How does Shakespeare explore the theme of love in Rome & Juliet?

The central theme of Romeo and Juliet is love. Although Shakespeare explores many themes throughout the play such as hatred (of the two families), violence (that occurs between them) and murder (when Romeo kills Tybalt), love is outwardly the dominant and most significant theme because the entire play is based upon a relationship between two people.

At the time of Shakespeare, A couple wouldn’t marry just because of love. Arranged marriages were very usual for wealthy and prosperous families (e.g. Montague and Capulet). Arranged marriages would secure their wealth and there allegiance. In Shakespeare’s time, people would marry at very young ages (i.e. Juliet who got married at the age of 13), which helps to elucidate the unusual nature of love.

A prologue introduces the story in the form of a sonnet (14 lines of poetry), which is split into 3 sections and usually ends in a rhyming couplet (attend…mend). It gives a synopsis of the play. The Antithesis between love and hate pervades Romeo and Juliet, fixed in the action, Juxtaposition of certain scenes and recurrent use of oxymoron. The prologue is a prime example of Antithesis. Line 1 says:

“Two households, both alike in dignity”. This first line describes the two families being as noble and dignified as each other. Line 6-7 says:

“A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows”. These lines imply that a boy from a family and a girl from a different family fall in love but ill-fated tragic calamity overthrows into catastrophic deaths. From line 8 to line 14, the sonnet says that in our two-hour play you will see entertaining and exhilarating acting but surely not boring. It also says that the actor’s hard work will make up for any deficiencies or dearth in the play.

This story enables Shakespeare to explore the theme of love because it is full of possibilities and potential. An example of this is the nurse’s unconditional motherly love for Juliet and how she stands beside her at all situations. In Act 3, Scene 2, line 138-140, the nurse says:

“Hie to your chamber. I’ll find Romeo to comfort you; I wot well where he is. Hark ye, your Romeo will be here at night:” The Nurse has realised that Juliet is horrified and upset as it progressively sinks in that Romeo has been banished so she promises to find Romeo to comfort her.

In Act 3 Scene 1, there is also another fine example of family love where Romeo replies peacefully to Tybalt’s verbal abuse and attempts to make peace with him. Romeo says:

“Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee….”. Romeo feels that his marriage with Juliet has made him feel as if he has family ties with Tybalt but Tybalt obviously unaware with about Romeo’s marriage to Juliet.

I think that using mainly violence and marriage highlights the diverse aspects of love. Family love is highlighted when Lady Capulet cries over Tybalt’s death. (His death involved violence) or when Romeo offers his love to Tybalt because of his marriage with Juliet or the unconditional motherly love that the nurse had for Juliet throughout her life.

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Romeo does indeed experience a love of such purity and passion that he kills himself when he believes that the object of his love, Juliet, has died. Romeos love matures over the course of the play, from the shallow desire to be in love, to a profound and intense passion. Yet Romeo’s deep capacity for love is merely a part of his larger capacity for intense feeling of all kinds. Love forces him to sneak into the garden of his enemy’s daughter, risking death simply to catch a glimpse of her. Anger compels him to kill his wife’s cousin in a reckless duel to avenge the death of his friend Mercutio. Misery and anguish induces him to suicide upon hearing of Juliet’s death. Such extreme behaviour dominates Romeo’s character throughout the play. Among his friends, especially while joking with Mercutio, Romeo shows glimpses of his social personality. He is intelligent, quick-witted, and fond of verbal jousting, (Particularly about sex. Romeo says:

I stretch it out for that word “broad”, which added to the “goose”, proves thee far and wide a broad goose). He is also loyal and unafraid of death.

Juliet is at an age that stands on the border between immaturity and maturity. At the beginning of the play she seems to be fairly obedient, protected and a little naïve. Juliet seems to have no friends of her own age, and she is not comfortable talking about sex as seen in her uneasiness as the nurse talks about a sexual joke at Juliet’s expense. The nurse says:

“No less? Nay. Bigger! Women grow by men”.

Juliet’s first meeting with Romeo propels her towards adulthood as she experiences her first and deep love. Juliet is also very cautious about her immediate attraction to Romeo, which worries her. She says:

“It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden”. She is anxious about the suddenness of it all. When she wakes in the tomb to find Romeo dead, she does not kill herself out of feminine weakness, but rather out of intensity of love, just like Romeo. But Juliet’s suicide needed more nerve than Romeo’s. While he swallows poison, she stabs herself through the heart with a dagger. Juliet’s development from a wide-eyes teenager into a self confident, loyal, and capable woman is a great example of characterization.

