"Here's much to do with hate, but more with love: why then, O brawling love, O loving hate."
"Romeo and Juliet" is all about love and hate, these are the main themes in the play. The central characters are of course, Romeo and Juliet. Both are truely in love with each other but this causes a lot of hate as their families Capulet and Montague, do not get on and continuely fued.
The prologue sets the scene of the play when it introduces the "star-crossed lovers." A prologue serves as an introduction that gives the audience the details of where the characters live, (verona), and some information on the characters involved in the play. In a way the prologue tells the story in a shorter way to whet the apetite of the audience. "A pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives" we know from this that there will be love in the play and that their stars will be against the main characters, Romeo and Juliet. We also know that the lovers in question will die. The audience will want to watch to see what happens; why their stars were against them. We also know from the prologue that their families fued with each other. Romeo's family the Montagues and Juliet's family the Capulets. I know this because the prologue says they are "two foes", a foe being an enemy.Interestingly, the prologue is in the sonnet form of 14 lines. I think this was used to get the audience interested. But more importantly the sonnet form is synonomous with love. Therefore the theme of love is initially the dominant force.
Although there is hate and fueding in "Romeo and Juliet", there is the light of love between Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare shows different variations of love, but one of the main ones is that of "courtly love." Courtly love is love that is pursude from a distance where usually the female is unobtainable for whatever reason there may be. The male is unkown and feels unexistent, like love's slave to the female. We first see courtly love when Romeo is in love with Rosaline although she was out of his sights. We know this because Romeo says "Out of her favour where I am in love." The fact that Romeo is initially suffering under unrequited love suggests that love is the cause of pain in the play and perhaps cannot be realised as a success. Romeo and Juliet's union gives the audience hope for love after this initial failure.
Act 1 Scene 1 opens with the servants banter. They in a light hearted, joking way, show that the city of Verona is split between the two families and their fued. We know Sampson and Gregory are looking for trouble as they talk about it. "When I have fought with the men, I will be civil with the maids; I will cut off their heads." The way they talk about it isn't a way that is serious they both appear to be fools. At this stage I'm sure the audience wonder where the love is.
When Tybalt ...
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Act 1 Scene 1 opens with the servants banter. They in a light hearted, joking way, show that the city of Verona is split between the two families and their fued. We know Sampson and Gregory are looking for trouble as they talk about it. "When I have fought with the men, I will be civil with the maids; I will cut off their heads." The way they talk about it isn't a way that is serious they both appear to be fools. At this stage I'm sure the audience wonder where the love is.
When Tybalt enters he appears to be a violent man as he says "Peace? I hate the word" he is a precursor to the violence in the play. Then Benvolio's entrance with "Part fools" shows he is trying to stop the fight, obviously Benvolios character is that of a peace maker. The audience will be able to see the peace and hate ratios; two great opposites.
When both Capulet and Montague enter into the fight it is clear they hate each other. They are always ready to fight each other. I know this because as soon as Capulet comes in he calls for his sword "My sword I say! Old Montague is come" and Montague says "Thou villain Capulet! Hold me not, let me go."
With so much hate around, the audience wonder if love could survive in this city as the force of hate seems to prevail.
The prince tries to the voice of reason trying to stop the two families fighting, although, he has to use a threat to prevent them. "If ever you disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace." He is showing that he is a strong leader.
Lady Montague is glad Romeo was not involves with the outbreak that day but wonders where he is, as she says to Benvolio "O where is Romeo? Saw you him today? Right glad I am he was not at this fray," Benvolio then explains that he had seen him before, but Romeo just walked away from him. He knew Romeo wanted to be alone. I know this because Benvolio says "Being one too many by my weary self, persued my humour, not persuing his, and gladly fled from me." Montague disagreed with this though because he has seen him crying. The audience will finally see the love in the play now, albeit the pain of love.
When Romeo arrives this is courtly love, as he is in love with Rosaline. When speaking to Benvolio, Romeo uses lots of oxymorons. An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms, such as "Feather of led, bright smoke, cold fire, sick hate."
