On the Moral Conflict in Romeo and Juliet

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Paper Keywords: Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" moral conflict

Through the introduction and analysis of the concept of moral conflict, this paper reveals the contradictions and conflicts between the old feudal life and the new Renaissance life in Shakespeare's classic love tragedy Romeo and Juliet, as well as the historical grievances between the two feudal families. It also tries to explore people's outlook on life, values and aesthetic orientation in the European Renaissance, as well as Shakespeare's new bourgeois thought of personality liberation, freedom and equality as an advanced humanist in this historical era.

The so-called moral conflict refers to the situation faced by the actor: different moral principles and norms put forward different requirements for the same behavior, forcing the actor to make a choice between them. Faced with this situation, it is impossible for the actor to comply with two requirements at the same time. He must give up another moral principle or norm in order to implement one moral principle or norm and sacrifice another moral value in order to realize one moral value. In other words, in the face of moral conflicts, no matter what choices individuals make, they will inevitably bring some sacrifices. In Romeo and Juliet, such a moral conflict runs through the beginning, development and end of the hero and heroine's life, and finally it is completely solved, and they choose death. Therefore, in the process of guiding students to learn this work, we should seize this moral conflict, and accurately grasp the inner world and spiritual outlook of the hero by revealing the moral contradictions and choices faced by the hero.

1, author and works introduction

William shakespeare (1564 ~ 16 16) is the most famous British dramatist and poet, and a master of humanistic literature in the European Renaissance. Shakespeare made great contributions to the creation of drama and poetry. He wrote 37 plays, two long poems and a sonnet in his life, and his influence is still far-reaching today. When 1984 selected 1O great writers in the world, Shakespeare ranked first; He is called "Zeus on Mount Olympia". Nowadays, "Sally's soon-to-learn teacher" has become a worldwide knowledge, and his works have been translated into 70 languages, making it a printed matter second only to the Bible.

Romeo and Juliet is an early creation completed by a great British playwright on 1595, and is regarded as "the greatest and most typical love tragedy in the world". The work is based on the children of two feuding families: Romeo and Juliet fell in love at first sight, but due to various practical reasons and accidental factors, their love is doomed to fail. The hero and heroine broke through the secularity of family hatred and pursued a pure love without hesitation. In the end, they both died of double suicide, but the two families were reconciled. Through the love story of life and death, Shakespeare severely condemned the intrigue and arranged marriage of feudal families and warmly praised the young men and women who pursued love and freedom, which fully embodied the humanistic thought. The tragic moral conflict between feudal forces, coupled with humanistic love ideals and feudal concepts, shocked and infected readers' hearts with Shakespeare's unique expression, which triggered people's deeper thinking and exploration of these phenomena and made readers better understand the characteristics and laws of class and social development.

2 moral conflict

2。 1 Moral conflict caused by the contradiction between the old feudal life and the new Renaissance life.

Moral conflict is a special reflection of social class contradictions. In the process of moral choice, following different moral standards will produce different moral and value orientations. The particularity of moral conflict lies in that when faced with different moral standards, actors are often in a dilemma-following the requirements of one moral standard but violating another; It protects the interests of one party, but it is difficult and inevitable to harm and offend the other party. In real social life, all kinds of moral conflicts are common, and the objectivity and inevitability of them are also problems that every researcher must seriously face and calmly analyze.

Romeo and Juliet lived in the dark and crumbling Middle Ages. Although the dawn of capitalism appeared in this period, the decadent feudal system and feudal ethics still occupied an important position. In other words, the love between Romeo and Juliet actually came into being from the very beginning between traditional ethics and new morality. Although the new force is not strong, it reflects a direction of social development. Therefore, it is doomed that the love between Romeo and Juliet is inevitably impacted by feudal secular concepts, and their love is always stormy. Romeo and Juliet fell in love at first sight, which made them fall into the contradiction between their love and feudal feud. Whether their pure and beautiful love ideal can be realized depends on the result of the struggle between their free will and the surrounding environment, and the whole play revolves around this conflict.

Although Romeo and Juliet lived in the feudal rule in the Middle Ages, in this era of the continuous development of humanistic thought in pursuit of individual liberation and freedom of thought, people began to struggle fiercely with the decadent feudal rule. Romeo and Juliet, the protagonists in the play, first face the contradiction between submitting to feudal tradition or bravely pursuing love life. Pursuing love life is contrary to common sense and not accepted by tradition; Giving up love life means putting up with life without love. Deeply influenced by the spirit of the times, Romeo and Juliet chose to defend the dignity and freedom of human nature with a firm attitude and brave spirit of sacrifice and pursue a pure and beautiful love of their own. Finally, with the help of Father Lawrence, they got married happily. However, the result of their choice of a new life is inevitably oppressed and rejected by feudal forces. Bolt's provocation in his works means feudal oppression of their love life. Faced with such oppression, Romeo, who loves life infinitely, hopes to resolve various contradictions through his own efforts, endure for his new life again, and publicly show respect for the enemy's surname, just like respecting his own surname. But this tolerance is not the result he wants, but a forced duel. Romeo's duel symbolizes a rebellious spirit, but this rebellious spirit has brought a more tragic ending. Romeo was exiled because he took part in a duel, which made the happy bride and groom who had just worked for a few hours face painful separation; Romeo was exiled, and Juliet had to choose between the new life and the old tradition. Faced with Capulet's forced marriage, Juliet began to confront the feudal forces. Love has given her great strength and wisdom. Fearless, she disobeyed her father's orders without hesitation and resolutely refused to marry Paris. She fought rationally and calmly. First, her grief prevented her from getting married on the pretext that her cousin died suddenly. Later, he found an excuse to repent, and finally got the help of the priest, swallowed a sleeping pill, pretended to be dead and won. However, this victory is only temporary. No matter how rational and intelligent she is, feudal forces will not let her get real happiness. As Romeo realized before he died, they were not facing a family, but this "evil century", a feudal society full of decadent consciousness and prejudice.

2。 2 the contradiction between the two families caused the moral conflict of the protagonist.