By the end of the play, I felt that their love symbolised death-marked love. I also felt that the long-standing feud between the Montague and the Capulet’s was the reason why Romeo and Juliet’s love was so ill fated.

Romeo and Juliet do not just love each other. Throughout the play, Shakespeare explores many different kinds of relationships i.e. Romeo’s love for Rosaline. Romeo was mentally wounded because of Rosaline. Romeo loved her deeply, (the usual man to woman relationship) but she didn’t love him back.

Romeo says:

“When devout religion of mine eye maintains such falsehood, then turn tears to fire; And these, who, often drowned, could never die, transparent heretics, be burnt for liars”. He is ostensibly lovesick for her. The importance of Rosaline is that she shows the state of Romeo. Romeo uses the word “religion” for looking at Rosaline. This single word expresses his passionate love for Rosaline as he implies that merely looking at her is religion to him.

Family relationships play a very important role in Romeo & Juliet. In Act 3 Scene 1, Lady Capulet calls upon the prince to punish Tybalt’s murderer.

She says:

“Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother’s child! O prince! O cousin! Husband! O the blood is spilled of my dear kinsman. Prince, as thou art true, for blood of ours, shed blood of Montague. O cousin, cousin!”. She is evidently disturbed and distressed because of the death of her cousin Tybalt. She would not be so upset if Tybalt hadn’t been a member of her family highlighting the significance of family relationships. Lady Capulet says: “O cousin” many times rather than “O Tybalt”. This shows that her sympathy is more for him because of her there family relationship rather than someone she only knows. Tybalt has excessive detestation and abhorrence for the Montague’s. Romeo says:

“I do protest I never injured thee, but love thee better than thou can’st devise. Till thou shalt know the reason of my love”. Romeo feels that his marriage to Juliet (A Capulet) has made him a member of Tybalt’s family but Tybalt clearly disagrees because of his tremendous family loyalty . This is another example of family relationships that Shakespeare has explored.

In Act 1 Scene 3, Lady Capulet commends Paris and gives Juliet influential and convincing causes for marrying him. Juliet ends up considering Paris as a probable husband. Lady Capulet says:

“Read o’er the volume of young Paris’ face”. Lady Capulet speaks high of Paris as she tries persuading Juliet to marry Paris. She uses words like “young” and “volume”. This is an example of an extended metaphor. Paris has deep feeling for Juliet but lacks the passion that animates Romeo.

Friar Laurence is a kind-hearted cleric who helps Romeo and Juliet throughout the play. He is the sole figure of religion in the play. Shakespeare here uses paternal and fatherly love. He marries Romeo and Juliet as part of a plan to end the civil strife in Verona. He devises a plan to reunite Romeo and Juliet using sleep potion. Friar Lawrence is clearly trying to aid Romeo and Juliet. The Friar says:

“Come, come with me, and we will make short work; For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone”. Not only as the Friar shown interest in helping but has also shown love for Romeo. This is because he hides Romeo in his cell and advises them frequently. The Friar says:

“Love moderately”. Friar Laurence is vexed that Romeo and Juliet’s sudden and passionate love might be dangerous.

The Friar also says:

“Violent delights have violent ends”. Oxymoron has been used here.

The Nurse is an earthy, long-winded and usually a sentimental woman. She is evidently more than Juliet’s confidante. In many ways she is her mother. The nurse raised Juliet and looked after her as if she were her own daughter. The Nurse says:

“Lammas-Eve at night shall be fourteen. Susan and she”. This small quote verifies the strong relationship between the Nurse and Juliet. The Nurse says:

“Susan and she”. This confirms that the Nurse has the same motherly feeling she has for Juliet as she had for her own child Susan, who died. The nurse showed great respect for Romeo because of his relationship with Juliet. The Nurse is a faithful intermediary in Juliet's affair with Romeo. The Nurse evidently appreciates a handsome face and a courteous gesture.

Mercutio has a lightening-quick wit and an extremely clever mind. Mercutio constantly puns jokes and teases but usually in fun and bitterness. Mercutio dies cursing all Montague’s and Capulet’s. In other words, Mercutio sees people as being responsible for his death rather than an exterior force. Mercutio cares about Romeo’s feelings and isn’t satisfied only when Romeo is. In Act 2 Scene 4, Benvolio, Romeo and Mercutio pause outside Capulet’s house as they arrange an entrance. Romeo is still lovesick but Mercutio tries to cheer him up. Romeo wants to remain outside and “bear the light”. Mercutio says:

“Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance” This quote shows that Mercutio wants Romeo to be cheerful and exultant. In Act 3 Scene 1, Mercutio disapproves with Romeo’s attitude as he tries to make peace with Tybalt so he steps up to fight in the name of honour. Mercutio says:

“O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!” Mercutio believes that Romeo’s “peaceful” approach is dishonourable.