Romeo seems to have a confused state of mind, probably because he can't get Rosaline, the girl he loves. Benvolio still remains a peace making character because he speaks kind words with Romeo. Benvolio starts to become an envoy of peace; of love.
At the beginning of act 1 scene 1 there is an abundance of hate, so much that the audience wonder if there will be any love. But, then Romeo is the person to introduce the element of love in the play, although the love is unobtainable.
Before Act 1 Scene 3 the Montagues and Capulets had brawled in the street. Romeo and his friends "gatecrashed" the Capulets party - Tybalt was not happy. Romeo and Juliet fell in love. The nurse agreed to find Romeo the next day and tell him to meet Juliet in secret. The friar agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet in secret and the two were married.
This scene takes place in the streets of Verona just like Act 1 Scene 1. In away the streets of Verona represent the fueding that happens as this is where the last fued was.
Pathetic fallacy is the presentation of inanimate objects in nature as possessing human feelings. Benvolio uses pathetic fallacy when he says "I pray thee good mercutio, let's retire the day is hot, the capels are aboard and if we meet we shall not 'scape a brawl. For now, these hot days is the mad blood stirring." Shakespeare uses the idea that the weather is intertwined with the fued. That somehow the hot sun is part of the fued. That the inanimate weather is possessing the human emotion of heat and burning with the fued. Mercutio and Benvolio are speaking when Benvolio introduces the use of pathetic fallacy. It makes the tension build up so that the audience wonders when the next brawl will happen. Meructio refuses to go, he doesn't care saying "By my heel, I care not." Mercutio seems a stern character ready for a fight, but we know Benvolio is a peace maker.
The tension remains when Tybalt arrives. He asks where Romeo is. "Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo." I think Mercutio wonders why Tybalt isn't immediately fighting with him. Tybalt, of course, is looking for Romeo because he saw him at the Capulets party.
"Well peace be with you sir. Here comes my man." It seems odd to see Tybalt saying peace as before he stated he hated the word "peace."
When Romeo appears on stage, no matter how much Tybalt provokes him, Romeo shows nothing but love towards the Capulets. "Tybalt, the reason I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage," he reacts this way because Romeo loves Juliet who is a Capulet, like Tybalt, so he loves the Capulet name as much as his own.
Tybalt is extremely angry and Romeo is near Tybalt, Romeo moves and Tybalt stabs Mercutio, who holds his wound and jokes that it is "but just a scratch." It takes a while for Mercutio to die, but before he does, he ironically says "a plague a'both your houses." This is ironic because both their houses are actually plaugued, because both Romeo and Juliet die later which is the representation of the plague. The audience though will expect something bad to happen, but will not know what it is yet.
Romeo, after the death of Mercutio now, rather than the one who brought love to the play is filled with hate. He seeks out revenge and kills Tybalt, Juliet's cousin. When Romeo says that he is "Fortunes fool" he means he is not in control of his fortune and it has turned against him.
In his speech to the prince, Benvolio explains that Tybalt was killed by Romeo and that Romeo had been fair and spoken to Tybalt kindly. "Romeo, that spoke him fair, bid him bethink." Benvolio then goes on to say "with gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bowed, could not take the truce with the unruley spleen of Tybalts deaf to peace." He is saying that Romeo's kindness had fallen on deaf ears and that Tybalt has refused to listen. Mercutio says that Tybalt raised his sword to Mercutio and that Romeo thought about revenge only when he came back. So took it. Although, this account isn't true because Romeo went looking for Tybalt, still he tries to keep peace, true to his character.
Romeo and Juliet is equally about hate as it is love. It may seem like there is a lot of hate but that soon gets forgotten with the love of Romeo and Juliet.The love between Romeo and Juliet was doomed from the start, as at the beginiining, the prologue sets their fate. I think shakespeare uses contrast and conflict in the play to give it a twist. It wasn't the normal love story where everything is well, it gives it a change.
