The Theme of Love and Hatred - Romeo and Juliet - Book Report/Review Example

The Theme of Love and Hatred - Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare is known to be the father of English literature who wrote many epics for Classic Literature. One of the epic written by William Shakespeare was Romeo and Juliet that revolves around the theme of love and hatred. The feeling of love shown in the story is so exemplary that Romeo and Juliet have become an example in the history of love. The story has become so well known that it has also been incorporated into movies and dramas. The story revolves around two main characters of Romeo and Juliet who are madly in love with each other. Both these characters belong to families who are against each other and this hatred leads to many untoward incidents in the story. This essay would further provide a summary about Romeo and Juliet with regard to its major themes. Shakespeare sets the story in a city known as Verona which is located in Italy. The beginning of the story tells about two families living in Verona who are completely against each other. These families have developed hate for each other and have indulged in fighting since years. The names of these families are Montagues and Capulets respectively. It is seen in the very beginning that individuals from both the families are fighting publicly against each other and the Prince of Verona enters to stop the fight. Prince Escalus as he is called ceases the fight and announces that any further aggressive behavior by either of the families would result in capital judgment. The story revolves around two characters who belong to these opposite families respectively. Romeo belongs to the family of Montagues and is the son of Montague himself. It is seen that in the beginning Romeo is in love with Rosaline and he confides this love to himself. But later on he tells about his love to his cousin Benvolio and also tells him that Rosaline is not in love with him. In other words the love of Romeo is one sided because of which Benvolio asks him to forget her and look for someone whom he deserves rightly. Romeo does not pay heed to his advise and it is while following her leads that Romeo gets to meet Juliet. Juliet belongs to the family of Capulet who is quite beautiful. Paris who is a relative of the Prince desires to marry Juliet and asks her father to get them married. Her father in response asks Paris to wait as Juliet is quite young to get married. Capulet then holds a party for many people including Paris so that he can make his place in the heart of Juliet. Rosaline is also invited to this party by Capulet and this becomes known to Romeo who then decides to attend the party along with Benvolio. As it is a party which is being held by Capulets it does not have any invitation for Montagues. And this is the very reason that it becomes difficult for Romeo to enter the party. But he attends the party while wearing a mask. In the party Romeo falls in love with Juliet after seeing her and decides that she is the true love for him and not Rosaline. Similarly Juliet also falls in love with Romeo after seeing him. This love is not one sided as both Romeo and Juliet fall in love with each other. However the whole situation gets frenzied when Tybalt one of the Capulets recognizes Romeo as being a Montague. Tybalt tries to attack Romeo however Capulet interferes and does not let him attack him. Romeo escapes from the scene and gets to meet Juliet where he gets attracted to her even more. But later on both of them find that their lover belongs to the opposite family with whom their family is having clashes and get sad. However it is learned later on that Juliet is in love with Romeo as Romeo infiltrates the orchard to reach her room. Both of them express their love to each other and decide to get married. Soon after Romeo goes to his friend Friar Lawrence who is a priest so that he can arrange a marriage for both of them. The marriage is arranged at Friar’s place the very next day. Friar believes that this marriage may help to finish the long lasting feud between the two families and so agrees to the marriage. The next day Romeo and Juliet are married and the nurse of Juliet is also informed about it. After the marriage it is decided that both Romeo and Juliet would meet in night and for this purpose the nurse also purchases a ladder so that Romeo can climb up to the room. However after the marriage Romeo goes to meet his acquaintance Mercuito but there he comes to know that Tybalt wants to have a fight with Romeo. Romeo tries his best to avoid a fight with Tybalt but soon after Mercuito and Tybalt begin fighting. Romeo interferes in the fight because of which Tybalt takes advantage and stabs Mercuito. Mercuito dies because of the stab and seeing this Romeo fights back with Tybalt to kill him. Hearing about the scene the Prince of Verona exiles Romeo from Verona or he would have to face capital punishment. Romeo then takes the help of Friar Lawrence to meet Juliet for the last time so that he can run away with her the next day. That night Romeo and Juliet meet again and they spend the night together. The next morning Juliet learns that she is to be married to Paris in the next two days. Juliet is unwilling to marry Paris and thus goes to Friar Lawrence to seek help. Friar Lawrence then makes a plan so that Juliet is relieved by all her tensions and can run away with Romeo. He gives her a potion which consists of a medication that would temporarily make her sleep. Similarly Friar Lawrence also assured her that he would send a letter to Romeo to tell him about the plan so that he can make the necessary arrangements but it later becomes known that Romeo never receives the letter. But this potion would be so strong that anyone who witnesses it would feel that she is dead. After everyone buries her she can wake up and leave with Romeo for Mantua. The plan turns out to be disastrous with a sad ending to the story. The night before she is about to get married to Paris, Juliet drinks the potion so that she can presumably act as dead. Juliet is then discovered by her nurse and buried in the graveyard. However while all this is happening Romeo discovers about the death of Juliet and decides to kill himself upon Juliet’s tomb. On reaching the graveyard Romeo discovers that Paris is also present there and they both have a fight there. This fight proves to be fatal for Paris as he dies and Romeo progresses to see his love for the last time. When he sees the immovable body of Juliet he drinks the poison and dies just besides her. After he dies, Juliet wakes up from her deep sleep and witnesses Romeo’s dead body. She soon realizes that Romeo has killed himself because of the thought that she had died and she also commits suicide. Soon after the death of all three the Prince, Montagues and Capulets arrive at the scene. Both the families are grieved by the deaths of their children because of which they realize that they should end their long lasting feud. It is seen in the ending that both families come close to each other and decide on ending up their feud for the betterment of their future. Bibliography Top of Form Top of Form Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. London: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More