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The relationship between love and hate in romeo and juliet
Shakespeare's meaning of love
Romeo and juliet commmentary on the idea of love
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It is deeply ironic that “love”, which is regarded so highly in our society, is a very general term without well-defined specific terms. For instance, there are not even explicit terms to describe the specific types of love one feels between, say, a family member, and a romantic interest, which are clearly distinct and almost completely universal. We naturally seek a universal definition of love, a complete truth. I daresay that I doubt one exists. This ambiguity of terminology has undoubtedly caused much conflict; history has no shortage of examples. Further irony arises in that despite being central to life, both physically and mentally, we still seem to struggle greatly with the concept; mathematics has much better utilized its ubiquity among the ancient civilizations. As a corollary, love is one of, if not the, most common theme in literature and the other arts. Here, we shall examine a specific example. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare illustrates romantic love, infatuation, and familial love, and how all three contradict each other by promoting different courses of action.
Firstly, Shakespeare depicts infatuation in his play. Note that infatuation is distinct from romantic love because infatuation lacks certain qualities, such as a conscious will to maintain said love. We refer to Romeo’s feelings for Rosaline before the party. Romeo says:
She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair,
To merit bliss by making me despair.
She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow
Do I live dead that live to tell it now. (1.1.221-5)
From this quote, Romeo’s feelings of Rosaline are extremely apparent: Romeo “loves” Rosaline, in common terms. However, this affection does not contain the usual elements th...
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...3-4). There is no denying that this decision is obviously far from optimal. And hence the point is proved- the two types of love have hence produced a much more counterintuitive result than expected. Indeed, this contradiction is one of the central themes of this work.
In Romeo and Juliet, there exist multiple types of love, and they all contradict each other by motivating characters to perform actions that they would otherwise not perform under the influence of one alone. In particular, Shakespeare illustrates both infatuation and familial love. Furthermore, all three types of love contradict each other- romantic love permits instantaneous destruction of infatuation. Similarly, familial love and romantic love, when both present, cause much agony to Juliet. Indeed, this work well demonstrates why love can be so powerful and at the same time so disastrous.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a Renaissance poet and playwright who wrote and published the original versions of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, and often called England’s national poet. Several of his works became extremely well known, thoroughly studied, and enjoyed all over the world. One of Shakespeare’s most prominent plays is titled The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In this tragedy, the concept that is discussed and portrayed through the characters is love, as they are recognized as being “in love”. The general umbrella of love encompasses various kinds of love such as romantic love, the love of a parent for a child, love of one’s country, and several others. What is common to all love is this: Your own well-being is tied up with that of someone (or something) you love… When love is not present, changes in other people’s well being do not, in general, change your own… Being ‘in love’ infatuation is an intense state that displays similar features: … and finding everyone charming and nice, and thinking they all must sense one’s happiness. At first glance it seems as though Shakespeare advocates the hasty, hormone-driven passion portrayed by the protagonists, Romeo and Juliet; however, when viewed from a more modern, North-American perspective, it seems as though Shakespeare was not in fact endorsing it, but mocking the public’s superficial perception of love. Shakespeare’s criticism of the teens’ young and hasty love is portrayed in various instances of the play, including Romeo’s shallow, flip-flop love for Rosaline then Juliet, and his fights with Juliet’s family. Also, the conseque...
When we think about the force that holds the world together and what makes humans different from animals, one answer comes to our minds - that humans can love. Love is a state of mind that cannot be defined easily but can be experienced by everyone. Love is very complicated. In fact it is so complicated that a person in love may be misunderstood to be acting in an extremely foolish manner by other people. The complexity of love is displayed in Rostand’s masterpiece drama Cyrano de Bergerac. This is accomplished by two characters that love the same woman and in the course neither one achieves love in utter perfection.
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." Here, Romeo is asking himself, did he really love Rosaline?
The story begins with Romeo in love with Rosaline and it is not long before Romeo realizes that Rosaline does not feel the same about him. Romeo, in fact, tells Benvolio that Rosaline has sworn to a life of chaste. “Then she hath sworn that she will live chaste? / She hath” (1.1.226-227). To Romeo and Benvolio chaste means Rosaline will not engage in sexual activity. Benvolio, who is his cousin, helps Romeo see that Rosaline is not the only girl that he will love the rest of his life. Benvolio convinces Romeo that he needs to consider other women in order to get over Rosaline faster. “By giving liberty unto thine eyes. Examine other beauties!” (1.1.236).
