Shakespeare's Development of the Themes of Love and Hate in Act One Scene Five of Romeo and Juliet

891 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Themes of love and hate in shakespeare texts

Shakespeare's Development of the Themes of Love and Hate in Act One Scene Five of Romeo and Juliet

In Act One, Scene 5, Shakespeare uses both language and structure to

show the themes of love and hate. These two themes are made clear

before this scene. The play begins with a 'prologue'; a sonnet where

the plays key themes are introduced, this sonnet shows both love ("A

pair of star-crossed lovers") and hate ("from ancient grudge break to

new mutiny"). So even before the play starts, these two themes are

presented to the audience. In the dramatic opening scene there is a

mass brawl between the two families the Montague's and the Capulet's.

The prince gives a warning to the families

("If ever you disturb our streets again

Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.

…on pain of death, all men depart"). As you can see this part of the

scene is showing the hate between the two families.

In contrast Romeo has very strong feelings towards Rosaline, you could

say he is "love sick". His description of her is ("She'll not be hit

with Cupid's arrow"). This part shows the love between Romeo and

Rosaline.

The theme of love is also presented before Act One, Scene 5 when Paris

proposes marriage to Juliet and the later discussion of marriage

between the Nurse, Lady Capulet and Juliet.

Shakespeare uses language to develop the themes of love and hate in

Act One, Scene 5. The language he uses is very different. Firstly

Romeo's love is made clear when he expresses his feelings of love and

wonder at Juliet's beauty.

("O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright…

…For I never saw true beauty till this night."). This means she

teaches the torches to burn bright and I've never seen such beauty

till tonight. This sequence of metaphorical comparisons express both

Juliet's and Romeo's instant devotion to her. Also used in the

language is iambic pentameter.

In contrast to Romeo's reaction when he sees Juliet, Tybalt's reaction

Show More
Related

  • Hate, Anger, and Aggression in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    572 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Shakespearean play, Romeo & Juliet, aggression is represented in different ways by the different characters in the play. Tybalt, Romeo, Benvolio, and the others all have their own way of dealing with hate and anger. Some do nothing but hate while others can’t stand to see even the smallest of quarrels take place.

    Read More

  • Antithesis In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

    85 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, the author portrays certain themes of antithesis that are outlined from the play. The major form that we have interpreted from the play is love and hate or that of violence and peace. These themes are portrayed strongly in many scenes of Romeo and Juliet, and it is what keeps the plot going. Shakespeare may have wanted to show how hate and love, violence and peace, can lead to something that is great in the

    Read More

  • Hate is Louder: Romeo and Juliet

    1430 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people claim that love and hate are the same thing, while others say that the two emotions are complete opposites. William Shakespeare explored the two emotions in his play Romeo and Juliet. In the play, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are teens who grew up in families that have been feuding longer than either family can remember. However, the two meet out of unforeseen circumstances, and fall irrevocably in “love”. They woo, and within twenty-four hours they are married. Things seem to be going well until Romeo is provoked into killing Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, and gets himself banished. Juliet is also promised to marry Paris, an eligible bachelor, while she is still mourning Romeo’s banishment. She decides to see one of the two people who know of her and Romeo’s marriage, Friar Laurence, to whom she says that if she cannot find a way out of being alone she will kill herself. The Friar gives her a potion to sleep for forty-two hours and appear dead to help her. The plan is that Romeo is supposed to be there when she wakes up, but Romeo hears that she is dead and kills himself at her feet. She then awakes and kills herself as well, ending the whole brutal affair. The reader is then left to wonder if what they have just experienced is a tragedy of young love or a lesson on the power of hate, a question for which Shakespeare leaves a blurry but definite answer. After a deeper look into the text, it becomes clearly evident that hate has far more power over the characters than their “love” ever could.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Hate Quotes

    674 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 illustrates how hate affects the way someone says or does something. From the very beginning of the story, Shakespeare tells us how much hate the two families have for each other. In the opening scene in Verona, the two servants of different families, the Montagues and Capulets, start a fight between each other.

