Hate: fighting and conflict

Example response

In the play as whole, one of the central themes Shakespeare engages with is the power of hatred, which is presented as a destructive force which knows no boundaries. The extract comes from the start of the play, immediately before extract, it is a Capulet servant who has provoked the Montague servants into a quarrel by biting his thumb. The scene as a whole is creates an important backdrop to highlight this dangerous world where violence is the go-to tool to continue an old dispute.

At the start of the extract, it is significant that Benvolio, a character of gentle nature (similar to Romeo), tries to call for ‘peace’, and attempts to temper growing anger / hostility to ‘manage it’ and ‘part these men’. Tybalt, however, provides a strong contrast to Benvolio’s cool and level-headed nature, by responding in a hot-headed, impulsive and aggressive way. Tybalt’s repetition of ‘hate’ creates the impression of a mono-dimensional character, who is consumed by rage, and his unsophisticated use of the word ‘coward’ to Benvolio’s reasonable response shows his very blunt, black-white view of the world, which forces Benvolio into the fight, despite his wishes for peace. Tybalt also comes across as very ‘self-righteous’, referencing his hatred of Montagues to be like his hatred of ‘hell’ which shows us that he believes that is on the morally right side, and that he is acting in the right way.

The fight quickly spirals out of control: the unnamed citizens represent the ordinary person, who is pulled into this conflict – the quick escalation highlights how quickly the force of hatred outlined in the prologue is triggered: none can escape and it has an alluring power to pull people in. The use of the exclamation marks in the citizens: “partisans! Strike! Beat!” which are loaded with jeering language shows that their minds are fully disengaged – they are responding only physically to each other. Shakespeare possibly hyper-masculinises these characters to increase drama and tension, but also later to highlight Romeo’s sensitive, gentle nature and the contrasting, innocent world of love that he inhabits. This idea of inescapability really highlights the key ideas of fate – and how the two young lovers, are trapped in this world, born from ‘fatal loins’.

Overall, the extract shows us the strong emotional impulse that drives the adult characters in this world to act in mindless way to highlight the strength of anger and hatred in this world.