Death In Romeo And Juliet

Love and Death

For years Love and Death has been the primary topic of literature, poetry, music, and art. The English poet and playwright William Shakespeare has included the idea of love and death into many pieces of his countless work. The undeniable connection of love and death is especially present throughout the entirety of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Death is love's greatest enemy; however, without death love simply could not exist.

The intensity and perfection of Romeo and Juliet’s love could never have lasted for an eternity. Even Friar Laurence recognizes the truth, that love must die. During Romeo and Juliet’s wedding the Friar warns Romeo not to love so passionately saying, “Long love doth so, too swift arrives

as tardy as too slow.” (2.6.14-15) The Friar suggests to Romeo that he must take it slow with Juliet and love her modestly for the admiration Romeo has for Juliet can be harmful to the duration of their love. However Shakespeare's play moves fast with action and intense emotions. After all Romeo did marry Juliet after only just meeting her the night before. Romeo even remarks “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” (1.5.52-53) after seeing Juliet for the first time during the same day he was completely love sick over Rosaline. With the extreme emotions Romeo has and swiftness of the play it becomes apparent that Romeo will not love her in moderation, but will love Juliet with great intensity and passion. However, Romeo’s love can only extend. As time continuously passes his love for Juliet will begin to lessen in its power and start to dim. In sonnet 15, another work of Shakespeare's, he alludes that alike the love in Romeo and Juliet “Everything holds in perfection but a little moment.” The love that is portrayed throughout the play could not have been everlasting, seeing as that kind of love must eventually fall. For a love to be so strong it must be infatuated and short lived.
From the very beginning of the play in the prologue Shakespeare explains that Romeo and Juliet’s love is doomed.

Shakespeare refers to the play as a “fearful passage of [...] death-marked love.” (1.Prologue.9) Both Romeo and Juliet constantly configure confidential plans and do their best to have a sense of security. However Despite their best efforts their love results in death. For instance, after Romeo is banished from the city of Verona Juliet threatens to kill herself while telling the Friar that “God join'd my heart and Romeo’s, thou our hands; and ere this hand, by thee to Romeo’s sealed.” (4.1.55-56) Juliet believes that death is the only solution for their love since she can no longer love Romeo as god intended. She does not kill herself now but later does for the same reasons. It is also apparent that Romeo and Juliet’s love is doomed from the very beginning because of their unfortunate circumstances. The Romeo’s family The Montagues and Juliet’s family The Capulets are engrossed in a severe feud. The hatred between the two families makes it nearly impossible for Romeo and Juliet to be together. Their love is always surrounded by the constant and lurking presence of death. And because of the circumstances and fate of Romeo and Juliet, the results of their love is far beyond their control. Their love is bond to end in

death.
There are very few times throughout the play in which Romeo and Juliet are actually alone together, and in every one of these encounters the thought of death is mentioned.

For example on the night that Romeo meets Juliet outside her balcony she looks down upon him and says to him “Methinks I see thee; now thou art so low, as one is dead in the bottom of a tomb.” (3.5.55-56) Juliet’s imagination is not far from the truth in the way that she completely foreshadowed his death. Much like Juliet, Romeo refers to death during their wedding. Romeo exclaims “Do thou but close our hand with holy words, then love-devouring death do what he dare; it is enough I may but call her mine.” (2.6.7-8) Romeo describes how death destroys love, however he does not care because he is the one that gets to love Juliet. He also realizes that their love will not last forever but it is worth it. At the end of the play when Juliet finds Romeo dead in the tomb she remarks, “What’s here? A cup closed in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. O churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after?” (5.3.61-64) When Juliet found Romeo dead she reacted calmly and not hysterical. In fact she was mad that he didn’t leave her enough poison to kill herself as well. Juliet was content knowing that she must die to remain in love. From the beginning of their romantic relationship to the end Romeo and Juliet had a way of foreseeing the future and their inevitable

destiny.
Despite everything Romeo and Juliet’s love had to die, because all love requires death. However in some ways Romeo and Juliet were able to preserve their love by killing themselves. The gift of their deaths saved them from the ineluctability of the dimming of their love. Their love died when they did. Like them their love died young and full of intense passion and admiration. Their deaths did not only preserve their love, but it also resulted in the birth of a new love between their feuding families. All in all Shakespeare was able to convey the compelling connection between love and death through Romeo and Juliet and show how the two are completely intertwined with each other. He showed that Romeo and Juliet not only lived for their love but died because of it.