The typical perception of Romeo and Juliet is that it is solely about love. However, upon reading the play, the reader discovers the volume of violent themes running throughout. For example, the play is littered with death and violent imagery. However, I believe that throughout, it is made clear that there is a fine line between such powerful emotions. This is shown by continually juxtaposing scenes of passion with scenes of hatred - even romantic scenes are littered with the constant foreshadowing of death. This is backed up when we read ‘Friar Lawrence’ warning Romeo and Juliet that “violent delights can lead to violent ends” and encourages them to “love moderately”. Through Friar Lawrence, William Shakespeare teaches us, perhaps because of a personal experience, that the line between love and hate is finer than what meets the eye. I think that Shakespeare is portraying that people love to hate each other.
Shakespeare opens the play in such a fashion that suggests hate and violence will be more powerful than love. Shakespeare opens his first act with a scene that displays the misogynistic world where love would have to be extremely powerful to survive. This is portrayed with two Capulet servants conversing with vulgar language. For example, Sampson talks about women when he says they are the “weaker vessel” who “are ever thrust to the wall”. This paints the picture of women as cargo ships – which are meant to be filled with cargo. Shakespeare is trying to show how Sampson believes he is compatible with any “vessel” he chooses. Perhaps this could also imply that he has a large ego and is so strong that he could “thrust” a whole boat. It’s possible that Shakespeare is using Sampson to symbolise men as products of their society an...
... middle of paper ...
...that wherever love is, there too is violence. He is trying to show the power of such emotions and how when they collide, mortality’s chances rise, in that violence is imminent. Shakespeare uses beautiful and religious imagery to show the purity of love but also how it can lead to death under extreme circumstances. I think that, in Elizabethan times, the audience would be used to the violence, hate and misogyny as the people were products of their society and its views; they would have focussed on the romantic element of the play. Perhaps this is why it is commonly regarded as a romantic play. However, 21st century audiences/readers acknowledge the violent misogynistic aspect as the themes are not as common today. In my opinion, Shakespeare was trying to convey the power of such extreme emotions and in the words of his character Friar Lawrence, to “love moderately”.
In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, about two love struck teenagers whom aren’t able to be together due to their families feud/ social situation. There are two key themes that of love and hate. Before Romeo and Juliet meet, the audience is only aware that he is a Montague and that she is a Capulet. This adds to the scene being so dramatically effective as do other happenings throughout the length of the scene. These include the speech of Capulet and the happy and joyous mood of the party, The romantic speech of Romeo, The hatred and harshness of Tybalt’s speech, a direct contrast with that of Romeo’s and the drama when the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet first meet.
...ive more information into themselves than into their subjects, and it is presumed that Shakespeare is no exception. At the time he wrote this, Shakespeare clearly felt hopeless to love, which is evident in the themes of the play, the scenes that occur, and the motivations of his characters. His personal interpretation was that hate wins, but that isn’t always true in the real world. People all interpret the world differently, and while Shakespeare’s outlook was negative, not all view it so. Some people would argue that in real life love wins, showing the importance perspective can play, and the fact that the outlook often has more effect than the events themselves, and that interpretation is up to the individual.
Ever heard that too much hate is a bad thing. Well in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare shows how the hate we have can lead to unintentional consequences. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare illustrate how hate affect the way someone say or does something.
The love shared between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet is one of the most prominent emotions in the play that continues to influence behavior. When Juliet asks Romeo how he was able to climb her balcony, he responds, “With love’s light wings I do o’erperch these walls,/For stony limits cannot hold love out,/And what love can do, that dares love attempt” (Rom. 2.2.71-73). Romeo expresses the strength and influence love has on his behavior in order to be with Juliet. But when Friar Lawrence attempts to be optimistic about his banishment, Romeo obstinately asserts that, “Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel./Wert thou as young as I…”(3.3.67-68). While love can provide strength, it can also prompt, especially amongst young lovers, irrationality. It is evident that “His [Romeo’s] whole love affair betrays a cast of mind that is hopeful against obstacle and impatient of cold reason” (Draper 122). This “cast of mind” is a portion of the human nature that Shakespeare clearly conveys in the play. Shakespeare, through Romeo, portrays the positive and negat...
The beginning of Act one opens with a brawl in the street between the servants of the Capulets and the Montagues. The origin of the fight introduces the important theme of masculine honor. Sampson, one of Capulets servants, shows this masculinity by saying, “Draw, if you be men.” (I.i.64). Later on in the play in Act II, scene i. the display of honor and masculinity comes up again during the fight between Mercutio and Tybault. As Mercutio lay slain Romeo says to him, “Courage, man. The hurt cannot be much.” (III.i.96). Even as his friend is dying the two men try and act masculine because they did not want to show their fears. But on the other side of this masculinity is love. For Elizabethan society believed that a man who loved too much lost his masculinity. Romeo clearly subscribes to that belief when he states that his love for Juliet made him “effeminate.”
