A Comparison of Today's Attitudes About Love and Marriage to those in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

A Comparison of Today's Attitudes About Love and Marriage to those in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Attitudes towards love and marriage have changed greatly throughout

time. Different traditions, morals and personal beliefs have become

more apparent in today's attitudes.

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William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' portrays perhaps the most

vivid view of love ever written, and shows us clearly the views of

love in the sixteenth century. The idea of love is complicated to come

to terms with, but it is my belief that the feeling of love today has

not changed at all from Shakespeare's day. I believe it can still be

as vivid and passionate as it was when the play was written. Love

perhaps is not so strong an issue as marriage is, as it is a feeling

and not a subject, therefore love cannot be changed.

Marriage on the other hand, today, is left down to free will in most

cases, and has a lot less to do with economic well-being and social

status. This is not always the case as this is a westernised idea, in

most eastern countries and some religions, arranged marriage is still

common.

The attitudes to love and marriage in 'Romeo and Juliet' differ

between different characters. Perhaps this was Shakespeare's way of

portraying the different views that were held by people in his time.

Since the sixteenth century many aspects of marriage have changed.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that marriage, back then, was

arranged by the father of the bride. The father would arrange the

wedding ceremony, the husband of the bride to be and the dowry (a

payment made to th...

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the dramatic fight scenes, that make us appreciate the play a little

bit more. The fact that the attitudes to love and marriage have

changed over time does not hinder our appreciation of the play,

instead it allows us to see different points of view on the matters.

However, the story is meant to be about love, which Shakespeare does

through showing the lengths that some people may go to for love,

(although at times they may seem, unrealistic to us). He does not only

show this through the eccentric Romeo, but through the sonnets that

other characters recite during the play. This I feel, on top of every

other aspect of the play, rules out the fact that attitudes to love

and marriage were different in the sixteenth century, and does not

hinder our appreciation of the play, as there is so much more to

appreciate.