Benvolio is Romeo’s cousin. He has a strong relationship with Romeo and never gives up in attempt to cheer him up. In Act 1 Scene 2, Benvolio is determined to help Romeo forget about Rosaline. Rome says:

“Thou canst not teach to forget”. Benvolio replies by saying:

“I’ll pay that doctrine, or else die in debt”, meaning that he will teach Romeo how to forget Rosaline or die the attempt. This quote emphasizes the relationship between Romeo and Benvolio and how Benvolio is seriously trying to help.

In Romeo and Juliet, the idea of Fate is essential. At the start of the Prologue, it tells the audience that Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed”- that is to say that fate controls them and that they are meant to be together. But the word “fate” gives this sense of no escape giving the play a tremendous dramatic impact. This sense of fate infuses the play, and not just for the audience. The characters are also aware of it. When Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, he cries out, “Then I defy you, stars” completing the idea that the love between Romeo and Juliet is in disagreement to the verdict of destiny. In Act 3 Scene 1 Romeo says:

“I am fortunes fool”, meaning that he is like a household fool, kept by fortune (or fate) for its own pleasure. Fate is at hinted again. I believe that Romeo’s determination to spend eternity with Juliet results in death. The mechanism of fate works in all of the events surrounding the lovers: the conflict between their families and the horrible series of accidents that ruin Friar Laurence’s seemingly good intentioned plans and the tragic timing of Romeo’s suicide and Juliet’s awakening. These events are not pure coincidence but symptoms of fate that helps to bring the unstoppable outcome of Romeo and Juliet’s death.

The theme of hate and violence is always present throughout the whole play. An example of hate is in Act 1 Scene 5 when Tybalt discovers Romeo’s presence in the hall of the Capulet’s house. Tybalt says:

“This, by his voice, should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier boy”. Tybalt is not 100% sure that Romeo is a Montague because he says, “Should be a Montague” but because of his immense hate for any Montague he is immediately resorting to violence as he asks for a light sword. In this particular case, the theme of hate is contrasted with the theme of love because in the same scene Romeo spots Juliet and is dazzled by her beauty.

In Act 3 Scenes 1, hate and violence is contrasted with the theme of love. Tybalt beats Romeo but Romeo tries to maintain peace by being open with Tybalt and telling him that he loves him (because of his marriage to Juliet). Because of Romeo’s attempts to break up the fight, he accidently causes Mercutio to be fatally wounded. Mercutio says: “t is not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door”. A simile is used here, to emphasize the size of the wound in an ironic tone. This comparison is used to enrich the language and create a richer imagery.

In Act 5 Scenes 3, the prince says:

“See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heavens finds means to kill your joys with love”. Shakespeare juxtaposes certain words to highlight the horror of what has happened. The four words Shakespeare added to the Princes quote were “heaven” emphasizing a sort of dreamland, “kill” emphasizing brutality/murder, “joys” emphasizing happiness and “love” emphasizing the man to woman relationship. He also says, “hate”. These bundle of words contrast the theme of love with the theme of hate.

In a brief summary, Shakespeare explores man to woman love, unconditional motherly love, “friendship”, family love and paternal love. The play ends in a very dramatic and shocking way, which creates a tremendous impact on the audience mainly because the two victims who love each other deeply end up being victims of death. I think that at the end of the play, the audience would feel sympathetic for the two lovers as well as stunned to how everything happened so quick.

I think that this play has become a classic play across the world because it is a very symbolic play and shows the true meaning of deep love. It helps people to understand fate and what love can do. But overall, I think that people don’t usually expect such a dramatic and sudden end to the main characters. In ordinary plays, the main characters usually live on where in Romeo and Juliet, they both die.

I get the impression that love is the seventeenth century was much more diverse than love nowadays. Love was usually something that builds up during a relationship that had started at a very young age. Wealthy people would marry other wealthy people to secure their wealth and reputation therefore marriage wasn’t always in the name of love.

In my personal opinion, I think that Shakespeare tries to subconsciously tell us that love that is too passionate or too deep can lead into disasters. He tries to tell us not to love too much and keep it controlled. Shakespeare does a very good job in making his message very straightforward and direct. He could have just let the characters split up for ever but he decided to end the play in death emphasizing his point. But ultimately, I think that love has mended the hate, bringing the families to a point reflection and reconciliation.