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Analysis of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
Analysis of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
Character analysis of juliet in Romeo and juliet
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Inconstant Passion With Consequences
Extreme passion results in irrational actions with horrifying consequences. The indecisive and fervent whims regarding love and the human heart are often selfish and fickle. For the victims of love, destruction is often inevitable. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, unrequited love forces both Romeo and Juliet to commit suicide, as neither one believes it is possible to continue life without the other. Both, through mere days of desperation, elation, deception, and grief, were ultimately cheated out of their lives by their love. Shakespeare develops a similar opinion through Helena in A Midsummers Night’s Dream. Helena is able to recognize love as a volatile creature, yet with uncontrollable power over the heart.The transient nature of love is channeled through deception and clouded judgement.
Although seemingly constant, love changes on impulse to align with wanton desire. In Act I, scene 2, of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is introduced as a classic Petrarchan lover, pinning over the beautiful Rosaline, who has sworn to be chaste. Though Benvolio attempts to convince Romeo to seek other women, he swears that he shall never love another woman. However, mere hours later, he pledges his love to Juliet at the Capulet ball. After telling the Friar of his new love for Juliet, the sensible Friar exclaims,
“Holy Saint Francis! What a change is here!
Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.
Jesu Maria! What a deal of brine
Hath washed thy sallow cheeks for Rosaline!”
(II.iii.65-70)
The Friar is attempting to exemplify Romeo’s instant transition from Rosaline to Juliet. His mention of the ...
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... meet a quick and fiery end as well, as compared to the reaction between fire and gunpowder. Though unable to control their feelings for one another, Romeo and Juliet are fully responsible for the methods and decisions they made, as well as the consequences of their actions. Their passion and dedication are admirable, yet sadly misguided. The boundary between love and hate is blurred in Romeo and Juliet, with extreme passion often causing either love or hate to be sacrificed in the name of the other. This parallel is a precursor to the nature of love and its appeal to human nature. The selfish desires of humanity are sated by the indulgence in temperamental love, which, when underestimated, will not hesitate to prey upon the evil cravings of the human soul.
Works Cited
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s impulsiveness contributes to the tragedy of the play. There is no doubt that Romeo rushes into love throughout the play. One example of this is when he falls in love with Rosaline. Although Rosaline is not a major role in the play, it shows the sorrow and uncertainty Romeo goes through after not being loved back. Marilyn Williamson said “During the time in which he was infatuated with Rosaline, he was … withdrawn into darkness” (6). The fact that Rosaline never shares the same feelings with Romeo, shows how quickly Romeo is to fall in love. “Out of her favor, where I am in love” (Rom. 1.1.158). Ironically, Romeo falls in love with Juliet during his plan to get closer to Rosaline. He is at a Capulet party when he first sees Juliet and
Lust or Love: An Essay Analyzing the Relationship of Romeo and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
relationship to blossom in. Instead of advising Juliet on the dangers of a love that is?too rash, too unadvis?d, too sudden? , she continues to place Romeo upon a pedestal, proclaiming his?face be better than any man?s, his leg excels all men?s, his [body parts] are past compare?. Her haste for Juliet to?hie hence Friar Lawrence? cell?, and preparations for?cords?
They will go to extremes to be together, such extremes as death. Romeo is obsessed with a pledged nun named Rosaline, whom he cries about many times at the beginning of the play. He tells his cousin (Benvolio), “She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair to merit bliss by making me despair/ Do I live dead that live to tell it now” (I i 217-220).
“Don’t waste your love on someone who doesn’t value it.” In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare exposes the life of two young lovers in the Renaissance period fighting for something they cannot live without; each other. Although fate takes its toll, the everlasting feud between two families, conditional love by parents, and the irresponsibility’s of father and mother like figure are the main causes in the death of Romeo and Juliet. The idea of love is something that is valued in this play from many different aspects of characters, lines, and scenes. Shakespeare leaves the minds of readers soaring over not why it happened, but who was at fault.
There are many forces in the tragic play of Romeo and Juliet that are keeping the two young, passionate lovers apart, all emanating from one main reason. In this essay I will discuss these as well as how love, in the end, may have been the cause that led to the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Their strong attraction to each other, which some call fate, determines where their forbidden love will take them.
