• Romeo's character starts off in a state of bleak depression due to his unrequited love for Rosaline.

• Romeo is different to the other male characters: he is sensitive, emotional, insular in the emotions he carries and in how he is emotionally isolated from society. He is a victim to his strong emotions.

• The other male character's conflict is directed outwards in fighting; his conflict, however, is directed inwards to himself in the internal battle his emotions: happiness and misery. Dark imagery and language linked to heaviness occurs in the opening.

• In Act 1, when Romeo speaks to Benvolio, he only seems vaguely aware / concerned that fighting was even taking place: 'what fray was here?' as he is so focused on his internal pain of being in love with Rosaline.

• Rome's character moves to a state of happiness and joy when he meets Juliet in Act 1 Scene 2 and marries her in secret. This happiness is only ever transient (short-lived). Imagery linked to light captures his happiness, such as the sun.

• Romeo offers Juliet status in their relationship - there is a sense of idolatry, but it is clear he highly esteems her.

• Fate and its push towards death (outlined in the prologue) shows its glimpses in references to dreams.

• Throughout the play, Romeo attempts to resist the external powers around him, such as the hyper-masculinised aggression of the feud.

• In Act 2 scene 5 - Romeo gets pulled into the feud, via his emotions, not judgement or reason. It is only out of love and a sense of honour for his friend Mercutio, when he is stabbed to death by Tybalt, that Romeo's anger erupts in a spontanous outburst and he kills Tybalt in hatred.

• Romeo's innocence and purity is corrupted by the toxic world of hatred around him, his family connection to the feud and society's expectations,

• When he is banished from Verona, Romeo returns to a state of isolation: this time the isolation is both physical and emotional, as he is banished. His language becomes even darker than it was at the start of the play; references to death

Carefully read the exam extract above.

Extract focus - ideas:

1. Summarise in 20-30 words what the extract is about.

2. What does internal conflict mean?

3. What are the internal conflicts that Romeo is experiencing in the passage?

4. Sum up, in a single statement, how internal conflict is presented in the extract as a whole:

Methods and ideas (A02):

1. How would you describe the relationship between Benvolio and Romeo here?

2. How does Benvolio help to highlight Romeo's conflicted state of mind?

3. Can you spot any verbal patterns in language use? What ideas can they show us?

4. Why does Romeo use so many oxymorons in his speech? What do they reveal about his internal conflict?

5. What does Romeo's punctuation suggest to us?

6. Any other interesting uses of language in this extract?

Grade 8-9. Can you see any examples of irony in the passage?

Internal conflict across the whole play:

1. Write down three ways we see internal conflict elsewhere in the play (your examples could be linked to: Romeo, the Friar, Juliet or the Nurse).

2. Sum up, in a single statement, how internal conflict is presented in the play as a whole:

Overall in the play, internal conflict is linked to the ideas of....

• Romeo's use of the word 'me' - shows that his focus is directed inwards to himself. This could reveal a source of his inner conflict, being his natural self-obsession; it also show how powerfully his emotions are demanding his focus.

• Contrasts in ideas: 'love' and 'hate' - shows us the tensions in his emotions: they are two powerful forces and he has control over neither of them.

• Oxymorons: shows the pain and joy of being in love. The predominant tone of Romeo's speech is pain.

• Verbal patterns: words linking to brightness (love), but also cold (emptiness) and heaviness (burden) and pain.

• Repetition of the word 'love' - shows Romeo's desperate fixation on this.

• Repetition of the interjection: 'O' creates a woeful mood.

• His contrast with Benvolio in the scene - Benvolio is a listening ear / confidant. Benvolio's quiet nature highlight's Romeo's chaotic inner world and his turmultous emotions.

• Benvolio's reaction / concern for Romeo gives Romeo only a momentary sense of peace / distraction, but also offers him an outlet, whereas he hadn't had one before in his isolation / darkness. It also increases the sense of pity for Romeo's misery and shows that he is a victim to his emotions.

• Repeated use of the exclamation - shows the intensity of feeling.

• The use of Romeo's question 'dost thou not laugh?' suggests that he is embarrassed to show the world what he is going through, hence the reason for being in isolation.

• It is ironic that something which ordinarily brings joy, such as love, is creating such pain. Benvolio's speech is also ironic: 'sad hours seem long' - Romeo's unrequited love seems to extend for a greater length of time than the real love he finds in Juliet, which is intense, impulsive, action focused, yet over quickly.

Across the whole play, Shakespeare uses the idea of internal conflict to show us the ideas of victimhood and lack of agency, exploring the idea that we are governed by stronger forces such as strong emotions, society or fate. In this extract, it is clear that Romeo's internal conflict self-induced, and that his strong feelings of unrequited love are causing an emotional and psychological impact on him. Elswhere in the play, whilst this internal conflict is still strong and a powerful force, it is the influences of the world around Romeo and Juliet (the external forces of family, society, expectations) that create the greatest amount of conflict to drive the actions of the play. Ultimately, Shakespeare uses this to explore the psychological states of mind of powerlessness, when inexperienced characters attempt to assert their own control over their own fate, and fail to see that larger external forces are in play.

