Neel Patel 11B2

‘The play presents the power of hate as strongly as the power of love’. To what extent
do you agree with this view of Romeo and Juliet?
The power of hate is presented as more powerful than that of love through love’s superficial
sweetness being undercut and plagued by the deep hatred between the Montagues and the
Capulets. In act 2 scene 2, Juliet laments about the restrictions upon her love for Romeo
when she declares ‘a rose by any other name would smell as sweet’ referring to Romeo
being a Montague. The hatred between their families is so strong that their immense love for
each other, shown in act 1 scene 5 and in their discourse later in this scene, is obstructed.
Romeo’s comparison to a ‘rose’, which connotes beauty, purity and is the epitome of love,
highlights Juliet’s love for Romeo, yet this love is unable to blossom as a result of their family
feud. Romeo, in act 1 scene 4, states that love ‘pricks like thorn’, mirroring love’s underlying
capacity to cause pain, as well as the familial hatred that the love stemmed from. Thorn’s are
generally inconspicuous, and cause pain when it is least expected – this could create a
sense of foreboding, mirroring the damage caused by their families’ hatred coming to light
when it is least expected, near the end of the play. As a result, love is shown to be plagued
by hatred. Shakespeare may have presented love in this way to warn audiences how
problematic defying familial and societal constraints can be. This sentiment is corroborated
in act 3 scene 1, where hatred is shown to plague love through its unyielding nature,
personified by Tybalt. Even after Romeo’s appeal to Tybalt to prevent a fight from breaking
out, Tybalt replies saying that it ‘shall not excuse the injuries/ That [Romeo] hast done to
[him]’. The ‘injuries’ that Tybalt are referring to is Romeo’s unwarranted attendance to the
Capulet’s party – the fact that he is unwilling to duel Romeo over an injury to his pride
highlights the immense hatred between the families, further exacerbated by the use of an
extreme word like ‘injury’. The reference to Romeo as a ‘boy’ demonstrates a clear lack of
respect for Romeo, and also serves to emasculate Romeo. This represents the underlying
hatred in Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, as this is a direct product of their first meeting in
act 1 scene 5, which was strongly depicted to be holy, pure and sweet. However, the
inevitably of disastrous consequences as a result of their families’ hatred is interwoven even
throughout this seemingly romantic first meeting through the use of blasphemous language.
Romeo refers to Juliet as a ‘holy shrine’, and the repetition of ‘saints’ creates a strong
religious semantic field; this is sharply juxtaposed when Juliet states ‘Then have my lips the
sin that they have took’. The noun ‘sin’ has been used playfully, yet could be an example of
proleptic irony and suggests that their love may be doomed from the start. This language
subverts the previously established religious semantic field, and suggests that their love is
blasphemous and will lead to disastrous consequences, thus showing that love is plagued by
hate and as a result is presented as less powerful.