4.1.3
Violent Love
Positives and Negatives of Love
Positives and Negatives of Love
The whole play is focused on the positives and negatives of love:
Act 1
Act 1
- In Act 1, we see the consequences of unrequited (not returned) love with Rosaline.
Act 2
Act 2
- In Act 2, we see true love and how deep this emotion is for Romeo and Juliet.
Acts 3-5
Acts 3-5
- In Acts 3, 4 and 5, love becomes a very difficult, negative, and violent force.
- Love causes unhappiness and death because of how strong it is.
Negative 'ends'
Negative 'ends'
- All forms of love in the play have negative 'ends':
- Rosaline does not return Romeo’s love;
- Romeo and Juliet commit suicide;
- The Nurse abandoning Juliet and Friar Laurence marrying the couple both contribute to their deaths;
- The family feud (argument) itself is the overall cause for the tragic ends of the protagonists (main characters).
Foreshadowing About Love
Foreshadowing About Love
In Act 2, at the wedding, Friar Laurence warns Romeo and Juliet that the extreme force of their love could mean that it has 'violent ends'. This foreshadows (warns about) the dark turn the play will take:
Dark turns...
Dark turns...
- It is because of their marriage that Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt.
- Because Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt, Mercutio steps in to defend his best friend.
- Tybalt then kills Mercutio in this fight.
- Romeo becomes extremely angry and goes after Tybalt for revenge.
- Romeo kills Tybalt.
- Romeo is banished to Mantua. This means Romeo cannot be with his wife again or tell his family about their marriage.
... And more dark turns
... And more dark turns
- Juliet’s parents (thinking she is unmarried) arrange for her to marry Paris.
- Juliet does not want to commit bigamy (marry someone else when she is married) and goes to Friar Laurence for help. She then fakes her death.
- Romeo thinks Juliet is actually dead and commits suicide.
- Juliet wakes up, sees Romeo is dead, and also commits suicide.
1Context
2Plot Summary
2.1Prologue
2.2Act 1
2.5Act 4
3Key Characters
3.1Romeo
3.2Juliet
3.3Mercutio
3.4The Nurse, Benvolio & Tybalt
3.5Friar Laurence
3.6Grade 9 - Key Characters
4Key Themes & Concepts
4.1Power & Danger of Love
5Writing Techniques
Jump to other topics
1Context
2Plot Summary
2.1Prologue
2.2Act 1
2.5Act 4
3Key Characters
3.1Romeo
3.2Juliet
3.3Mercutio
3.4The Nurse, Benvolio & Tybalt
3.5Friar Laurence
3.6Grade 9 - Key Characters
4Key Themes & Concepts
4.1Power & Danger of Love
5Writing Techniques
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