Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Browning's Sonnet 43

A good relationship cannot be found, it has to be created. Relationships are different for everybody and most of us feel we need a good relationship in our lives to make us feel better and live happier but that is that always necessarily the case? ‘Thefreedictionary.com’ defines relationship as ‘The condition or fact of being related; connection or association’ whereas the ‘urbandictionary.com’ defines a relationship as ‘A legal form of prostitution where a female collects money, cars, and other valuable things in exchange for sex’, both definitions are very different but which Is right and which is wrong? Truth is both may be right. The definition of relationship depends upon how you see it, therefore meaning there may be millions of different definitions out there. Shakespeare and Elizabeth Barrett Browning both investigate the developments and growth in relationships in their texts ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Sonnet 43’. Many similarities emerge from both texts despite both authors being centuries apart.

On first seeing Juliet, Shakespeare uses light and dark imagery to emphasise Juliet’s beauty. Romeo exclaims ‘O, she [Juliet] doth teach the torches to burn bright!’ he describes Juliet’s beauty as being brighter than the light of a torch. Light and dark imagery is used to create mood and show contrast as the light of a torch is used to show the way in darkness and is also suggested to be a beacon of hope, this proposes Romeo was in the dark and Juliet is his light to guide the way. Romeo also compares Juliet to ‘a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear’ the bright glare of Juliet’s looks are made even brighter as a ‘bright jewel’ contrasts against the darkness of an ‘Ethiop’s ear’, this simile is used to highlight Juliet as a rare, unique...

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...onsidered to be a huge romantic gesture; it allowed the writers thoughts and feelings to be spoken through words. It was a way to tell their lovers how they truly felt, in what was at the time one of the most romantic ways to do so. It allowed both poets to create dramatic effects when needed, explore their emotions and declare their love as everlasting. This was all done in 14 lines, usually following the structure of an iambic pentameter. The structure of Sonnet 43 can be differentiated from the more traditional Shakespearean sonnet as it follows the structure of an Italian sonnet (also known as the Petrarchan sonnet) rather than the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet. The first 8 lines which are known as the octave imposes a problem of some sort, the first four lines (quatrain) typically introduce the problem; the next quatrain is where the problem is developed.