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The Cyclical Nature of Love and Violence: an Analysis of Romeo and Juliet and Crimes of Passion in Modern Society by Saraglen Fish

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The Cyclical Nature of Love and Violence: an Analysis of Romeo and Juliet and Crimes of Passion in Modern Society by Saraglen Fish Fall 08 The Cyclical Nature of Love and Violence: An Analysis of Romeo and Juliet and Crimes of Passion in Modern Society By Saraglen Fish Abstract Through crimes of passion, Shakespeare demonstrates the intertwining of love and violence that create cyclical escalations still present in society today. Through a comparative analysis of the Elizabethan time period, modern day society and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it can be determined that passion can be synonymous with violence. The literature of the Elizabethan time period reflects on society’s perceptions of and traditions involving love; this reflection on Elizabethan society can be compared to modern day society to demonstrate the link between passion and violence. The term “crimes of passion” can be directly correlated from modern society to Elizabethan society through an analysis of the patterns present that justify the use of this term. The entwinement of love and violence is present throughout Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and will be best evaluated through close reading and a psychoanalytical lens. Senior Seminar Final Project November 20, 2011 Fish 2 Literature throughout the Elizabethan period can be marked through society’s perceptions and interpretations of love at the time. As evidenced through the works of Shakespeare, love was marked by passion leading to violence. These violent episodes of love evidenced in the literature of that time period directly correlate with crimes of passion of society today. Passion and love are represented in many of Shakespeare’s works, including Othello and Romeo and Juliet, as being marked by violence and tragedy. Shakespeare deeply explores the entwinement of love and violence in his play Othello, as Othello is set up to be a grave, noble and respectable character throughout the first two acts. He appears to be honorable and to have a good head on his shoulders; however, he places his trust in a poor source and appears at his downfall. His passion ignites his jealousy when he believes false accusations against his wife Desdemona; Othello turned his thoughts of Desdemona into a common harlot due to Iago’s fabrications, and this led him to viciously murder her. By believing in the lies that Iago invents and causing destruction and tragedy, Othello demonstrates the severe ties between love and violence. Othello’s passionate love for Desdemona easily turned to passionate hate. His dramatic swapping of behavior demonstrates how powerful passion and love can be; a Jekyll and Hyde type of transformation occurs in Othello, which can only be explained by his intense passion for Desdemona. It is evident through his murderous act that extreme passion can lead to violence, thus solidifying the connection between love and violence. This concept of hate and passion leading to violence is most solidified in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This work deeply examines the connections between Fish 3 love and violence to the point of defining the human condition. Today, being passionate can be interpreted as loving to the point of destruction. The evidence within Romeo and Juliet exists to support that crimes of passion result from cyclical patterns created by love and violence. It is a widely held belief that passion can be synonymous with violence as evidenced by literature and society both historically and today. Through crimes of passion, Shakespeare demonstrates the intertwining of love and violence that create cyclical escalations still present in society today. Love in Elizabethan Society The idea of courtly love was a tradition upheld by society during the Elizabethan era. Courtly love was a commonly accepted practice and was categorized by men loving unobtainable women from a distance, as the women were usually from a higher socio- economic class (Meader 10). The idea of courtly love is present throughout many of Shakespeare’s plays and demonstrates its existence and prevalence in this time period. Shakespeare demonstrates courtly love from the beginning of Romeo and Juliet through Romeo’s love of Rosaline. Rosaline is the prototype for the female in the courtly love situation as she is silent and unattainable. Romeo voices his longing for the unattainable Rosaline for in act one, scene one he says, “Out of her favor where I am in love (1.1.163)”. This acceptance of courtly love set up the situations in which love could be played out. Match making in Shakespeare's society was influenced by both affection and material interests. Freedom of choice was restricted in various ways, and the couple seldom brought about marriages alone, as young people were expected to respect parental Fish 4 wishes. Due to this, Romeo and Juliet demonstrates the dramatic tension in the conflict between self-fulfillment and the expectations of parents, friends, and society. In this way, Shakespeare underlines the innocence or vulnerability of the lovers (Cook 12). Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of foolish young love and the inevitable downfall of those seemingly innocent young lovers (Weinberger 351). According to young people, love is the ability to make their own universe and to disregard the entire world around them. Young people are not yet corrupted by the responsibilities of being an adult and, instead, look at the world as if it is theirs for the taking (Moore 652). The nature of their young love, invites Romeo and Juliet to view their love as above the level of ordinary humanity. This can be due to their age, beauty and social standing. This being said, they are in no way the poster children of perfection and love. Their flaws include conflicting principles and motivations- obligation to family versus obligation to love, to be part of homo-social relationships versus part of hetero-social relationships, need for rebellion versus need for stability, curiosity versus patience and the desire for sexual relations. The lovers are mere children and are, thus, hardly capable of making the serious decisions required of the complex situation they thrust themselves into. In relation, both their parents are contemptible models for respect, character, love, and decision making for the couple to emulate (Weinberger 352). Death and violence are prominent themes throughout Shakespeare’s works including Romeo and Juliet. In the play, these themes are consistently intertwined with passion. Passion is represented in the play through love, hate and the clear connection between violence and love. Love is represented in the play as blind and overwhelming; Fish 5 love is a great passion that can completely overwhelm a person. Love, like hate, can take over someone and powerfully alter his or her mind. Romeo and Juliet’s love is marked by death from the beginning, as the moment Romeo falls in love at first sight with Juliet, Tybalt vows to kill Romeo for intruding on the festivities. This scene is one of many demonstrating love’s close connection with violence. From the beginning, the play is set up with the close entwinement of love and violence in the prologue. The environment that is set up in the prologue is violent and hate-filled; it demonstrates to the audience exactly how the feud between the two families will play a major role throughout the play. The close placement of references to love and violence is evident in the prologue, as it says, “The fearful passage of their death-marked love/ And the continuance of their parents' rage/ Which, but their children's end, naught could remove/ Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage (Prologue 9-12).” Describing love in terms of death from the beginning demonstrates the close connection between love and violence that will continue throughout the play. Violence and love are demonstrated with the characters’ fascination with suicide throughout the play. Both Romeo and Juliet threaten to take their own lives in act 3; when with Friar Laurence Romeo threatens to kill himself after he has been exiled. Death is in the forefront of the characters’ minds as Romeo’s reaction to his exile is, “Ha banishment? Be merciful, say death (3.3.12)”. Then, in another instance Juliet attempts to take her life when faced with the idea of marrying Paris; she says, “If all else fail myself have the power to die (3.5.242)”. The morning after scene is even associated with death and violence, as Romeo and Juliet reference the other’s appearance of death in their sleep. In reference to this death-like appearance, Juliet says, “Methinks I see thee as one Fish 6 dead in the bottom of a tomb (3.5.55)”. The tragic ending of the double suicide is the culmination of the entwinement of love and violence. Romeo and Juliet’s conclusion that only through death could their love be preserved demonstrates the sheer power of passion that causes this entwinement of love and violence. Their final acts led to destruction and tragedy that only the intense passion of love could be capable of. Love’s connection with violence is also demonstrated through the mere language of the play. In act one, scene one Romeo, in regards his to unrequited love of Rosaline, says, “O brawling love, o loving hate (1.1.170)”. By attributing aggressive terminology to love and affectionate terminology to hate, it entwines the two passions. Love is also seen as pain and loss, as Romeo compares his love of Rosaline to blindness when he says, “Being black, puts us in mind they hide the fair/ He that is strucken blind cannot forget (1.1.225-6)”. Juliet’s love is so strong for Romeo that it impairs her better judgment. She is distraught when she discovers that Romeo is a Montague, but she has developed such an intense passion for Romeo that she is willing to die rather than to be unfaithful.
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