A young girl, like Juliet can be mesmerized by the idea of love and have the thought in her head that love is all that matters. The intensity of love in both of these texts becomes a dangerous and violent thing. Juliet goes through physical pain stabbing herself so she could be with Romeo after his death. Juliet looks at death as a positive thing because it allows her to be with Romeo again. Before she kills herself she says, “O, happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die” (Shakespeare V.iii.174-175). In most romantic tales, violence is the last thing you would think of when it comes to love, but it would be different in this play. In both of these texts we see love destroy people mentally and physically; instead of bring happiness to their lives. When Juliet notices that Romeo drank poison and had killed himself, she was not only upset about his death but also seemed more upset that he “left no friendly drop to help me after! I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them” (Shakespeare V.iii.168-170). This bond that seems to be unbreakable between them causes more harm than it would have if they were not together like society would want them to be. During this time period in the 16th century, the parents usually arranged marriages, so this goes completely against societal
Romeo and Juliet is a play about two young lovers, whose love was destined for destruction from the beginning because of the hatred between the two families, Montagues and Capulets. Shakespeare juxtaposes the themes of love and hatred. He continuously puts them side by side, and even though they are opposites, when seen together you realise that they are driven from the same thing; passion. Shakespeare uses many different language and dramatic techniques to convey this idea.
The overriding theme of the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare deals with the nature of love. Though true love seems to be held up as an ideal, false love is mostly what we are shown. Underneath his frantic comedy, Shakespeare seems to be asking the questions all lovers ask in the midst of their confusion: How do we know when love is real? How can we trust ourselves that love is real when we are so easily swayed by passion and romantic conventions? Some readers may sense bitterness behind the comedy, but will probably also recognize the truth behind Shakespeare's satire. Often, love leads us down blind alleys and makes us do things we regret later. The lovers within the scene, especially the men, are made to seem rather shallow. They change the objects of their affections, all the time swearing eternal love to one or the other. In this scene Shakespeare presents the idea that both false love and true love can prevail..
We observe this from the very beginning in the prologue. The first five lines of the prologue aren’t about love but they are about hatred. As the prologue is in the form of a chorus and choruses generally repeat throughout the play it signifies that hate will be an eminent theme during Romeo and Juliet. There are many death and war references in the prologue which could suggest that Shakespeare is trying to introduce an important theme in the play, which is hate. Romeo and Juliet are described as “star crossed lovers and as having “death-marked love.” The image of a cross is negative and reminds us of death, as according to the Christian religion Jesus dies on a cross, also the phrase “death marked” also refers to death, these images can be linked with hate, this stresses that love and hate are undividable throughout Romeo and Juliet. The phrase “from forth the fatal loins of these two foes” links hatred with a bawdy form of love, which again emphasizes that hate and love are inseparable. The use of alliteration with the letter “f” sounds quite harsh, which again gives us a sense of hatred and because the “f” sound is repetitive it could imply that hatred will reoccur in the play. The use of stress on the words “fatal” and “foes” also underlines the importance of hate in the play. The theme of hatred is continued into Act 1 Scen...
For a love story, Romeo and Juliet has more violence and bloodshed than most TV mini-series. The play begins with a riot, ends with a double suicide, and in between has three murders. And all this takes place in the span of four short days. Of course, when you're dealing with love and passion, you're operating on an elemental level. The funny thing is that they have their roots in the same soil. It is common for love to turn to hate - in the blink of an eye.
In the first scene of Act one there is the servants Sampson and Gregory talking about sexual love. As they both talk about taking girls virginity. They both sound arrogant as they talk as if it is through experience. To them the thoughts of taking a girl’s virginity seems a joking matter.
Ultimately`, William Shakespeare shows in many different ways throughout the play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, that love is the more powerful force than hate. The readers see how the characters continuously forgive one another, even when the conditions are tough. The friendships between specific characters display a loving bond that cannot be broken with hate. Shakespeare demonstrates that Romeo and Juliet’s love can overpower the hate of many events in the play. He shows that their love can even overpower the death of one of their own family members. Romeo and Juliet’s love brings friendship between their feuding families. This story is a true example of how love can conquer all.
This duality of love is established early within the play with Orsino’s commentary on love. In Orsino’s lines, he describes the “spirit of love” as being “quick and fresh” (1.1.9), and he continues to explain how love “…falls into abatement and low pride even in a minute” (1.1.13-14). With these lines, Shakespeare expresses how quickly love can alternate from an entity of joy to one of extreme depression. By employing these lines so early in the play, the vision of love as a force of exceeding strength is firmly planted within the reader’s subconscious, and Shakespeare has prepared the reader to fully grasp the central theme of the play.
Romeo and Juliet is a romantic love story about a young lad named Romeo who has fallen in love with Lady Juliet, but is unable to marry her because of a long-lasting family feud. The play ends in the death of both these characters and the reunion of the friendship between the families. Romeo is in love with Juliet, and this is a true, passionate love (unlike the love Paris has for her or the love Romeo had for Rosaline) that nothing can overcome, not even the hatred between their two families that is the reason for the death of their two children. Throughout the play, Shakespeare thoroughly explores the themes of both true love and false love and hatred. Without either of these themes, the play would loose its romantic touch and probably would not be as famous as it is today.
Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night revolves around a love triangle that continually makes twists and turns like a rollercoaster, throwing emotions here and there. The characters love each another, but the common love is absent throughout the play. Then, another character enters the scene and not only confuses everyone, bringing with him chaos that presents many different themes throughout the play. Along, with the emotional turmoil, each character has their own issues and difficulties that they must take care of, but that also affect other characters at same time. Richard Henze refers to the play as a “vindication of romance, a depreciation of romance…a ‘subtle portrayal of the psychology of love,’ a play about ‘unrequital in love’…a moral comedy about the surfeiting of the appetite…” (Henze 4) On the other hand, L. G. Salingar questions all of the remarks about Twelfth Night, asking if the remarks about the play are actually true. Shakespeare touches on the theme of love, but emphases the pain and suffering it causes a person, showing a dark and dismal side to a usually happy thought.