We no longer live in a world where young people can be shielded from the violence occurring around them. From images of war and famine abroad to conflicts between civilians and law enforcement at
home, teenagers are inundated with messages about the cost of violence, the role it plays in shaping our world, and who should be held accountable. In these uncertain times, literature can serve as an entry point to discuss violence, leadership, and conflict in the classroom.
As a student of the human condition, Shakespeare explores how violence spreads—from political ambition to personal vendettas—and how the actions of individuals can either perpetuate or interrupt these cycles. Using Julius Caesar, Macbeth, or Romeo and Juliet to examine violence helps students consider how Shakespeare’s insights remain relevant as they form their own ethical worldviews.
Julius Caesar — The Violence of Patriotism
Julius Caesar portrays political violence with a level of nuance that prompts students to ask: When is rebellion an act of honor — and when is it a mistake? Confronted with a leader who has “disjoined remorse from power,” Brutus wrestles with the prospect of violence as civic duty:
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar,
And in the spirit of men there is no blood.
O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit,
And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it.
Act 2, Scene 1
In the classroom, invite students to discuss and debate the following questions to further explore the implications of political violence and resistance:
- How has patriotism been used to justify violence throughout history?
- When does violence as resistance become necessary?
- What nonviolent approaches could Brutus have taken in the face of a tyrannical leader?
- How might political violence lead to power vacuums and further instability?
Macbeth — The Corruption of Violent Ambition
Shakespeare’s classic tale of unchecked ambition and psychological collapse is steeped in violence. 
We watch Macbeth move from valor on the battlefield to plotting regicide out of his desperation for power. The story invites students to consider how we categorize different forms of violence along a spectrum from justified to insane.
As Macbeth descends into madness, we see how violence begets more violence, and how power seized through bloodshed leaves no easy path back toward redemption:
I am in blood,
Stepped in so far that should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er.
Strange things I have in head that will to hand,
Which must be acted ere they may be scanned.
-Macbeth
Use these questions in your classroom to explore how violence evolves in Macbeth and discuss parallels with modern leadership:
- What happens when power is seized through violence rather than earned?
- How do the shifting circumstances of the play depict Macbeth’s violent actions as either valor or tyranny?
- How do concepts of masculinity work as a driving force behind violence in the play and in our modern world?
- How does Macbeth’s inability to deescalate lead to tragedy, and where do we see similar failures today?
Romeo and Juliet — The Everyday Cost of Violence
In Shakespeare’s tragic romance, we learn what can happen when powerful people remain trapped in cycles of violence and hatred while the powerless pay the price. Students often relate to Romeo and Juliet’s lack of agency, but the story also draws modern parallels between disenfranchised communities and the warmongering leaders who shape their fate.
The prologue warns us that it is not until death is knocking at the door of the powerful that we see the cycle of generational violence broken:
The fearful passage of their death-marked love
And the continuance of their parents' rage —
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove —
Chorus
Yet Romeo and Juliet also creates opportunities to imagine how cycles might be broken through nonviolent means, and power redistributed in the interest of justice. Use the following questions in your classroom to explore this further:
- Who pays the price when leaders (or families) refuse to compromise?
- Where do we see cycles of violence in our world today?
- How does generational hatred shape the attitudes of the characters?
- What alternative endings might have been possible if the powerful players had made different choices?
Why it Matters
Shakespeare gives us language to explore violence without glamorizing it. These plays don’t offer simple answers, but they do invite reflection by helping students ask better questions about their world. In complicated and often frightening times, literature remains a powerful tool for helping young people find meaning in the chaos.
