Romeo and Juliet: A Dichotomy between Love and Violence Chris Cannon

Romeo and Juliet:
A Dichotomy between Love and
Violence
Chris Cannon
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Love as an Impetus for Violence
• Relevance is hidden
• Love vs. Hate
• Passion and lack of logicality
• Romeo crashing the feast
• Negative events to follow
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Altered Definition and Perspective of Love
• Dominant and ecstatic force
• Values/loyalties ignored
• Overriding theme
• Shakespeare’s disregard for the platonic
“Deny thy father and
refuse thy name, or if thy
wilt not, be but sworn my
love, and I'll no longer be
a Capulet.” – Juliet (Act
II, Scene ii)
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Self vs. Society and Public
• The importance of honor
• Self-image
• Traditional Renaissance family
• Love and obstruction of tradition
• Challenges religion
“The god of my idolatry.”
– Juliet (Act II, Scene i)
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Chaos in Love
• “But my true love is grown to such excess. I cannot sum up sum of
half my wealth.” – Juliet (Act III, Scene i)
• Can one exist without the other?
• Lack of mental stability/control
• Uncontrollability of fate
• Love cannot be dictated
Works CIted
Works Cited
Resnick, Chris. "Violence in Romeo & Juliet." 24 May 2009
<http://pages.towson.edu/quick/romeoandjuliet/violence.htm>.
"Romeo and Juliet: Violence and Love." The Themes and Works of
William Shakespeare. 22 May 2009
<http://shakespeare.mit.edu/romeo_juliet/full.html>.
"SparkNotes: Romeo and Juliet: Themes, Motifs & Symbols."
SparkNotes. 23 May 2009
<http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/themes.html>.