One major conflict in Romeo and Juliet is family relations. In fact, it is because of their families that Romeo and Juliet can't be together. Expected to be as obedient and understanding as a dog, they suffer their parents' rulings. This is especially the case for Juliet. Juliet's father (Capulet) is the complete opposite of understanding. Juliet has grown up being the most respectful and obedient kid alive. In meeting Romeo she "falls in love" and because this is against her father's plans, Capulet is outraged and turns against his loving daughter. He shouts in anger, "Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch! 3.5.166"(page 167). This row of insults is incredibly rude and hurtful; for her own father to say this to her face is just dreadful. This is a major conflict for Juliet because she is forced to pick between her family and her love. Her choice further develops the theme of everlasting love in this play. This conflict was also important for Juliet because it forced her to grow some independence and listen to her own thoughts and opinions. Realizing the unreasonable, Juliet had to 'take matters into her own hands' and listen to what she really felt was right. Romeo's main conflict was that he loved a girl based off of her beauty, and he's too full of himself to realize that what he does has an affect on the world, and particularly, Juliet's life. Even Friar Lawrence is surprised at Romeo's behavior, saying, "Thou hast amazed me. By my holy order,--I thought thy disposition better tempered.--Hast thou slain Tybalt? 3.3.124" (page 149). Romeo kills Tybalt as self satisfaction, and doesn't even think about how this completely screws with Juliet's life. I believe that Romeo's conflict is the oddest to decipher because not only does he get into physical fights with people, but he seems to have trouble with his own life, and even thinking straight.
Even though Romeo makes himself look mentally insane, I think a lot of people in the real world struggle with society. It can be really hard to understand other people, especially when you fell like everyone is telling you to do a different thing. Juliet wants to love and marry Romeo, the Montagues want him to help quench their vengeful thirst, and the Capulets are only just learning of him, and hate him still. Though this web of social issues probably isn't what people go through today, we all find ourselves stuck in a web at some point. There doesn't seem to be many options in dealing with something like this anyways. When you're stuck with someone you disagree with, it's easy to get tired of it all. A more modern version of this could be table groups and partners for class projects in school. Not as drastic, I know, but it can be hard to compromise and get through things with other people. And through all of that, you have to also be good with handling yourself. This was tough for Romeo too, at one point he even says he wants to kill himself. Depressing, yes, but it's one of those conflicts you need to work through. Otherwise, you are going to end up with no friends or family members that want to support you. Juliet had this problem with her father (though slightly different). A lot of teenage girls especially have problems agreeing and working with their parents. Juliet feels constantly controlled by her parents, and when she tries to take a step back and look at things for herself, she finds that she doesn't agree with everything that's being laid down. Noticing this, her father makes a failed attempt to keep her close and obedient. His abusive rants just push Juliet farther and she learns to make her own decisions. I know for a fact that there are people who disagree with their parents, and that their parents want the best for their children, but Shakespeare dramatically exaggerates this to show this common teen/parent relationship. Generally people deal with this conflict by just giving each other space for a while. Sometimes parents take away privileges to show the child where certain boundaries lie. This is reflected in the passage through a more serious privilege of picking a husband. Because it isn't up to Juliet who she marries, Romeo and Juliet's love grows even sweeter, turning into a forbidden love, instead of just love at first sight.
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