A Range of Emotions in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

A Range of Emotions in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

The play 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare is a story of

spontaneous true love between the two main characters. After reading

the play in class I showed particularly strong emotions towards it,

the range of feelings I felt throughout the play were predominantly

relevant to me. Although Shakespeare's tale was dramatic I could

relate the characters emotions to my own, this is why I have chosen to

concentrate on episodes throughout the play which carry the passion or

burden of these emotions.

Romeos love for Juliet is instant; as he suddenly drops all previous

feeling to focus on her. His love is to the extent that he feels he

couldn't achieve the affections of one as spectacularly beautiful as

Juliet, something he hasn't laid eyes on before. This becomes apparent

when he says,

"It is the east and Juliet is the sun"

"Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon" (act two, scene 2)

In this scene Romeo admits his undying love for Juliet and proposes

marriage on the first night of their meeting. To me these quotes

suggest Romeo doesn't consider himself worthy of Juliet's love. He

compares Juliet to the sun, a bright, radiant image while he compares

himself to the moon which conjures up a dull and dark picture. He is

then to go on further to say that the moon wants the sun but the sun

shouldn't serve the moon or in the true sense, should Juliet accept

Romeo as her lover? To me Shakespeare has created Juliet's character

to be young and insecure yet clever, in this scene she plays a calm

role yet worries that their love will not flourish even though all

that divides them is the obstacle of their name. Juliet expresses this

in the famous lines,

"O Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?

Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or if thou will not be but sworn

my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet"

Thus showing the emotions of strong love which leads to the couples's