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Effects Of Love In Romeo And Juliet

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Torment: The Result of Love
Love is either the best or worst thing that has ever happened to a person, without an in between. Because of how many different perspectives there are from person to person, love is what makes people’s thoughts shrouded and create turmoil. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare shows the audience the despair that is brought upon those who love through his characters and plot. By using love as the inciting force behind the violence, suffering and death in the play, Shakespeare suggests that love is a harmful human emotion.
Because people follow their hearts in the present, they engage in violence before ever thinking about the future consequences of their actions. To begin with, the Montague and Capulet households continue to bear their grudge due to their love of family honour and pride. They “have thrice disturb’d the quiet of [Verona’s] streets” (I.i.85) and are continuing to pursue using violence as the answer. Even when the prince declares there will be a death penalty for those who do not heed his warnings, Capulet and Montague do not give up on their grudge. Their love of family honour creates more possibilities of violence in the near future. In addition, Tybalt requests a duel with Romeo in order to defend his own ego. Tybalt thinks of Romeo as a “no better term than this: [Romeo] [is] a villain” (III.i.58). Tybalt “will not budge for no man’s pleasure” (III.i.52) because he finds it unacceptable that Romeo, a Montague, could attend a

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