What is meant by Familiarity breeds contempt?

Answer 1

What it basically means is that the more one knows about someone, the more one notices that person's negative traits and realizes that person may not be as nice as previously thought.

When we get to know something very well, we cease noticing its good qualities and take those for granted, while emphasising the bad traits in it. We build contempt for it as we feel it is not as good as it was or should be.

If you are referring to the Shakespeare quote...the phrase has been taken out of context (or actually has been misquoted). It was spoken from a character about men she may be forced to marry. referring to a particular man, she was saying that if there is no love in the beginning, time may change that and love may develop as you get to know each other (become familiar with each other). but in her particular case with the man she was speaking about, she hoped that if she were to marry him, that familiarity would breed more contempt.

It has to be looked at as a part of the whole story (a comedy) and what it means to the character and the story. She doesn't like him and jokes that she hopes familiarity will breed contempt instead of love. But you have to be involved in the story to know the story's meaning and all of it's jokes and sarcasms.

But I also agree that the term is used to refer to how you may not like people once you get really familiar with them. You may see sides of their characters that you did not see before which you do not like. If the person is an authority figure, you may see how they are just like you and resent that they have authority-- or you may see other sides of them and thus breed contempt instead of respect. If you ask me, familiarity is a good thing and can provide comfort and stability. I think that is why people always ask what this quote means. familiarity breeds contempt OR love and admiration-- it just depends on whom or what you get familiar with and how YOU feel about it.

Another interpretation of contempt is that as you become more familiar with someone, you start taking liberties in how you interact with them... less polite, less gracious, more teasing, more rude because you can impose on the familiarity, the friendship, in those ways... ways in which you would not immediately interact with a stranger, until you become more familiar with them.