Romeo And Juliet Love Essay

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An Exploration of Love Between the Characters
Romeo and Juliet in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

It is universally acknowledged that William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet is regarded as the most famous tragic love story in English literature (Weis, 1). The play outlines the story of ‘a pair of star-crossed lovers’ (1.Prologue.6); Romeo and Juliet, which fall in a love that totally consumes them and results in their tragic death. Consequently, love is regarded as the most dominant and significant theme, as it is the motive supporting Romeo and Juliet’s actions throughout the play. The love presented between Romeo and Juliet can be criticised and interpreted differently. A majority of the audience perceives the love as brave and courageous as it challenges the traditions of its time, the Elizabethan Era (Weis, 18). It is naturally accepted as an idealistic love, longing for perfection that causes its own destruction. However, some argue that the love between the main characters is superficial, solely based on lust and physical desire (Belsey, 127). This essay will firstly discuss how Shakespeare challenged societal conventions through the concept of love in the play. Additionally, it will explore the opposing views regarding the love portrayed by examining both, Romeo and Juliet’s idea of love, in which Shakespeare effectively presented through his use of language and technique. Lastly, this essay will study the power of the forbidden love between the main characters and highlight its consequences.

Shakespeare wrote the famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet sometime between the years 1594 and 1595, during the Renaissance Period (Mason, 7). The love evident in the play both challenged and fulfilled the social norms of it...

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...wever, ironically, it drives them further apart, consequently leading to their tragic deaths.

Draper argues that the mishaps of the play were merely ‘by chance’ resulting in the unfortunate death of the heroes of the play (16). However, it is very clear that had Romeo and Juliet acted rationally, the mishaps would have not occurred. Shakespeare carefully planned the plot to emphasize the power of love and how it lead to the characters’ destruction (Mason, 51).

Although the love story of Romeo and Juliet ends tragically, in the final scenes of the play, Shakespeare successfully highlights the correlation between love and unity. Unfortunately, Romeo and Juliet had to die for Montague and Capulet to finally unite in their mourning (Weis, 17). This emphasizes the concept that ‘love conquers all’, destroying a powerful, passionate love, and uniting prolonged enemies.

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