This extract comes at the end of Act 1 scene 1, after the fighting between the Montague and Capulet men has been broken up by Prince Escalus. It is significant that Romeo's first appearance comes after this event, as it shows that Romeo is different to the other male characters in how his sensitive disposition and strong emotions have caused him to be separated, isolated and withdrawn from the world around him. Whereas the attention of the other men is pointed outwards towards the ongoing feud and their anger and aggression is physically expressed, Romeo's battle takes place in his own mind as though his thoughts and emotions are waging a war on him.

In the extract, Romeo's internal conflict comes from the powerful emotion of love, so closely connected to the opposite emotion of hate, to create a sense of inner turmoil, tension and jarring discomfort within him. Shakespeare captures this state of mind through the use of oxymorons which run throughout the entirety of Romeo's speech: each word associated with love and pleasure is counter-balanced with an image of weight, burden and distress. Take the following lines as an example:"Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!" Romeo's language suggests a genuinely confused state of mind: feathers are light, closely associated with birds as a symbol of freedom and ease; whereas lead is heavy, dull and undesirable. On the one hand, it seems that Romeo's feelings of love are elevating him to a greater place - one of the imagination, where he feels light and uplifted, but this seems to be a trick as he cannot act upon these feelings so his hopes stay firmly placed in an imaginary realm; the heavy reality of his love not being returned pulls him back to the ground and makes him feel the pain of not having what he so disires. His words have an impact on his cousin Benvolio who is clearly touched and moved by seeing his friend in so much discomfort and distress: "No, coz, I rather weep". Benvolio's role in this scene is to provide a contrast with Romeo to reinforce Romeo's chaotic frame of mind: Benvolio is balanced (his speech drawing out information), yet Romeo is unable to control his strong emotional, tumultuous outpour in his lengthy speech which keeps returning, obsessively to the focus of 'love' and 'hate'. His intensity is heightened by the repeated use of exclamations and interjection 'O' to show both eruption of feeling, as well as an attempt of Romeo qualm or keep this strong feeling under control, albeit in vain. This reveals Romeo to be a victim of his strong emotions, and his conflicted inner world.

This is not a full exam response: you would need to focus on elsewhere in the play in your second half.

1. Make sure you address the focus of the question: Romeo's internal conflict in the passage and internal conflict elsewhere in the play.

2. To focus your essay response, aim write an introduction (thesis), which follows this structure:

• Across the whole play... (explore the big idea in the play)

• In the passage... (a sentence to summarise the key idea in the passage)

• Elsewhere in the play... (a central way it is explored elsewhere - keep this sentence 'open' so you can draw upon several parts of the play as evidence)

• Ultimately... (Shakespeare's overall intentions)

Here is an example thesis plan using the above structure - this would make the opening of your essay:

1. Big idea across the whole play: Across the whole play, internal conflict is linked to the ideas of individuals being powerless in some way or lacking agency to external forces.

2. Passage: In the passgae, Romeo's internal conflict is a result of feeling powerless to his emotions in love (victimhood).

3. Elsewhere: Shakepeare widens his scope to show us the power of external forces to create internal conflict: Juliet and Romeo choose death to escape the intensity.

4. Ultimately Shakespeare is showing us a magnified version of the powers of the mind and society.

Thesis example written up in full:

Across the whole play, Shakespeare uses the idea of internal conflict to show us the ideas of victimhood and lack of agency, where key character feel powerless to stronger forces such as their strong emotions, society or fate. In the passage, Romeo's internal conflict comes from his victimhood in feeling powerless to love and the feelings of pain unrequited love inspires in him, causing him extreme levels of isolation and removal from society. Elsewhere in the play, it is the stronger external forces surrounding Romeo and Juliet which influence their internal state of mind and cause inner conflict, which ultimately lead to their need to escape society through death. Ultimately, Shakespeare uses this drama and tragedy to explore the psychological states of mind of despair, when inexperienced characters attempt to assert their own control over their own fate, failing to see that larger external forces are much stronger.

Your turn:

1. Across the whole play...

2. In the passage...

3. Elsewhere in the play...

4. Ultimately...

Extended writing revision practice:

• Write up your full exam response. Give yourself 40 minutes now to complete your response.

• In the exam you have 50 minutes; as you have already written your thesis deduct this time).

• Roughly spend 15 minutes closely writing about the extract.

• Spend the rest of the time writing about the play as a whole.

• Use the thesis statement you have already writing to guide your response

• Sentence two and three is the focus of your main body of your essay.