The Powerful Emotions of Romeo and Juliet

So far, in the tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet,” the two lovers have just met and the feast of the Capulets.  After only knowing each other for a night, the two plan to be married, despite Romeo’s previous love for Rosaline and the proposal to marry Juliet from Paris.  Obviously, love is a major theme, present throughout the whole play.   Also violence does occur though out the play.  I would like to discuss love and how it is connected to hatred in the play.

First off, one obvious piece of information is that Romeo and Juliet love each other, despite being from rival houses.  Two families that hate each other produced two children who are wildly in love with each other.  Also during the Capulet’s feast, Tybalt notices Romeo and wishes to kill him, just as Romeo and Juliet start talking to each other.  This shows that hate often occurs at the same time as love.  When Juliet is Nurse asking for the name of her new found love, Juliet says, “If he be married, my grave is likely to be my wedding bed,” Though what she said is not really hatred, its sort of a violent image to use to demonstrate her love for Romeo. 

William Shakespeare wants the reader to know that often love and hatred are connected.  They are both very powerful emotions, however on different ends of the emotion spectrum.   Extreme emotions can overwhelm a person, and change or alter the actions of a person. 

Everyone probably has experienced some sort of extreme emotion.  They can take control of a person and be blinding.  Despite the years of hatred between the Capulet and Montague Families, Romeo and Juliet are still fall madly in love.  For better or for worse, Shakespeare wants to inform the reader of the power of strong emotions.