The part of the play where Romeo first sees Juliet is a very important part of how Shakespeare convinces the reader that love at first sight exists however Shakespeare also places some doubt in the readers mind at this point about how genuine and long lasting Romeo and Juliet’s love would have been. This is because before Romeo sees Juliet he is in love with another girl called Rosaline but when he meets Juliet he forgets all about her and is suddenly in love with Juliet instead. Here Shakespeare leaves the reader to interprite and guess at the meaning of this. Some readers of the play may use this as an example of how Shakespeare portrayed love at first sight to be such a real and powerful phenomenon; it may come across to them as very convincing. This is because even though Romeo loved Rosaline, as soon as he saw Juliet something was powerful enough to make him instantly love her.
There are also many other factors of the play which Shakespeare has created which make the reader doubt Romeo and Juliet’s love and therefore love at first sight. One of these is the fact that the characters Romeo and Juliet were so young, although we do not know their exact ages in the play it says that Juliet is nearly fourteen and it is commonly assumed that Romeo is a few years older. This may lead readers to question whether or not it was just ‘puppy love’ or maybe it was just a physical/sexual attraction due to teenage hormones. Some readers may ask whether the only reason Romeo and Juliet married was so they could have sex, as in Shakespeare’s time it was not acceptable to have sex outside of marriage.
When Romeo first sees Juliet he talks about her and this is a very convincingly written passage by Shakespeare to convince the reader that Romeo is in love with Juliet. The first line begins with “O” and ends with an exclamation mark; this shows the reader that Romeo is astounded and that his breath was taken away. The “O” also has a deeper meaning, as it is traditionally a word associated with religion and worship, as people will use it when praying for example ‘O God’. This is a theme that Shakespeare continues throughout the whole play. By using religious language Shakespeare is showing that Romeo considers Juliet to be holy and worthy of his worship. This idea is further supported when Romeo later says Juliet is like a saint. Shakespeare has also used a metaphor that Juliet is a star by writing “it seems she hangs upon the cheek of night”. The use of this metaphor is very important as it links in with the other themes which Shakespeare also continues throughout the play about astrology, the stars and fate. It signifies that they were destined for disaster. This could be interpreted by the reader as more proof that Romeo and Juliet did fall in love were meant to be together or that they were never supposed to be together and weren’t in love and that’s ultimately why at the end they die.
The point in the play where Romeo and Juliet speak to one another is important in convincing the reader that they are in love. The most obvious of these is that Shakespeare has written their first meeting in a sonnet, which is the classical way to write a love poem. This immediately tells the reader that Romeo and Juliet are in love. The whole of the sonnet is an extended metaphor about Juliet being holy. Romeo uses the words holy shrine which in reality is usually a statue of Mary and so he is saying that Juliet is holy and also that she is beautiful because a shrine is usually a very beautiful place. However there is also a link in this to their death, as a shrine is usually for a dead person and there are also relics in it which hints at the idea of fate and destiny again, which Shakespeare has used throughout the play. The religious language and metaphors are the way Romeo and Juliet flirt with each other and there is lots of sexual undercurrents hinted at by Shakespeare. An example of this is the word ‘kiss’ which is used twice and Romeo says, “O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do!” The ‘O’ is significant because although earlier it was used in a religious/praising way it could actually have been added by Shakespeare to show that Romeo is longing for Juliet in a sexual way. This would support the earlier idea that Romeo and Juliet’s marriage was just to enable them to have sex. Shakespeare has linked religion and sex very closely in this play and the first meeting is no exception to this. This is again proof to the reader that Romeo and Juliet are in love. It supports the existence of love at first sight because Romeo and Juliet have only just met but they are already sure of their feelings for each other.
After the sonnet there is a stage direction which says “he kisses her” this is important because it is a climax to the play so far and the first time which Shakespeare says they have touched, it is also important because Shakespeare used very few stage directions as he was there directing his plays at their performances and most of the ones he did include were simply directions to the actors about when to come on and off the stage so the fact that Shakespeare included this means that it is an important and essential part of the play. The kiss helps the reader to believe in the fact that Romeo and Juliet have fallen in love at first sight.
