Prompt C:
From lines 45 through 53 in Act 1 of Scene 1, Shakespeare demonstrates how absurd the feuding between the Montagues and the Capulets is. Samson bites his thumb, the equivalent of flipping the bird, at the servants of the house of Montague, with no good reason to do so other than provoke a fight. However, Samson is still afraid of causing a fight knowing that the law might not be on his side, asking Gregory "Is the law on our side if I say [I do bite my thumb at you]?". Nonetheless, a needless fight breaks out, disrupting the peace of Verona and angering the Prince. Shakespeare lets this fight be the introduction to the play in order to demonstrate how unnecessary the hostility between the Montagues and Capulets is.
I agree with this and while reading I personally find that the lower levels of the households are more hostile towards each other than the heads of the house hold. Lord Capulet does not take action when he finds that Romeo is attending his party, but a mindless bite of a thumb between two servants causes a full out brawl in the town square.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this as well, you have a valid point and your ideas are very relevant to the theme.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that Shakespeare uses this scene to show how useless the hatred of each other between the two families is.
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