am laid into the tomb,
I wake before the time that Romeo
Come to redeem me? there's a fearful point!"
What are Juliet's inner conflicts in the play Romeo and Juliet?
Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most marvelous characters, and her growth from child to adult in this play is as fascinating to witness as is Hamlet's development as a character. Like Hamlet, Juliet confronts difficult situations for the first time and displays a nimbleness of mind, a courage, and a passion as impressive as any of Shakespeare's characters.
While she confronts incremental challenges throughout her story, act 3, scene 2, contains a series of thought processes that reveal the major conflicts she experiences. This is the scene in which the Nurse informs her of Romeo's killing Tybalt and his subsequent banishment.
Alone on stage at the beginning of the scene, Juliet speaks her "Gallop apace" soliloquy, showing her passion and impatience to consummate her marriage. A couple of days prior, she was still a young girl entirely unaware of her sexual nature; in this scene, she has overcome her hesitation and is fully embracing her maturity.
When the Nurse informs her that Romeo has killed Tybalt, Juliet...
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addresses the family discord between Capulets and Montagues. This conflict is at the center of the play, and while Juliet might have eloped with Romeo, one senses that she, likeFriar Lawrence, may be hoping to use the marriage to unite the feuding families. Her conflict between family loyalty and devotion to her husband is a significant source of inner confusion in this scene.
Within this scene, particularly as Juliet chastises herself for doubting Romeo's love and integrity, we see as well her conflict between her own loyalties. She has spoken eloquently of the power and truthfulness of her love, and this scene puts her words to the test as she again commits herself to it. This will be the same mindset that enables her to confront the horrors of the crypt at the end of the play.
One final conflict she overcomes in her final scene concerns her tragic awareness that she does not want to live in a world as debased as Verona. Without the possibility of the idealized love she has for Romeo, life is not worth living. In reconciling that conflict, she chooses to die.
What are Juliet's inner conflicts in the play Romeo and Juliet?
Juliet, like adolescent girls of any time, feels conflicted about whether or not to obey her parents or follow her heart and love Romeo. She also wants to remain close to her confidant, the Nurse. However, Juliet has internal conflict about all of these people:
Romeo: he is her family's enemy, but she has experienced love at first sight with him
Mother and Father: She loves them and wants to obey them, but she does not want to marry Paris because of her love for Romeo
Nurse: She wants to trust in the Nurse and solicits her help in marrying Romeo, but once the Nurse tells Juliet to go ahead and marry Paris, Juliet loses trust in her.
In the play Romeo and Juliet where do external conflicts occur, and what are they?
External conflicts run throughout the drama of Romeo and Juliet, many of which involve those among members of the feuding families and Fate.
- Capulets vs. Montagues
The opening scene of insults and aggressive acts between the servants of the houses of Montague and Capulet certainly signals the turbulent and violent tone that the drama will take in future scenes.
- Fate vs. Romeo and Juliet
In the Prologue of Shakespeare's tragedy, the Chorus mentions that Romeo and Juliet are "star-crossed lovers," whose love is "death-marked." Surely Romeo's presence at the celebration of the Capulet's where Tybalt espies him marks Romeo for death as the enraged nephew of Lord Capulet accuses Romeo of mocking their celebratory occasion and says,
It fits when such a villain is a guestI'll not endure him. (1.5)
- Mercutio vs. Tybalt
In Act III Benvolio and Mercutio enter the square on a very hot day and encounter Tybalt, who aggressively insults them. Mercutio retaliates with insults. Then, Romeo arrives and tries to ameliorate the situation; however, his intervening allows Tybalt to reach around Romeo and fatally stab Mercutio. As he dies, Mercutio curses both the Capulets and Montagues:
...A plague o' both your houses!They have made worms' meat of me. I have it,And soundly too--your houses! (3.1.)
- Juliet vs. Lord and Lady Capulet
Lord Capulet's insistence that Juliet marry Paris causes conflict as Juliet refuses since she is already married to Romeo. She, then, appeals to Friar Lawrence who devises a plan that will give him time to speak with her parents and explain the marriage and love between Juliet and Romeo.
- Fate vs. Romeo and Juliet
After Romeo is banished from Verona, there is a plague in Mantua where he hides. The quarantine imposed upon Mantua prevents Romeo's learning that Juliet is not dead, so when Romeo's servant tells him that he has seen Juliet buried, Romeo believes her dead. In desperation he buys poison and visits her tomb where he kills himself. When Juliet finally awakens from the potion that Friar Lawrence has given her, she finds Romeo dead and commits suicide herself.