Romeo And Juliet Gang Affiliation Essay

The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare is full of gang affiliation, representation, violence, and feuding. The whole play is based on two families, the Montagues and Capulets, the feuding sides are far too much alike to some real feuding gangs and feuding families. First, gang affiliation, everyone is on a side in this play, for example, the character Mercutio is not blood related to either family, but he is considered a Montague because he has sided with them, and has made it clear that he is against the Capulets.
Same with the nurse, she is not blood related to the Capulets, but she serves them and tends to them when they are in need. Then when Romeo and Juliet get together, she helps them out with their issues on getting together and seeing each other. Friar Lawrence on the other hand is completely neutral, he helps them both and he is not affiliated with the Montagues or the Capulets. However, if someone were in either family, they would automatically be on that families side. For example, Benvolio is a Montague and he will stay a Montague. Tybalt is a Capulet, even in death he will stay a Capulate. The when they are apart of that family, they have to represent it, by wearing colors, Montagues were
typically purple and blue, while the Capulets wore more red and yellow colored clothing, and they would stay on their side of the city. Then when they would pass each other in the street they would always mock or intimidate each other, by biting their thumbs and mocking each other every chance they get.
Then after the provoking in the street it would turn to violence and fights in the street. People would die and more fights would break out. That is where the climax of the play happens, When Tybalt kills Mercutio, angering Romeo, prompting him to kill Tybalt. All of this probably not helping the feud. Not to mention the two deaths at the end, Romeo and Juliet. In the play there is a lot of gang violence.
The Montague and the Capulets are a lot like gangs that existed one hundred years ago, and even ones of today.
An example of the one hundred years ago one, is the story of Hatfields and McCoys. Their feud was during the 1800s, over the killing of a pig, now now one knows why the montagues and Capulets are fighting, that was never mentioned in the play. Maybe it was as stupid as the killing of a pig, or the picking of a fruit off a tree that they did not own. Between the two families, there were murders kidnappings and brutal beatings amongst each other. The war between them came to a head when one night, some Hatfields entered a McCoy's cabin and shot the two children, beat the mother until she was barely alive, and burning the house
down.
They are also like the Bloods and the Crips. The Crips were formed in the 1960s in Los Angeles, California. The Bloods were formed reaction to the formation of the Crips. The gangs have their own color as well. Bloods being red, and the Crips being blue. The two gangs hate each other so much, if they see someone wearing the opposite color, they do not even have to be gang affiliated, they will harass that person or commit violent crimes against that person. Just like the Montagues and the Capulets.
That is why the Montagues and the Capulets are the same as the Hatfields and McCoys, and The Bloods and the Crips. With all the feuding, representation and affiliation, the Montagues and Capulets are nothing but a modern gang. They had their turf, and their colors. They had their members and their enemies, just like gangs have and will always have. The only difference is, the Montagues and Capulets became friends and squashed the beef they had when Romeo and Juliet died.