Romeo and Juliet, one of Shakespeare’s most renowned works, tells the tale of two teenagers who, through chaos and hatred, fall into an illusion of love. Set in the city of Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets, two opposing families, suffer avoidable deaths when their two children, Romeo and Juliet, commit suicide. Romeo, the son of Montague, and Juliet, the daughter of Capulet, are infatuated by each other after briefly meeting at a party and are driven to desperation due to their family's dispute. The two share multiple romantic and intimate moments, yet it is outrageous to say that they truly reached what is considered to be “true love.” Love at first sight is merely an attraction based on appearance, conceived without ample knowledge …show more content…
Attraction is a superficial obsession, often concerning what a person finds ideal, physically. It is a relative of lust, as both are as deep as sexual desire, which does not encompass love. It can be someone’s body language, the way they carry themselves, or how they present themselves. In Romeo and Juliet’s case, the term “fatal attraction” comes to mind, not “true love”, which is usually the term associated with what the two felt. The difference is clear because of the fact that the majority of comments that the two make concern physical perfection and an idealization of the other. Both of these things concern what is on the surface, while love encompasses the person as a whole; it is not skin deep. An example of their idealization is Romeo’s, “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon...See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!,” (Act 2, Scene). Romeo speaks of how perfect and beautiful she looks, proving that what they had was a strong attraction, but not quite true love. They speak in entire monologues with various references to the other’s beauty, but none to their nature, or psychological makeup. Love is much more complex than what the other person is presented as, and it cannot be produced by mere sight. The question may arise, if they weren’t in love, why would they go to such extremes? Why place such priority on a mere attraction? Because this attraction gave them both something to escape to. Romeo, just heart-broken over Rosaline and known to be a Petrarchan lover, finds Juliet to fill the hole Rosaline left. Juliet, aware of the fact that she’s most likely going to marry Count Paris (a man she has no interest in), longs to marry someone she loves as well, and at the right time. She has no faith
‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a tragic play about two star crossed lovers written by Shakespeare in 1595. The play is a timeless teenage tradgedy. “The play champions the 16th Century belief that true love always strikes at first sight,” (Lamb 1993: Introduction) and even in modern times an audience still want to believe in such a thing as love at first sight. Act II Scene II the balcony scene displays that romantic notion perfectly.
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:
Romeo is desperate to be in love, and is in fact in love with the idea
Ah! Romeo and Juliet! It is widely regarded as a classic story of true love, but was their love really true? And why should we care about something written over four hundred years ago? Shakespeare’s representation of true love in Romeo and Juliet is still relevant today because he manages to portray the complex, multi-faceted ways in which humans display love. This is particularly important to young people today, because like Romeo and Juliet, they can be led astray by their emotions, by physical appearance and selfish desires.
The 2nd Fight Scene; Zeffirelli’s Film Adaptation Versus Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, one of the greatest tragedies ever written, is about two young star-crossed lovers, whose long-struggled love ends with death that rejoins their feuding families. Both Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann, two prominent directors, depict Romeo and Juliet in different ways that highlight different aspects and themes of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A particular scene: the second fight scene, occurs when Tybalt, Lady Capulet’s nephew, demands to fight with Romeo, Montague’s son. An immense quarrel breaks out, where both Tybalt and Mercutio (a close friend to Romeo) die. Although they bear some superficial similarities, the differences between the 2nd
Romeo and Juliet is a play that explains the strong love between two teenagers that soon results in their demise. This play is categorized as one of Shakespeare’s tragedy plays. Yet, many people prefer categorize this play as a romance or play about love. What does this really mean you might be asking. I think that a play about love means that this play is attempting to explain what love is and why it makes people do the things they do. I believe this because throughout the first act it discusses Romeo’s past love and how it affected him. It also describes the love that begins to develop between Romeo and Juliet just through a single conversation and a kiss. However, there are many different views on love throughout just the first act.
Romeo and Juliet are renowned for their romantic tale. However, seldom do we remember that the play is entitled The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, and their story is not a happy one. Shakespeare uses fire to show the two sides of passion, love and hatred, in order to remind the audience that the story of Romeo and Juliet is, after all, a tragedy by hinting that their relationship was doomed from the start. He does so by demonstrating that Romeo’s love for Juliet is not as intense as we would think, indicating the existence of two passions represented by fire, associating fire with love and hatred and linking the two, and ultimately showing that Romeo and Juliet’s passionate love could not be separated from their families’ passionate hatred for
up against and why it was so difficult for them to admit to the world
It is obvious that the love Romeo has for Juliet is true and deep, it
In the first scene of Act one there is the servants Sampson and Gregory talking about sexual love. As they both talk about taking girls virginity. They both sound arrogant as they talk as if it is through experience. To them the thoughts of taking a girl’s virginity seems a joking matter.
Juliet, being at the age to marry, Capulet asked her nicely to look and meet the young gentlemen for a possible spouse. Whether by fate or purpose, Juliet is undoubtedly attracted to Romeo and “falls in love at first sight”. This connects to the topic and genre of fairy tales. In a fairy tale, the main plot is that a princess falls in love with a prince and they fall in love after a struggle and they live happily ever after. Shakespeare’s drama is also very similar to these stories but takes a dark turn and “the love at first sight” is what causes the demise of the lovers.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play commonly viewed and known as a true love story; however, after analyzing several hints portrayed by the protagonists, it is evident that Shakespeare did not intend to make Romeo and Juliet seem like a true love story but a criticism of how superficial society’s view on love is.
There are many types of live whether it's romantic, parental, friendship, family honor, or unrequited love. Often times love is interpreted differently. Each type is presented in its own way. In the story of Romeo and Juliet each type of love is clearly shown. Although they are all presented in this story, William Shakespeare, the author had put both parental and friendship love very frequently in this story. Each type of love has many similarities and differences.
The way one chooses to use anything can be immensely powerful, with positive or negative effects on his or her surroundings. Friar Laurence, in Romeo and Juliet, wisely notes this fact. One example of this is how love affects different characters in the story. The Nurse loves Juliet to no end as if Juliet were her own daughter. This way, Juliet has the mother figure her biological mother is incapable of being, and receives the care that every child craves. The Nurse is willing to deliver materials for Juliet’s secret wedding, too. The Nurse says, “Hie you to church; I must another way, / To fetch a ladder, by the which your love / Must climb a bird’s nest soon when it is dark” (Shakespeare 2.5.71-73). Here, love is given to Juliet in a manner
Mercutio tells this story because that is the way he feels about love; which is