Throughout Romeo and Juliet, love and hate are combined. However, even though they are combined, love still remains the principal theme in the play. Although in the play, the theme of hatred can be just as important and sometimes it intensifies the theme of love. For example, Romeo and Juliet’s love wouldn’t have been so extreme and powerful unless there was the hatred between the Montague’s and Capulet’s. We observe this from the very beginning of the prologue.
Love is ironic. It can take you anywhere in the world unexpectedly, and turn you into a person that you never were. However, love is also two-faced, having both a negative and positive view. It is what drives you to the point where you do not know who you are anymore. In Shakespeare's story, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare perceives love with the personalities and actions of the characters, Romeo and Juliet. Both Romeo and Juliet are characterized as immature and irrational due to their "love." In addition, both characters fail to realize the reality of life and go towards the path of adolescence. Even though Romeo and Juliet are doomed at the end of the journey of "love," their demise was caused by their rash and silly decisions because their belief of everlasting love blinds them from reality and shapes their lives into an unstoppable time bomb.
Ultimately, Romeo and Juliet become embodiments of impulsiveness. Through their rash words and actions in the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare sets forth that both are too hasty in their decisions, leading them into unfortunate events. As the plot unfolds, Romeo and Juliet’s futile love is torn apart by their family’s hate and animosity towards each other. Despite their constant struggle to let their love survive, it is doomed from the beginning of the tragedy. It is plain that lack of foresight and wisdom leads to disaster all around.
Emphasis on Romeo’s inexperience is displayed through the use of death imagery when he misunderstands Friar Laurence’s advice regarding true love. Although their families are sworn enemies, Romeo is drawn to Juliet at a Capulet party to which he is not invited. The two feel very strongly for one another and believe themselves in love. Instead of attempting to halt his feelings, Romeo goes to the Friar’s cell to ask if he will wed them. However, when he arrives, the Friar points out that Romeo was ‘in love’ with another woman, Rosaline, just the other day. As an attempt to understand this newfound love, Romeo says:
Romeo has a passion for love that is unbreakable, and he will do anything to get who he wants, no matter the consequences that might follow. An example of this is when Romeo goes to Juliet’s balcony and confesses his love for her, but what he does not understand is that “if they do see thee, they will murder thee” (Shakespeare II.ii.75). Romeo has trouble accepting the reality that it will not work out for him or her because of family differences. The intensity of love in both of these texts becomes a dangerous and violent thing.
Despite what many people think, Romeo and Juliet is not a love story; rather a story of desperation and obsession. People have been reading Shakespeare for hundreds of years and several people have mistaken it for a love story, due to the fact that Romeo loves Juliet so much he is willing to kill himself when he finds her supposedly dead; she does the same when she wakes up to find him dead. But in fact, Romeo is more taken aback by her beauty than he is in love with her. Juliet is intrigued by the fact someone could love her because her parents are very unsupportive of her. When the two find each other, they immediately become obsessed, mistaking this for love at first sight.
Ultimately`, William Shakespeare shows in many different ways throughout the play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, that love is the more powerful force than hate. The readers see how the characters continuously forgive one another, even when the conditions are tough. The friendships between specific characters display a loving bond that cannot be broken with hate. Shakespeare demonstrates that Romeo and Juliet’s love can overpower the hate of many events in the play. He shows that their love can even overpower the death of one of their own family members. Romeo and Juliet’s love brings friendship between their feuding families. This story is a true example of how love can conquer all.
... off.”(“Love’s Bond”, Robert Nozick) If that is true when loving someone, Romeo evidently made the wrong decision to kill Tybalt. By fulfilling this revenge, Romeo not only caused Juliet to be upset, but he also placed a burden on himself: an imprudent decision. After analyzing Romeo’s careless approach to risking to lose Juliet’s love, it becomes clear that Romeo’s love for Juliet is not a real romantic love, but it is a hormone-driven, passionate, hasty love that is portrayed as ruinous and preposterous by Shakespeare through Romeo’s actions.
In the play “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare shows that love has power to control one’s actions, feelings, and the relationship itself through the bond between a destined couple. The passion between the pair grew strong enough to have the capability to do these mighty things. The predestined newlyweds are brought down a rocky road of obstacles learning love’s strength and the meaning of love.