Question number 1: Romeo and Juliet is ultimately a love story and Shakespeare leaves audiences with an optimistic view of true love and its ability to overcome hate. Do you agree or disagree?
Love can be presented in many different forms such as unrequited love, filial love, forbidden love, romantic love and sexual love.
Love is a powerful emotion that can overcome hate, but hate cannot overcome love. Romeo and Juliet, written by William’s Shakespeare is referred to a tragedy of two star-crossed lovers. In the tale, the two strongest themes found within it are love and hate. True love is a dominant force that overcomes hate, leaving the audience with an optimistic view. While the true love ends with a tragedy, ultimately, this powerful love ended with a positive view on new beginnings for the Capulets and Montagues. Within the play, Shakespeare displays various events that the power of true love can effect Tybalt’s behaviour. Finally, the characters continue to show true love the ones they adore, even under harsh circumstances. Therefore, Shakespeare leaves audiences with an optimistic view of true love and its ability to overcome hate.
Firstly, the true love of both Romeo and Juliet ended with a positive future for the remaining Capulets and Montagues. The historic feud between the two rich families had triggered the emotions of Romeo and Juliet that they must keep their true love in secrecy. When Juliet sees Romeo in her garden, she says in shock ‘How camest thou hither tell me, and wherefore?/ The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,/ And the place death, considering who art thou,/ If any of my kinsmen find thee here’(Act 2. Scene 2.Lines 62-65) this demonstrates that both families will not approve of the love because it is impossible for the two to be with each other. Despite this, Romeo and Juliet decide to get married to show to the Capulets and Montagues that their love is real and the hate from their own families will not stop them. The demands of marriage from Lord Capulet had tested the true love of Juliet because she had an option to take Paris’s hand in love, however disobeyed Lord Capulets orders. Juliet overcome hate in (Act 4, Scene 1, Lines 25) when she told Paris ‘I will confess to you that I love him.’ This shows that Juliet admits that she is in love, but not necessarily in love with Paris. Romeo likewise overcame hate because the power of true love that he experienced with Juliet made him say , “I have night’s cloak to hide from their eyes, / And but thou love me let them find me here. / My life were better ended by their hate/ than death prorogues, wanting of thy love.” (Act 2. Scen...