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Yukio Mishima’s The Sound of Waves, the secondary characters play an essential role in the book. In Romeo and Juliet by an English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence is an important secondary character who designs solutions for Romeo and Juliet and brings the play into the dramatic results. The failure of his plan causes the tragedy of death for both main characters at the end of the story. In The Sound of Waves, Shinji Kubo, a young and poor fisherman in Uta-Jima falls in love with Hatuse, a rich man’s daughter. Shinji and Hatsue try to be together throughout the book, but encounter many difficulties with their neighbors. Shinji’s mother tries to help Shinji and Hatsue by asking many people and going to shrines to beg the gods for help to get them together.
Love in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare examines the concepts of love in the tragic play
Playwright, William Shakespeare, conveys the different forms of love between characters in his drama, Romeo and Juliet. In the small town of Verona the different types of love are highlighted, through character actions and speech. Unrequited love is seen in Romeo and Juliet through Romeo 's 'love ' for Rosaline in Act one, while the forbidden love at first sight, also known as romantic love is seen between Romeo and Juliet. Furthermore, the motherly love/ familial love, Juliet and the Nurse share is also explored.
From the moment, Romeo “loves” Rosaline to the day he attends the Capulet ball and first sees Juliet, it is clear that love is a major factor throughout the play. At the ball Romeo had just met Juliet for the first time and eventually kissed her before leaving. “My only love sprung from my only hate! / Too early seen unknown, and known too late!/ Prodigious birth of love it is to me/That I must love a loathed enemy(I.V.138-141) is what she declares to her nurse, after only mere minutes she already loves Romeo who is her enemy, which she knows she cannot do, as it could potentially ruin the two families relationship even more. They both know what the dangers of loving each other are, yet Romeo still sneaks into the Capulet garden just to see Juliet. When they agree to get married in secret it shows how bad the two families relationship is, as in any other relationship they would tell their parents before gettin...
This passage marks the first of several types of love, and gives us an intuitive
“Don’t waste your love on someone who doesn’t value it.” In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare exposes the life of two young lovers in the Renaissance period fighting for something they cannot live without; each other. Although fate takes its toll, the everlasting feud between two families, conditional love by parents, and the irresponsibility’s of father and mother like figure are the main causes in the death of Romeo and Juliet. The idea of love is something that is valued in this play from many different aspects of characters, lines, and scenes. Shakespeare leaves the minds of readers soaring over not why it happened, but who was at fault.
Romeo had unrequited love for Rosaline, who is mentioned, but doesn’t appear in the movie or the original script. But those feelings are dead the second he sees Juliet.
Throughout the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, various types of love are portrayed. According to some of the students of Shakespeare, Shakespeare himself had accumulated wisdom beyond his years in matters pertaining to love (Bloom 89). Undoubtedly, he draws upon this wealth of experience in allowing the audience to see various types of love personified. Shakespeare argues that there are several different types of love, the interchangeable love, the painful love and the love based on appearances, but only true love is worth having.
Romeo’s numerous rash decisions demonstrates his great impulsiveness. Romeo at first grieves over his unreciprocated love for Rosaline, but after he sees Juliet; he forgets about Rosaline entirely. His hastiness leads him to make decisions that are not intelligent or to his benefit. Shortly after meeting Juliet, he asks her to “exchange [her] faithful vow” for his ( 2.2.132). Romeo’s recklessness is evident that he does not think before he makes important decisions; prompting him to propose to Juliet just hours after their first meeting. Yet the morning before, Romeo was suffering from depression because he could never have his Rosaline. After what seems like a lifetime of loving Rosaline and promising to never love anyone but her, Romeo sees Juliet and instantaneously all his thoughts of Rosaline vanish. Romeo becomes infatuated with Juliet, with whom he exchanges less then fifty words before “falling in love.” The next morning he begs Friar L...
In the play “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare shows that love has power to control one’s actions, feelings, and the relationship itself through the bond between a destined couple. The passion between the pair grew strong enough to have the capability to do these mighty things. The predestined newlyweds are brought down a rocky road of obstacles learning love’s strength and the meaning of love.
Have you ever been in love before? Many would say that love is hard to come by, and even harder to maintain, while some would say the opposite. In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet, he explores similar concepts related to love and infatuation. Although the reader never directly hears from Shakespeare, one could infer that his own thoughts are similarly mirrored in his characters, with the play serving as a warning tale of sorts, and the various roles echoing different dangers when it comes to love, which there are many. More specifically, Romeo Montague and his actions in the play are very intentional, as they help explain Shakespeare’s intentions and his own personal thoughts on the topic of love and its hazards, as well as its ups, too, which there are many.