On the
surface, "honor" is what keeps the Capulets and the Montagues fighting in a bitter,
deadly feud. Nobody seems to know what they are quarreling about anymore, but neither family
will sacrifice its "honor" by walking away from the quarrel or attempting to make
peace. This attitude is most clearly on display whentries to exercise restraint withand avoid a
sword fight.intervenes hotly and cries out with emotion to his friend:
O calm, dishonorable, vile submission!
To Mercutio, not fighting is seen as dishonorable, a loss of status. Mercutio won't
have it and battles Tybalt, losing his life for his honor.
This leads to
Shakespeare's real point about honor: that honor comes through reconciliation and compassion,
when the two families are finally sobered enough by the deaths ofto realize that have to end the
senseless, bloody feud.
Shakespeare is ironic in his opening line when he
refers to the feuding families as
No comments:
Post a Comment