William Shakespeare often depicted themes of both love and hate in his writings. In Romeo and Juliet, the love between the two young lovers from feuding families helps resolve the long-standing hatred between their families. Sonnet 141 also shows the speaker experiencing love and hate for the same woman. In Hamlet, Hamlet comes to hate his mother for her hasty remarriage after his father's death despite still loving her. Othello depicts how Iago's hatred and jealousy of Othello leads him to manipulate Othello's love and trust, resulting in Othello killing his beloved wife Desdemona. Shakespeare illustrated how feelings of love and hate can coexist and how minor provocations can change one into

1. The Themes of Love and Hate in
William Shakespeare's Writings
STEPHEN JAMESON
PROFESSOR OWENS
ENGLISH 1102
9 OCTOBER 2012

2. Introduction
 The themes of love and Hate are evident in almost all
Shakespeare’s writings.
 Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, as well as Sonnet 141
are some of Shakespeare's writings that clearly depict a
mixture of love and hate in one particular narrative.

3. Romeo and Juliet & Sonnet 141
 Hatred between two families, the Capulet's and the Montague's,
has kept them apart for generations, but two young lovers,
Romeo and Juliet, from these two families find love despite the
hatred within their families.
 Their love is impossible to flourish, and they decide to kill
themselves, and their act of desperate love resolves the
differences between the two families.
 Sonnet 141 also depicts the same in that Shakespeare
experiences both love and hatred for the woman.
 Shakespeare does not approve of the woman, and even though
he tries his best to stop loving her, he is not able, which causes
him pain.
 The eyes despise, but the heart loves unconditionally.

4. Hamlet
 Hamlet has lots of love for her mother, Gertrude, but this
love begins to fade after his mother’s sudden remarriage
upon his father’s death.
 He is disgusted how fast his mother got over his father, and
began to suspect her involvement in his death.
 His father’s ghost appears to him, and his anger and hate
for his mother is reinforced, but he still loves her since he
takes a long while before taking any action (Prosser, 137).
 Hamlet makes negative remarks about his mother’s
marriage to Claudius out of anger and hatred, but he does
not do it directly because of the love he still has for her.

5. Othello
 Othello has four key themes that include love, hatred, as well as
jealousy and betrayal.
 The hatred that Lago has for Othello leads to the death of
Desdemona, Othello’s wife.
 Othello gets a job that Lago believes he was most suited for
leading to jealousy and hatred.
 Lago accuses Desdemona of being unfaithful, and at the same
time stole her handkerchief, which was given to her by Othello as
a sign of their love.
 Loosing it meant she did not love him anymore and Othello had
no choice, but to believe these accusations.
 Out of jealousy and unadulterated hate, Othello kills Desdemona
(Shakespeare, Othello, 152).

6. Conclusion
 Shakespeare’s writings tend to include mixed feelings of
hatred and love where one feels both towards an individual.
 Also, he illustrates how a minor provocation can change
love into hatred or vice versa.

7. Works Cited
 Prosser, Eleanor. Hamlet and Revenge. California: Stanford
University Press, 1971. Print.
 Shakespeare, William. Othello. New York: Cricket House
Books LLC, 2010. Print.