Shakespeare killed by Mediation

By Delilah van Tol

Everyone knows the story of the star-crossed lovers and their tragic ending at a very young age. This story started with a dispute between two families, the Montague and Capulet. The feud between these two families separated these young lovers, and as family pride and honor often request, it was tough for these lovers to be together. As we all know, the conflict between these two families caused the death of the two young lovers. Many may wonder if there were a way to save Romeo and Juliet, leaving aside for a moment the drama and strong feelings of the youth.  The question I am aiming  to answer in this blog post is whether mediation would kill Shakespeare’s literature.[1]

Some argue that if Romeo and Juliet have lived, it would have been the end of literature, which will answer whether mediation would kill Shakespeare’s literature. And the answer would be: Yes.[2] Conflict in literature is proven to be interesting as it challenges the morality and ethical dilemmas of the reader.[3] The approach to resolving conflict shows human conduct. How realistic would it have been, in Shakespeare's time, that matters of family pride and love relations would have been taken care of with any form of alternative dispute resolution? According to A. Martinez and R. Rubenstein  ‘the inverse relationship between narrative complexity and conflict escalation is one reason why literature is so powerful in offering insights into a vast number of perspectives, many of which would not be perceptible otherwise.’[4] Imagine Romeo and Juliet not passing away and insisting on mediation between the Capulet and the Montague. It would not have been a powerful story. The passing of two young teenagers provides a message and the ending of the families feud.[5]

In a nutshell, if the conflicts between the two families in Romeo and Juliet had been resolved in advance, no deaths would have occurred and  the story would have concluded before the end of the first act.

The importance of including mediation in our daily lives and our conflicts is of the same significance as not including mediation in a number of magnificent pieces of literature. Mediation solves disputes in practice in the most peaceful way. Thus, it would be the root of short and not really powerful stories. This will not apply to all the stories, but conflict escalation is occasionally essential for gaining more perspectives and keeping the attention of the reader.

Coming back to the question asked in the introduction: whether mediation would kill Shakespeare’s literature. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, it would. On the other hand, if mediation would have excited it would have saved a certain amount of unnecessary dramas in real life and there are real life examples that are not far from our hero's in literature.

[1] MSL “Mediating Shakespeare” (MSL Mediation as a second language, March 9 2016) https://www.mslmediation.com/articles/mediating-shakespeare > Accessed 09.08.2021

[2] Ibid.

[3] Martinez, Angelica R., and Richard E. Rubenstein. "The Truth of Fiction: Literature as a Source of Insight into Social Conflict and Its Resolution." <i>International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution</i> 4, no. 2 (2016): 208-24. Accessed August 9, 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26928702.

[4] Ibid. Pp 209

[5] William Anderson, ‘Romeo and Juliet: Theme of Death’ (2020) https://schoolworkhelper.net/romeo-and-juliet-death-theme/ > Accessed 09.08.2021