Romeo as a Typical Courtly Lover in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is portrayed as a typical courtly lover. In my essay I will be examining the first act of the play and exploring Romeo as a courtly lover and his transition from loving Rosaline to loving Juliet. In traditional medieval literature there were often fictional characters who were known as courtly lovers. At the start of the play Shakespeare has portrayed Romeo as a traditional courtly lover because he follows the rules of courtly love. In the first scene of act 1, Montague describes Romeo's odd behaviour to Benvolio. Montague says: "And private in his chamber pens himself, Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, And makes himself an artificial night:" Romeo's behaviour shows that he follows the rule of courtly love, that is, the man locks him self in his bedroom. This is because he isn't loved, by the lady he loves. Montague's description of Romeo's behaviour echoes a description taken from the work of Chaucer, a writer of medieval literature. This extract is taken from 'Troilus and Crisyede' written in the 1300's: "He rist up and every done he shette, And window ek, and thu this sorowful man Upon his beckles syde adown him sette, Ful lik a ded ymage, pale and wan" Both Romeo and Troilus here display traits of courtly love. This shows that Romeo is a traditional courtly lover because Montague's words about Romeo's behaviour echos those of Troilus, an original figure of courtly love. They both shut them selves away in their rooms, also away from the world and the truth that the woman can ne... ... middle of paper ... ...nd Juliet sharing a sonnet it emphasises that Romeo's love for Juliet, is requited therefore it isn't possible for him to be a courtly lover. More evidence that supports Romeo not being a courtly lover is Juliet's declaration of love for Romeo. Juliet says: "Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enermy." This breaks the rule that the men fall in love with women who don't love them back. At the start of the play Romeo demonstrated that he was a typical courtly lover, however as the first act progressed, Romeo broke the main conventions of courtly love. Even though Romeo still portrays some traits of a courtly lover, I believe that these traits are greatly outweighed by the broken rules of courtly love. Overall I think that Romeo is not and never was an absolute courtly lover.
“Well, you have made a simple choice, you know not how to choose a man: Romeo? No, not he; though his face be better than any man’s and for a hand and a foot and a body, though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare. He is not the flower of courtesy, but I’ll warrant him, as gentle as a lamb. Go thy ways, wench, serve God. What, have you dined at home?” (Shakespeare 2.5 38-44) The nurse says that while Romeo is very attractive, he is not very kind and rude. Romeo could also be described as selfish and conceited. Why would Juliet fall in love with a jerk? Because he’s hot. Romeo swears his love to Juliet on the moon the night they decide to get married. Juliet says to “swear not by the moon, th’inconstant moon” (Shakespeare 2.2 109). The moon is a feminine symbol that stands for eternity and the rhythm of time. While Romeo intends to swear his love on the constant rhythm and time of the moon, Juliet believes that because of the “monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy prove likewise variable”, it would be inconsistent to swear love on the moon (Shakespeare 2.2 110-11). Juliet is starting to love Romeo, not just for his looks, by wanting him to swear his love on something more constant and stable. Juliet doesn’t want their love to be
"Do you particularly like the man?’ He muttered, at his own image; ‘why should you particularly like a man who resembles you? There is nothing in you to like…" (Dickens 103). Romeo Montague is no less desultory, but youth is his excuse, while alcohol and lifelong disappointment are Carton’s. Shakespeare has Friar Lawrence state [about Romeo’s multiple infatuations], "Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes" (1.3.67-68). Having not experienced life yet, Romeo does not yet understand the nature of love. He still sees it as a physical reaction, rather than emotional, "For beauty, starved with her severity / cuts beauty off from all prosperity" (1.1.227-228). Juliet is so immature and unskilled in the ways of love, that she shares her youthful desperation with her nurse, "Go ask his name; if he is married / my grave is like to be my wedding bed" (1.
The Portrayal of Romeo and Juliet's Relationship in the Play. In my opinion, the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is portrayed. in lots of different ways. It is portrayed as tragic, united, shows.
can see his importance in the title of the play; he is named in the
Juliet is a very loving person, especially towards Romeo. During the balcony scene when Romeo is about to leave, Juliet says, “A thousand times goodnight!/(2.2.154) I shall forgot, to have thee still stand there, Rememb’ring how I love thy company.”(2.2.173-174) Juliet feels true love with Romeo, as she expresses this through her actions, each time he speaks, each time they kiss, Juliet never wants to leave Romeo’s side. Shakespeare continues to make it clear that Juliet is a loving person through the people she close with. Romeo and Juliet have fallen in love so quickly that the nurse hopes that Juliet will get married while she’s alive, even if it means that Juliet marries at a young age.
