The Different Types of Love Presented in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

The Different Types of Love Presented in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare has written many plays, especially a lot of tragedies. The

most famous of all Shakespeare's plays is Romeo and Juliet, enjoyed by

different generations down the years. The majority of the play takes

place in the attractive small city of Verona, in the north of Italy.

The play has been adapted in books, ballet and films. Romeo and Juliet

is a play about a young man and a young woman whose families,

Montague's and Capulet's despise each other, but their children, Romeo

Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love without the knowledge of

either sets of parents. The play explores many different views on love

and each character has a different view on life. The types of love

displayed in the play that I intend to discuss include, courtly love,

bawdy love, true love and infatuation.

At the beginning of the play we are introduced to two characters,

Sampson and Gregory, both employed as servants of the Capulet

household. They display a vulgarity and crudeness, and see women as

objects of desire, believing them to be weak. The love they express

towards women is bawdy, basically of a lustful nature, as illustrated

by Sampson, "Tis true, and therefore women being the weaker vessels

are ever thrust to the wall." A further example of bawdy love is

Mercutio, Romeo's friend, and his attitude towards life. He behaves in

a bawdy manner, throughout. One of the most obvious instances is

revealed in the scene where together with his friends Romeo and

Benvolio he refers to women in an uncomplimentary way,

"This is the hag when maids lie on their backs

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... live life and be with her, or die and for them to be together.

Juliet wakes up after Romeo has killed himself and realising what has

happened is also unable to continue to live without her true love

Romeo and takes a dagger, stabs herself, and falls dead,

"O happy dagger,

This is thy sheath;

There rust and let me die."

This final tragic scene illustrates the depth of love between the two

main characters.

The play concentrates on the heartbreaking love story between Romeo

and Juliet and highlights various forms of love mainly involving these

two main characters. We gain an insight into the complex sides of

human nature and the way in which people show love in different ways.

The full extent of true love is revealed in the final scene where both

Romeo and Juliet are unable to live without each other.