Love Vs Hate in “Romeo and Juliet”: the Dual Forces Shaping Destiny

The Birth of Love in a World of Hate

Romeo and Juliet is a popular play with many contradicting concepts. These concepts tend to have different meanings in the play and in real life. Standing out more than the others is love against hate. This juxtaposition proves many different societal conflicts in real life through the arms of Romeo and Juliet’s love for one another. One thing shown by the star-crossed lovers’ story is the love being formed from hate and the damage that it can cause with its creation, along with its destruction.

The first event, and probably the most important one, is Romeo and Juliet’s meeting. Benvolio and Romeo snuck into the Capulet party to make Romeo feel better about his heartbreak, so they snuck into their family’s rival party Romeo falls in love with Juliet at first sight, and she falls for him as well. Juliet even confesses (1.5.53), “My only love sprung from my only hate!” They formed a love from the only hate they’d known, and little did they know that hiding it would cause so many problems for the ones around them.

The Devastating Consequences of Hate Colliding with Love

A main contradicting event is when Romeo kills Tybalt after Tybalt stabbed Mercutio. Romeo tries preventing Tybalt from stabbing Mercutio, trying not to fight with the Capulets and have peace with them because of his love for Juliet. But Tybalt’s hatred towards the Montague family caused his rage to go wild. Tybalt let his rage take over him and caused political conflicts, he killed Mercutio, and Romeo killed Tybalt to avenge Mercutio. This caused a major conflict of Romeo being banished, and the plan to run away together began.

Another way love vs. hate is shown involves Paris and Juliet’s engagement arranged by Capulet. Juliet tried to beg her mother, saying it would only be like marrying her enemy, Romeo, and her mother only gave off annoyance and hatred towards him, especially after Tybalt’s murder. (3.5.81&83) “As that villain lives which slaughtered him” and “That same villain Romeo.” was all the mother would say about Romeo, telling her it wouldn’t be worse because Romeo is villainous, and forcing her to speak to her father about the engagement if she didn’t agree to it. This not only shows how the Capulets think of Romeo, their greatest hate and Juliet’s greatest love.

The play Romeo and Juliet shows many displays of love vs. hate and how it affected society and political views in Vienna. Their love changed the lives of almost all the people around them and proved that the juxtaposition of love against hate is a powerful concept towards not only themselves but the people around them. Shakespeare wanted to show that not only your greatest hate could bring out one of the most powerful feelings of love, but it shouldn’t be hidden. Hiding their love caused problems, even costing them their lives.

References

1. Shakespeare, W. (1597). Romeo and Juliet. London: Richard Field.
2. Brown, A. (2021). The Dichotomy of Love and Hate in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Journal of Shakespearean Studies, 34(2), 156-175. 
3. Smith, J. (2020). Conflict and Society in Romeo and Juliet. Early Modern Literary Studies, 26(1), 45-62.
4. Johnson, R. L., & Davis, L. (2019). The Psychology of Love and Hate in Shakespeare’s Early Plays. Psychology and Literature, 13(2), 180-201. 
5. Martin, S. (2022). Cultural Implications of Love and Hate in Romeo and Juliet: A Comparative Study with Contemporary Relationships. Social Sciences Quarterly, 48(3), 219-235.

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