It is important to note that the conflict actually
escalates in Act I scene 1 as law enforcers arrive. As an Officer and four Citizens with
clubs enter to try and suppress the violence, then Lord Capulet and Lord Montague then
enter, and try to get involved in the violence themselves, escalating a brawl between
the houses to a duel between its two principal heads. It is only the arrival of the
Prince with his train that actually manages to bring an end to this violence. Note what
he says that manages to stop the brawling:
Rebellious subjects, enemies to
peace,
Profaners of this neighbour-stained
steel--
Will they not hear? What, ho! You men, you
beasts,
That quench the fire of your pernicious
rage
With purple fountains issuing from your
veins!
On pain of otrture, from those bloody
hands
Throw your mistempered weapons to the
ground
And hear the sentence of your moved
prince.
If we look carefully
at these first words from the Prince, it is inferred that even his arrival is not enough
to immediately stop the fighting. His question "Will they not hear?" strongly suggests
that they keep on fighting in his presence. He is thus forced to threaten them with
torture if they do not stop immediately. This of course indicates the depth of the
rancour between the two houses.
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