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the views of love held by the character Romeo contrast sharply with the views of Mercutio. Romeo's character seems to suffer from a type of manic depression. He is in love with his sadness, quickly enraptured and easily crushed again on a passionate roller coaster of emotion. Mercutio, by contrast is much more practical and level headed. His perceptions are clear and quick, characterized by precise thought and careful evaluation. Romeo, true to his character begins his appearance in the play by wallowing in his depression over Rosaline who does not return his love:
Like Friar Laurence’s hypothetical kiss between fire and powder, Romeo and Juliet have one night together, then the situation implodes, with Romeo banished for slaying Tybalt and Juliet betrothed to Paris. The obsession that the ill-fated lovers have for one-another is, in the very extremity that pulls them together, deadly. Romeo’s obsession with Juliet and his honor, and, as a result, mortality, leads to the death of numerous characters, both innocent men and pugnacious brawler. Romeo’s obsession with seeing Juliet and dying next to her leads to Paris’s death outside Juliet’s tomb. Likewise, the obsession with honor leads Romeo to slay Tybalt, his cousin of one hour following Romeo and Juliet’s marriage. At the crossroads of his joint obsessions with Juliet and honor, Romeo poignantly states, “My reputation stained/With Tybalt’s slander.—Tybalt, that an hour/Hath been my kinsman!” (III i 73-75). The theme of obsession is a powerful undercurrent in Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare does not waste a chance to accentuate its importance. When Romeo goes to Friar Laurence to requisition a marriage with Juliet, the friar chidingly says, “For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.”(II iii 82). Here, Shakespeare hints that the attraction that the lovers feel for one-another is obsessive, and reinforces the difference between obsession and true love. Also, he uses frequent, deadly duels to underline
Although the lovers are both fairly impudent throughout the play, Romeo, the male lead, is even more so. Through out the play of Romeo and Juliet, the Montague heir has ceased maturity over the course of the Shakespearean tragedy. First of all, it was “Rosaline” (II.iii.67). whom Romeo “didst love so dear” (II.iii.67). at the beginning of the play as he “groaned . . . woes for Rosaline” (II.ii.74-78) however, he easily fell out of lover with her and in love with the “fair daughter of the rich Capulet” (II.iii.58) like he was changing his mind on a meal he’d order. Also, he fell out of love with Rosaline because she did not “doth grace for grace and love for love allow.” (II.iii. 85-88) which basically meant that Romeo didn’t love Rosaline because she didn’t love him back, which is very childish in hindsight. Another way that Romeo is immature is that he doesn’t have a sense of reality fore, he’s always either extremely depressed, like when Rosaline wanted to remain chaised for life or extremely elated like when he met Juliet, while having no real middle ground for his emotions. These are all reasons why Romeo is immature: he’s always heads over heels in love for trivial reasons and he has no to little sense of reality.
Love in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare examines the concepts of love in the tragic play
In the Elizabethan time, Shakespeare uses language that was considered educated and proper in the things he wrote. One of his famous pieces, Romeo and Juliet, stands as one of those examples. In one of the best strategies Shakespeare wrote, Romeo and Juliet's story line and language conveys different scenes and diverse character personalities that capture the relation of the characters and the story itself. Romeo and Juliet's story is about a romance which lead into a tragedy. For this essay, I chose to write about Juliet's "traditional" and "rebellious". Juliet is traditional since she decided to wait to have sexual intercourse with Romeo until they are married, she also had a traditional marriage, and got married when she
Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous love tales, but what if the play is not actually a tale of love, but of total obsession and infatuation. Romeo has an immature concept of love and is rather obsessive. Romeo is not the only person in the play who is obsessed though. Many people throughout the play notice his immaturities about love. Very rarely was true love actually shown in the play. attention. Romeo childishly cries to his friend, Benvolio because Rosaline will not love him back and says " She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow/ Do I live dead that live to tell it now" (I i 219-220). Romeo is stating that he's ready to die for loving Rosaline. This is exactly the same attitude Romeo had towards Juliet a little later in the play. During Scene I, Act ii, Romeo's friend, Benvolio tries to get him to go to the Capulet's party to help him get over Rosaline and meet other women Romeo gets very angry and emotional when he suggests this. “Now Romeo is beloved and loves again, / Alike bewitched by the charm of looks” (II 5-6). The chorus expresses Romeo’s juvenile way...
(II.2.73) after Juliet asks if he is a Montague. He is willing to do anything for the girl he just met (again, touching on the theme of infatuation), and the fact that their two families don’t get along only makes the stakes higher for Romeo.
In this essay I am going to examine love and marriage and the way it
Before I discuss my modifications to the play and how I would go about directing my own version, the way I see the relationship between Romeo and Juliet should be looked at. In my opinion, the couple isn’t genuinely in love. They feelings they have for each other is pure lust, rather then a deep passionate love. I find it unlikely that they can know each other well enough and on such a personal level to have a lasting, meaningful relationship. One minute Romeo is entirely in love with Rosaline and the next Juliet comes in to the picture and Rosaline goes out of his mind entirely. Shakespeare made note of this, by having Friar Lawrence state a question about Romeo’s short love affair with Rosaline. ‘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.’ (2, 3, 65-68)
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a Renaissance poet and playwright who wrote and published the original versions of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, and often called England’s national poet. Several of his works became extremely well known, thoroughly studied, and enjoyed all over the world. One of Shakespeare’s most prominent plays is titled The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In this tragedy, the concept that is discussed and portrayed through the characters is love, as they are recognized as being “in love”. The general umbrella of love encompasses various kinds of love such as romantic love, the love of a parent for a child, love of one’s country, and several others. What is common to all love is this: Your own well-being is tied up with that of someone (or something) you love… When love is not present, changes in other people’s well being do not, in general, change your own… Being ‘in love’ infatuation is an intense state that displays similar features: … and finding everyone charming and nice, and thinking they all must sense one’s happiness. At first glance it seems as though Shakespeare advocates the hasty, hormone-driven passion portrayed by the protagonists, Romeo and Juliet; however, when viewed from a more modern, North-American perspective, it seems as though Shakespeare was not in fact endorsing it, but mocking the public’s superficial perception of love. Shakespeare’s criticism of the teens’ young and hasty love is portrayed in various instances of the play, including Romeo’s shallow, flip-flop love for Rosaline then Juliet, and his fights with Juliet’s family. Also, the conseque...