A spirited exchange of vulgar jokes between servants opens the play and immediately links sex with conflict. In their bawdy quarrel, the servants' references to "tool" and "naked weapon," together with repeated images of striking and thrusting, illustrate how images of love and sex are intertwined with violence and death — and will continue to be throughout the play.
The sudden switch from the comedic interplay between the servants to a potentially life-threatening situation demonstrates the rapidly changing pace that drives the action of the rest of the play. For instance, Benvolio, whose name means "goodwill," tries to act as a peacemaker by dividing the servants, but the quick-tempered "fiery Tybalt" forces him to draw his sword, and the atmosphere changes from harmony to hatred within a few lines. This undercurrent of uncertain fortune wrenches the characters into and out of pleasure and pain as fate seemingly preempts each of their hopes with another tragic turn of events.
When the elderly, hot-tempered Capulet calls for his long sword to jump into a duel with the young swordsmen wielding light, modern weapons, both the absurdity of the feud and the gulf between the old and the young are evident. Both patriarchs are chastised by their wives for such impetuous behavior: "A crutch. Why call you for a sword?" chides Capulet's wife. Though Romeo and Juliet try to separate themselves from such archaic grudges and foolish fighting, the couple can't escape the repercussions of the feud, which ultimately deals their love a fatal wound.
The second half of the scene switches its focus from the theme of feuding and violence to the play's other key theme, love. Romeo woefully bemoans his plight as an unrequited, Petrarchan lover. The term Petrarchan comes from the poet, Petrarch, who wrote sonnets obsessively consumed with his unrequited love for Laura. Romeo's feelings of love have not been reciprocated by Rosaline, and this predicament causes him to dwell on his emotional torment.
