Hate In William Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet (1597) accentuates the paradoxical triumph of love over hate through the death of fated lovers, cautioning against the outcomes of conflict. Influenced by the predestinate views held by society during the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare portrays the consequences of attempting to defy fate through Romeo and Juliet and their untimely demise, cautioning against the hubris of human beings daring to challenge the divine order. Reinforced by Romeo and Juliet’s reciprocal love and commitment to each other, to the extent of following each other to death, Shakespeare elucidates love’s almightly power and its inevitable triumph over hatred. Moreover, the transcendence from a chaotic and conflict-infested world

Influenced by the political rivalry of the Cappelletti and Montecchi families of 14th-century Italy and the English Stuart-Tudor rivalry of the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare crafts an antagonistic rivalry between the Montagues and Capulets. The wordplay used in the prologue “Where civil blood makes civil hand unclean” metaphorically foreshadows the bloody consequences that will arise as a result of the feud. Shakespeare characterises Tybalt as the aggressive embodiment of the intense hatred fueling the Capulet-Montague rivalry. When he sees Romeo at the Capulet party, he declares “Now by the stock and honour of my kin, / To strike him dead I hold it not a sin”, the religious language used emphasises Tybalt’s hostility and twisted morality deriving from the enmity between the families. The futility of their conflict is reflected through the prince’s personification “See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, / That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! … All are punished”, conveying that the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are a divine punishment for the continuation of the Montague-Capulet feud. A paradoxical triumph arises from the double suicide with the prince announcing “A glooming peace this morning with it brings”, highlighting the reconciliation of a bitter and violent conflict through the suicide of the

Romeo and Juliet’s subservience to fate throughout the play is foreshadowed in the prologue describing them as “A pair of star-crossed lovers” with “death-marked love” Romeo’s concern “I fear too early, for my mind misgives / Some consequence yet hanging in the stars” begins a motif of stars, representing the overarching authority of fate. The development of fate’s grasp and control of the lovers is emphasised in Romeo’s exclamation “He hath the steerage of my course? Direct my sail!”, metaphorically describing God’s control over him which highlights his passivity at the beginning of the play. The subservience to fate further extends to Juliet, uttering “O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle; / If thou art fickle, what dost thou with him / That is renowned for faith?”, personifying fortune hence, expressing her exasperation towards fate’s stratagems on her relationship. The motif of stars is carried to the final scene where Romeo finds Juliet supposingly dead. He proclaims “O here / Will I set up my everlasting rest, / And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars / From this world-wearied flesh”, renouncing the power of fate choosing to die. His assertion to die juxtaposes his previous passivity, accentuating his character arc and alteration of his perspective on fate. Through the deaths of Romeo and Juliet’s, Shakeapeare crafts a paradoxical jubilance, celebrating