    Read More

  • Themes of Love and Hate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    2103 Words  | 5 Pages

    Themes of Love and Hate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is a play about two young lovers, whose love was destined for destruction from the beginning because of hatred. between the two families, Montagues and Capulets. Therefore, Themes of love and hate are very important in the play as the plot is driven by these two themes. Shakespeare brings out the love between the two rivals through Romeo and Juliet and their relationships with the Friar and the Nurse.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Love And Hate

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    This theme is not only represented in “Romeo and Juliet”, or other playwrights and stories that people read about online, but in their everyday life. Although Shakespeare makes the theme of love and hate dramatic and over the top in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare delivers the message of how love and hate can overpower and consume us, and if we aren’t careful, it can easily blow up and destroy everything. As Kurt Tucholsky once said, “Those who hate most fervently must have once loved deeply; those who want to deny the world must have once embraced what they now set on fire.” The coexistence of love and hate was not something Romeo and Juliet could choose to embrace or avoid, it was simply

    Read More

  • The Theme of Love in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    In conclusion, the irony is that their love, and death, was able to do what their lives could not, to end the feuding between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. It is with this thought that I shall examine “the thin line between love and hate” which is evidently shown on many occasions, such as when Romeo uses his love for Juliet to remove his hate for Tybalt “Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage” and also the play itself is evident of this, Romeo and Juliet’s love was so strong for each other, that they were able to overcome hate and also the hate that others possessed towards each other.

    Read More

  • Is Romeo and Juliet More About Hate or Love?

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout Romeo and Juliet, love and hate are combined. However, even though they are combined, love still remains the principal theme in the play. Although in the play, the theme of hatred can be just as important and sometimes it intensifies the theme of love. For example, Romeo and Juliet’s love wouldn’t have been so extreme and powerful unless there was the hatred between the Montague’s and Capulet’s. We observe this from the very beginning of the prologue.

    Read More

  • Essay About Love and Hate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1171 Words  | 3 Pages

    Love and hate are twin sons of different mothers, separated at birth. They have a doubleness. This ambiguity is reflected throughout Romeo and Juliet, whose language is riddled with oxymorons. "O brawling love, O loving hate," Romeo cries in the play's very first scene, using a figure of speech and setting up a theme that will be played out during the next five acts.

    Read More

  • Love Overpowers Hate in Romeo and Juliet

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Contrasting Views of Love in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the views of love held by the character Romeo contrast sharply with the views of Mercutio. Romeo's character seems to suffer from a type of manic depression. He is in love with his sadness, quickly enraptured and easily crushed again on a passionate roller coaster of emotion. Mercutio, by contrast is much more practical and level headed. His perceptions are clear and quick, characterized by precise thought and careful evaluation. Romeo, true to his character begins his appearance in the play by wallowing in his depression over Rosaline who does not return his love:

    Read More

  • How Shakespeare Engages The Audience in "Romeo and Juliet"

    2456 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the tremendous play of ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Shakespeare’s ways engages the audience straight away. The astounding methods he uses hooks the audience into the play and allows them to read on, wondering what will happen. The tragic love story of Romeo & Juliet, as mentioned in the prologue, sets a variety of themes throughout Act 1 Scene 5. Many of the recognisable themes are: youth and age, revenge, forbidden love, fate, action and hate. The main idea of the play is a feud that had been going on between two families, The ‘Montagues and Capulets’, the son of the Montagues and the daughter of the Capulets fall in love and the story tells us how tragic, death, happiness and revenge find them throughout the play.

    Read More

  • Various Attitudes Toward Love in Romeo and Juliet

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Conflict in Act 3 Scene 5 of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of an ancient feud where the children of two families at war fall deeply in love with each other. Set in the 16th century William Shakespeare’s play has many different themes running throughout it, which include love, hate, death and conflict. The play opens with a fight but ends with suicide that creates peace between both families who unite from their losses. The conflict, violence and aggression in the play happen from revenge and an ancient family grudge. An audience from the 16th century would have enjoyed Romeo and Juliet because of the real life drama and tragedy the play goes through. The patriarchal society gave women absolutely no rights and they had to obey their man’s ordering a patriarchal system. The theme of conflict is revealed as the characters argue over Juliet’s disobedience.

    Read More

  • Contrasting Views Of Love In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet is a play that explains the strong love between two teenagers that soon results in their demise. This play is categorized as one of Shakespeare’s tragedy plays. Yet, many people prefer categorize this play as a romance or play about love. What does this really mean you might be asking. I think that a play about love means that this play is attempting to explain what love is and why it makes people do the things they do. I believe this because throughout the first act it discusses Romeo’s past love and how it affected him. It also describes the love that begins to develop between Romeo and Juliet just through a single conversation and a kiss. However, there are many different views on love throughout just the first act.

    Read More

More about Shakespeare's Development of the Themes of Love and Hate in Act One Scene Five of Romeo and Juliet

Open Document