ed in [the] streets" (Plumb 33). This sounds a great deal like the street fighting in Romeo and Juliet. But in all the cases described by Plumb the families were fighting to gain control of their cities. No matter how personal the battles became, the participants always had an ultimate end in view. The Montagues' and Capulets' feud, however, has no such goal.
Though it says in the play's Prologue that "civil blood makes civil hands unclean" this refers to the fact that the "ancient grudge" is taking place between citizens of the same town (Prologue 3-4). It does not mean that it is a civil war in the sense of a fight to govern the city. Instead, unlike most of the real Italian cities, there is a Prince whose power i
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