How Are Love and/or Hate Presented in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and in a range of poems you have studied?
This controlled assessment will show how love and hate are presented in Julius Caesar and, in contrast, within Robert Browning poetry – which we have studied. The poems that are going to be analysed are Porphyria’s Lover, The Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, and The Laboratory-Ancien Régime. My cogent argument is that unrequited love is destructive/ leads to hate.
The Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister features hate towards a monk; the speaker hates Brother Lawrence. Firstly, the purpose of a soliloquy, in poems or in plays, is meant to reveal the characters true feelings to the reader/audience. This soliloquy is the speakers thoughts meaning in the present. From this I can infer that the speaker’s hatred for Brother Lawrence is that he hates his very existence, he hates every moment Lawrence is alive. This can be seen in the second stanza line one, it says, At the meal we sit together: the word sit is in the present tense.
” What’s the Latin name for “parsley”?_ What’s the Greek name for Swine’s Snout. “
The quote shows this constant hatred. I can infer that the speakers hatred reflects his attitude towards B. Lawrence, every time B. Lawrence speaks, the speaker has a negative thing to say back. This hate is ironic in the set time era. The 17th Century religion was crucial and it taught people to be loving, it’s ironic because this monk hates another monk. This can be linked back to my point that unrequited love is destructive.
So if there is a hatred not shown during dialogues it will be revealed in a soliloquy.
In Porphyria’s Lover, the theme is love and hate are similar. Robert Browning uses pathetic fallacy to present hate in the poem.
“ It tore the elm-tops down for spite, And did its worst to vex the lake “,
Pathetic fallacy is used in this quote to set the tone in the poem. Pathetic fallacy is a type of personification where emotions are given to, in this case, the weather. For spite and vex the lake creates an angry beginning, anger is also a manifestation of hate proving that hate is shown in this poem. Love, on the other hand, can be represented in Porphyria’s Lover in this line:
” And kneeled and made the cheerless grate blaze up, and all the cottage warm “.
Love is shown here when the speaker says she made all the cottage warm, I inferred that this can be a metaphor in the sense that she all made him feel warm. Love and feeling warm are strongly associated with one another.
” Made my heart swell, and it still grew. “
This quote, again, shows love and hate, the preliminary clause present hates as it illustrates the heart swelling up because of hate. The secondary clause present love through its illustration of the heart growing, like in the Grinch who stole Christmas. The linkage to my argument is that the speaker was being pining with unrequited love, moreover, this has led to an emotional state of ruination because Porphyria is murdered at the end by her lover. I contemplate that Porphyria is from a higher class in society than the speaker is. Unrequited love is given from the speaker to Porphyria, and killing her is the only way the protagonist can end this relationship. Contextually, in this era, people of higher and lower classes are forbidden to engage with each other, I say she is of a higher class because the speaker would continuously praise her appearance also, why in the poem they have to meet in a cottage in the middle of a storm. Consequently, this is why he has to kill her.
My final poem is The Laboratory-Ancien Régime. This poem accommodates the theme of revenge. Hate is shown in this poem through the speaker’s process of forging poison.
” Grind away, moisten, and mash up thy paste, Pound at thy powder,— I am not in haste “
The sounding of the words forms a sinister atmosphere. The words Pound, Mash, and Grind all sound very violent words, the P, D, and M sounds place very harsh emphasis on the words. The final clause advocates that the speaker, whose heart is broken, wants to perfect this poison in order for a swift death. Alternatively, love is depicted in the poem in this quote:
“ You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will! “
The love in this quote is shown because even after all the planning for this person’s death the speaker shows love by saying that the old man can still kiss her. Additionally, using context that kissing on the mouth is very affectionate and loving, I can further prove that love is embedded in this quote.This theme of revenge contains the negative effects of love which is hate, furthermore, it does show that unrequited love leads to hate. This can be contrasted to Brutus and Caesar’s relationship with Julius Caesar. Brutus loves Caesar in a similar manner that the speaker does in this poem, also, they both plan a swift ending for their loved one. Moreover, both Brutus and the speaker show love towards the person they just killed; in the play, Brutus shows it by allowing Anthony to live and speak at Julius Caesar’s funeral, and in the poem the quote above also show this.
In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar love and hate are both established in the play. Using symbolism and context hate is shown in this quote:
” And therefore, think him as a serpent’s egg. “
This hatred is directed at Caesar from Brutus after Cassius had convinced Brutus to consider betraying Caesar. Serpents are delineated as vicious animals and they become more powerful as they grow in age, and by using the term serpents instead of snakes, Shakespeare wanted to illustrate Caesar as more evil and deceitful furthermore. Being contextual, I would depict that due to the importance of religion during his era further connotations of serpents are that they are creatures of the devil (as shown in the biblical story of Adam and Eve). Additionally, by using the phrase the serpent’s egg, it means that Caesar’s tyranny can still be avoided as it is still yet to ‘hatch’ or yet to reach a turning point where it is too late to do anything.
Brutus is shown to be more altruistic than Cassius during their planning against Caesar. In Act 3 Scene 2, at Caesar’s funeral, Brutus gives his justification to the people of Rome of Caesar’s assassination;
” I honour him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.”
This quote shows the manifestations of Brutus’ love, which are jealously and envy, this is through him saying that he honours Caesar but yet would kill him to get his place in the hierarchy of Rome.
” I loved him, but I love Rome more. “
This quote also shows altruism. Brutus claims that he murdered Caesar for love and safety of Rome, this can also imply that he loves Caesar. That Brutus saved Caesar from Caesar’s own hubris. Also, Shakespeare shows that the effects of unrequited love did lead to Brutus’ hamartia and speaking within context, hamartia is also one of the main conventions of a tragedy play. Cassius is the one that does not return the love.
” His coward lips… “
This adjective phrase by Cassius to Brutus about Caesar insinuates that Cassius is hating Caesar. The connotations of the word Coward are that he is scared to the point that is not honorable, in consequence, Cassius has lost all respected for Caesar and has begun showing distaste towards Caesar.
This essay’s denouement is that each poem and Julius Caesar portray love and hate differently in their respective manner. Each poem shows differently manifestations of love and hate, per contra, they all interrelate. Revenge from The Laboratory-Ancien Régime, altruism from Porphyria’s Lover, and simply pure hatred from The Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, are all presented throughout Julius Caesar. Mark Anthony wants revenge for Caesar’s death, altruism is shown through Brutus killing Caesar for the good of Rome, and finally Cassius despises everything Caesar ever does similarly like the monk in The Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister.
React!