Love Is Not the Destructive Force in Romeo and Juliet

Love is not the destructive force in Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is considered one of the greatest love tragedies of all time. It is a play about two young lovers, whose love was destined for destruction from the beginning because of the hatred  between the two families, Montagues and Capulets. The force that leads to this destruction hate and lust, as opposed to love. One of the forces that leads to destruction in Romeo and Juliet is hate. Hate is a destructive force, when it gets stronger that love.Hate killed Romeo and Juliet, and their love. It did this through the feud between the two families. The two teenagers were killed because they kept trying to go around the feuding between their families and go on with their lives. Here they had underestimated hate, which is also a very strong force, when given into it. In this case the Montegues and Capulets gave into their hate for one another. An example of why hate is destructive and not love is a point in act 3, scene one. Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt because they are now cousins.He says: â€Å"I love thee better that thou canst devise, Till thou shalt know the reason of my love, And so, good Capulet, which name I tender As Dearly as mine own, be satisfied†. This is an action out of love. Tybalt is furious and, when challenged by Mercutio, kills him. This revives Romeo’s hate. He says: â€Å"Away to heaven respective lenity, And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now! † This makes him kill Tybalt. These are actions out of hate. Therefore the force that keeps from destroying here is love, and the destructive force is hate. Also, when love turns into lust, this can be destructive.Lust can be a destructive force, because when people are driven by lust, their actions get impulsive and hasty. This causes them to not think properly about what they do. That the actions of Romeo and Juliet are occasionally driven by lust, can be seen for example because Romeo wa nts Juliet yet when he has only just met her. The very first time that Romeo sees Juliet, he says: â€Å"Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night, Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear, Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. The measure done, I’ll watch her place of stand, And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night. † He does not know her from the inside, but already wants to touch her because she is so beautiful on the outside. Lust destroys because this makes Romeo and Juliet act impulsive. When Romeo hears that Juliet died, he acts impulsive, and goes to her to kill himself.He does not think clearly the fact that he didn’t get news from Friar Lawrence, and also not about his love for his family. So lust is a destructive forc e when it overrules love. Furthermore, in Romeo and Juliet, love is not a force that destroys. When love overpowers hate, it is a source of happiness and welfare. There are many scenes in the play where love is a source of peace and happiness. Firstly, the love that Romeo and Juliet share lifts Romeo from his sadness over Rosaline. He states to Friar Lawrence â€Å"I have forgot that name, and that name's woe†.This love makes Romeo happy instead of destroying him. Love on itself brings good things with it. Love reconciles the two feuding families, the Capulets and Montagues who have been bitter enemies. During the story, love faces harder and harder challenges. At the end of the novel, the love of Romeo and Juliet is destroyed because hate has overpowered love. But at that same moment love overpowers hate because Capulet and Montague make peace with each other after seeing that  their children were so in love with each other that they sacrificed  their lives for one anoth er.This leads to construction, and not destruction, because the families will now work together instead of destroying one another. To conclude, love is a powerful force but not a destructive one. What is destructive is hate and lust. When hate and lust overpower love, this destroys. This is seen when the hate of the two feuding families leads to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. When love overpowers hate and lust it can create new opportunities, such as the ending of the feud between the families.