Love and hate are not mutually exclusive; the two build off each other, and that one cannot exist without the other, in Shakespeare demonstrates this idea in his play Romeo and Juliet. Both the two families’ hate for each other and their love for their respective heirs drives the two lovers together, first in life and then in death. Love and hate, though opposing forces, work together to accomplish the same goal.
Reason #1:
In Romeo and Juliet, the two families’ hate of one another forces Romeo and Juliet to meet in secret because of the feud between the 2 families, so both of the two lovers both have to meet in secret and both of Romeo and Juliet spends more time alone, thinking about their love, which drives them apart from their parents. Even more, the two families’ hatred causes Romeo and Juliet to commit suicide together. This is a good example of love and hate working together because the fact that both of the two emotions work together to end the family feud with Romeo and Juliet’s death.
The historial/real life example I chose was the Vangelis Karras and Irini Karra incident; this was a lot like the Romeo and Juliet incident. This was only very recently, in the year 2007. In this event, two lovers, Vangelis and Irini, meet. They wanted to marry but they could not because it is Greece’s law that anyone under the age of 18 that wants to marry must have permission from a guardian. Irini was only 17 years old, and that those two were cousins. Vangelis got so upset they couldn’t marry so he and his would be wife decided to make a suicide pact.
Vangelis went to a barn in Crete and called his uncle that he was going to kill himself with poison, and he did. Irini survived but she is in bad condition right now.
Reason #2:
Another example of a love and hate cooperating example is when Capulet tries to force Juliet to marry Paris. Juliet hates Paris; yet she agrees to *marry* him because she loved her parents, and the fact that Juliet’s parents would banish Juliet from the Capulet house and basically shun her. Capulet wants Juliet to marry Paris because Paris was rich.
Capulet loved the fact that Paris was rich, but he hated the fact that Juliet did not obey his wishes to marry Paris. Here’s a good historical relation of a forced marriage: A KwaZulu-Natal teen(14 years old) nearly, just a little bit away from being forced into marriage. The fourteen year old girl was about to be forced into marrying a forty year old man, because the girl’s sister ran away from her would be husband. The man would have taken back his rather large dowry payment if he was not given a bride, so consequently, the parents decided to sell out their daughter.
Luckily, authorities interfered before any damage was done. The love/hate relationship here exists because the parents loved the promised money, and hated the wishes of their daughter. Some people might say that the parents loved the money but did not hate their daughter’s wishes. This view is completely acceptable, but will not be discussed here. The situation in this story is very much like Romeo and Juliet because both Paris and the 40 year old man were rich and high in social status, and that it was a forced marriage that none of the girls wanted to happen. Juliet and that girl in Africa was also the same age, 14 years old.
Reason #3:
The last example of how love and hate cooperate with each other in Romeo and Juliet is when Friar Lawrence gives Juliet the sleeping potion that makes her look dead. Friar Lawrence, as a friend to Juliet, hates giving her the sleeping potion but loves the fact that if his plan goes along perfectly, Romeo and Juliet would get together. This shows the love/hate relationship because Lawrence does the worst choice possible for the best outcomes, he hates the fact he is doing this choice but loves the results.
The historical connection is Japan and the United States before and after WW2. Before WW2, Japan and the United States were allies, but after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US went to war with Japan. The war ended when the United States nuked Japan twice. The United States hated doing this, but they had to because it was the only choice, and they wanted to be friends with Japan again. This is like the Romeo and Juliet situation because Lawrence hated the fact that he was giving Juliet a sleeping potion, but he loved the end results. Unfortunately his plan doesn’t work out and both Romeo and Juliet die in the end.
The US hated nuking Japan twice, like how Romeo and Juliet both died in the end. This is how a love/hate connection shows between the historical example and Romeo and Juliet. To sum this essay up, it fully explains that love and hate, though opposing forces, can work together to reach the same goal. Though love and hate may seem cruel at times; the two emotions are the things that drive mankind to do what they want; out of love and out of hate, to complete the same goal. That is why love and hate are compatible with each other, as shown in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet.