Detest~ Despise~ Abhor~ Loathe

“Bred of an airy word…”

“Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate! O anything of nothing first create!,,, Mis-shapen chaos of well- seeming forms!”

“Who fight can lose; who doesn’t has already lost!” (from a neo-nazi website) “Turn thee, Benvolio, and look upon thy death… Peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee… “

THE POWER OF HATE

HATE Intense animosity or dislike; hatred To dislike, despise, abhor, loathe the emotion of hate a feeling of dislike so strong that it demands action Each of these is readily seen in the attitudes, words, and actions of the characters in Romeo and Juliet

What Causes HATE? Past Experience of Conflict Differences in Opinion, Values, or Culture DIFFERENCES Jealousy Societal Influence Family Influence

You’ve Got To Be Taught You've got to be taught To hate and fear, You've got to be taught From year to year, It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made, And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade, You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught before it's too late, Before you are six or seven or eight, To hate all the people your relatives hate, You've got to be carefully taught!

What does HATE make people do? Experience Frustration Make Foolish Choices Make Foolish Assumptions Provoke Further Conflict Provoke Anger React in Fear and Desperation Act on Impulse Act in Haste Act in Violence Cause Great Pain

Act I “Prodigious birth of love it is to me That I must love a loathed enemy…”

“Two households…. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean…” “The fearful passage of their death-marked love, And the continuance of their parents’ rage, Which, but their children’s end naught could remove…” “hatred bounces“ e.e. cummings

Is Easily Provoked, and Readily Provokes Scene 1 Gregory and Sampson “I strike quickly, being moved…” “Let us take the law of our sides; let them begin…” “No sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir” Tybalt “What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds? Turn thee Benvolio; look upon thy death.” “What, drawn and talk of peace? I have the word As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.”

Causes Frustration and Confusion Romeo O me! What fray was here? Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all, Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love, Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing first create! O heavy lightness, serious vanity, Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms…”

Causes Fear and Foolish Choices Scene 4 Romeo “I fear too early, for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars Shall bitterly begin his fearful date With this night’s revels, and expire the term Of a despised life closed in my breast By some vile forfeit of untimely death. But he that hath the steerage of my course Direct my sail…”

Makes Foolish Assumptions Provokes Further Trouble Provokes Anger and Further Conflict Scene 5 Tybalt This, by his voice, should be a Montague Fetch me my rapier, boy. What dares the slave Come hither covered with an antic face To fleer and scorn at our solemnity? Now by the stock and honor of my kin, To strike him dead I hold it not a sin,,,” Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe, A villain that is hither come in spite…”

Scene 5 (Cont’d.) Tybalt “ I’ll not endure him… Patience perforce with willful choler meeting Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting. I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall, Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall…”

Causes Great Pain Scene 5 Romeo Is she a Capulet? O dear account? My life is my foe’s debt.” (Benvolio: Away, begone. The sport is at the best.”} Ay, so I fear. The more is my unrest.” Juliet “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me That I must love a loathed enemy.”

ACT I I “But passion gives them power …”

Causes Fear and Desperate Actions Scene 2 Juliet “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore are thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” “…The place death, considering who thou art… If they do see thee, they will murder thee…” Romeo “My life were better ended by their hate Than death prorogued, wanting of their love…”

Provokes Further Trouble BENVOLIO “Tybalt, the kinsman to old Capulet, Hath sent a letter to his father’s house.” MERCUTIO: “A challenge, on my life.” BENVOLIO: “Romeo will answer it.”

FRIAR LAWRENCE: “So smile the heavens upon this holy act That after-hours with sorrow chide us not.” ROMEO: “Amen,, amen. But come what sorrow can, It cannot countervail the exchange of joy That one short minute gives me in her sight. Do thou but close our hands with holy words Then love-devouring death do what he dare…” FRIAR LAWRENCE: “These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which, as they kiss, consume…” Causes Impulsive and Hasty Actions

ACT I I I “… And now these hot days is the mad blood stirring.”

Hatred is the madness of the heart ~George Gordon, Lord Byron

ACT IV “…Myself have power to die…”

“Hate and force cannot be in just a part of the world without having an effect on the rest of it.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

ACT V “I dreamt my lady came and found me dead…”

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS The “ancient grudge” explodes again in the fray of the opening scene. Tybalt’s deliberate rage and insistent hatred for the Montagues, especially Romeo, begin a progression of events that lead, ultimately, to death.

HATRED Causes the Characters to : ~Experience Frustration Benvolio is frustrated by the intentional violence provoked by the Capulet servants, and by Tybalt’s refusal to stop the fight. He eventually joins the conflict. Romeo is frustrated by the continued conflict. He doesn’t understand why family loyalty necessitates violence and hatred: “Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms…” ~Make Foolish Choices Romeo foolishly decides to go to the Capulet party, in spite of the danger. He knows he should not go, but chooses to do so anyway. Sometimes hatred makes us disregard potential dangers. ~Make Foolish Assumptions Tybalt wrongly assumes that Romeo is there to cause trouble. He tries to start a fight at the Capulet feast, but eventually lets it go, promising vengeance at a later time

~Provoke Further Conflict Tybalt sends a letter of challenge to Romeo, and pursues him later that day. Mercutio attempts to intervene, and himself tries to provoke Tybalt to fight ~Provoke Anger When Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo joins the ranks of those who CHOOSE hatred and violence. Mercutio’s death and Tybalt’s deliberate provocation cause him to embrace “fire-eyed fury.” The end result is Tybalt’s death and his own banishment. ~React in Fear and Desperation To avoid marriage to Paris, Juliet first threatens suicide, Then she follows the Friar’s desperate plan to fake her own death, and await Romeo in the family tomb.

Act on Impulse Act in Haste Act in Violence Cause Great Pain

Had the feud never existed, and had the characters not consistently chosen to act in hatred and violence, the events of this tragedy would not have occurred as they did.

Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil -- hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.