Romeo and Juliet: Love vs. Hate

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Coral Harris Quin 10Rs                English – Romeo and Juliet Essay

Romeo and Juliet: Love vs. Hate

Love or hate?

Most people would say the prevailing emotion is love, and I agree with this however hate also plays a big part in the play. There are many different types of love shown in the play such as the love between Romeo and Juliet compared to the love between the Nurse and Juliet.

The love shown to Juliet by Nurse is a motherly type and most probably unconditional, she acts like more of a mother to Juliet than Lady Capulet does. Also Nurse knows Juliet best and is really the one who raised her; she makes this clear throughout the play.

This is shown when Nurse tells Lord Capulet ‘you are to blame, my lord, to rate her so’. In response he attacks her verbally and also physically, so Nurse gives up. However she did defend Juliet as if in a protective mother-like way unlike Lady Capulet, Juliet’s actual mother. The Nurse then decides that Juliet has no choice but to marry Paris. She knows Juliet’s love for Romeo is real, but in order to save Juliet from the disastrous consequences of her secret marriage, she tries to make a second marriage to Paris seem acceptable. This shows how much Nurse cares for Juliet as she doesn’t want her to have to face Lord Capulet’s consequences if he found out about her and Romeo’s secret marriage. Also to stand up for Juliet like she did was very courageous because Lord Capulet is after all her boss.

One of the first things in the play that you learn is that Romeo is in love with Rosaline, however it is only him that believes he is in love with her and it seems as if he is more in love with the idea of being in love. He is feeling lovesick as Rosaline does not feel the same way about him and expresses his feelings about it by saying ‘Why, such is love’s transgressions. Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast, which thou wilt propagate, to have it prest with more of thine. This love that thou hast shown, doth add more grief to too much of mine own’. It shows Romeo’s love as superficial and immature but also as a painful love.

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I also think Paris has a similar form of love for Juliet, it just seems as if he wants to marry her for her beauty and the plain fact he wants to have a successful marriage. When he says ‘thy face is mine, and thou hast slandered it’ he partly proves my point. By saying this it makes him sound very possessive and is talking about her as an object not a real person. He is basically saying he owns her face, which may come across as chauvinistic and slightly creepy. Also when he kisses her it is portrayed ...

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