Whipp’d and tormented.”
Romeo describes his metaphorical sufferings caused as a result of his love for Rosaline. He feels he is in “prison” because he is not free to love, his “food” is his mistress, Rosaline, and he is “whipp’d and tormented” by his thoughts because Rosaline prefers to live a life of chastity rather than give herself to a lover. Romeo’s first words to Juliet are in the form of a sonnet feels he is in “prison” because he is not free to love, his “food” is his mistress, Rosaline, and he is “whipp’d and tormented” by his thoughts because Rosaline prefers to live a life of chastity rather than give herself to a lover. Romeo’s love for Rosaline is evidently unreciprocated and causes him nothing but grief, which is not what love should ideally be like. This causes us to believe that Romeo’s obsessive melancholy is unproductive and self-indulgent, and that his feelings for Rosaline are not genuine.
Romeo uses many metaphorical descriptions to depict his feelings for Rosaline, because he is not really in love with her. Shakespeare portrays the courtly love through rhyming couplets that make what Romeo says seem like a forced, rehearsed speech instead of an expression of his true feelings for his love. The language Romeo uses is overly-ornate and artificial. He often talks in oxymorons which show us his confused state of mind and emphasise his inner turmoil. Romeo talks of “brawling love” and “loving hate”, and is clearly confused about what the true meaning of love is supposed to be. Romeo, like a courtly lover, is desperate to fall in love but his view of love is idealised and unrealistic.
Romeo’s depressing love for Rosaline is a stark contrast to the love of him and Juliet. In Act 1, Scene 5, Romeo meets Juliet Capulet and instantly falls in love with her. In this scene, we are shown a different type of love to what Romeo felt for Rosaline – real, pure love, in the most innocent of forms. Romeo quickly forgets about his ‘love’ for Rosaline, proving that what he felt for her was a mere infatuation. He declares he has “ne’er saw true beauty till this night”, speaking of Juliet.
Romeo’s first words to Juliet and her response that the form of two Shakespearean sonnets. The first sonnet is immediately followed by another one, until it is broken up by the Nurse.
The appearance of Juliet in Romeo’s life causes him to start to use a lot of light imagery to describe Juliet physically:
“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!”
Juliet brings light into Romeo’s world which was previously filled with melancholic confusion and dark imagery.
Romeo sees Juliet as very beautiful, comparing her to a rich jewel:
“It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear:
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!”
Through this, we see that Romeo is fascinated by Juliet’s prettiness and has forgotten about Rosaline whom he previously proclaimed “rich in beauty”. Romeo’s love for Juliet has taken over him, and caused him to forget about the unhappiness he felt as a result of his unreciprocated love for Rosaline.
Romeo questions whether he has loved anyone till he met Juliet:
“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”
Romeo is convinced that his love for Juliet is strong and unlike any ever he has felt. He suggests that this love he feels for her is true and honest.
The second sonnet is a dialogue between Romeo and Juliet:
“If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:”
Romeo is ready kiss her hand to make up for such a sin, just as people are prepared to go on pilgrimages to pay tribute to saints:
“My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”
Juliet argues that statues of saints have hands that are touched by pilgrims:
“Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.”
Juliet uses a pun on the word ‘palmer’ to suggest that if they put their hands together it can be seen as a pilgrim’s kiss.
Romeo flirts with Juliet, encouraging her to kiss him:
“Oh then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do!
They pray: grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.
Then move not, while my prayers’ effect I take.”
This exchange of words from Romeo and Juliet ends in a kiss. It is sweet and innocent, and the sonnet generates a feeling of warmth for the couple and satisfaction, that Romeo has finally found a worthy lover.
Romeo and Juliet use puns on religious words in the sonnet, and their speeches to each other are full of religious overtones. Much of what they say concerns the human body. The lovers speak to each other in formal tones, which show the sincerity and purity of their love, as well as their mutual respect of each other. Romeo’s language has become more genuine, and does not seem to be as forced as when Romeo described his love for Rosaline, although what he says can seem slightly rehearsed at times. Juliet tells Romeo he kisses “by the book” rather than from the heart, which suggests that he has not completely left his studied manner of a courtly lover behind.
Romeo and Juliet have fallen in love, but are unaware of the fact that they are supposed to be enemies. Romeo says, “My life is my foe’s debt.” Juliet is equally as shocked to discover that her “only love sprung from my only hate.” Despite this, the lovers arrange to get married which proves to us that the love they share is genuine.
When Romeo finds Juliet ‘dead’, he speaks of his lover with intense admiration:
“A grave? O no, a lantern, slaughter’d youth.
For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
This vault a feasting presence full of light.”
The audience take pity on Romeo, as we realise the sincerity of his feelings for her in the last scene. Romeo’s love for Juliet is so great, that he is prepared to die for her. The audience mourns the fact that the relationship had a disastrous end, as we realise it was the couple’s only true loving union.
Romeo is happy as he is about to take his life:
"How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry!”
Romeo is glad to take his own life, because it means he will be re-united with Juliet.
In contrast to the sweet, innocent and pure love of Romeo and Juliet is Mercutio and the Nurse’s bawdy and sexual view of love. Mercutio does not see the point in melancholic love:
“If love be rough with you, be rough with love:”
Mercutio, who has never felt real love, sees it as very sexual. He is full of crude remarks about love, and is constantly making sexual references when speaking of women. Samson and Gregory, two servants, also view love as very sexual. In the opening scene of the play, they are seen to be joking about love, and bragging about taking away women’s virginity:
“Ay, the heads of the maids-or their maidenheads.
Take it in what sense thou wilt.”
They are crude and disrespectful to women, and see love only as having sexual conquests. In this, they support Mercutio’s view that love is sexual.
The Nurse also often makes sexual references:
“‘Yea’, quoth my husband, ‘falls’t upon thy face?
Thou wilt not fall backward when thou com’st to age;
Wilt thou not, Jule?”’
The Nurse’s view of love is that it is quite entertaining. She implies that Juliet will soon be lying on her back when a man makes love to her.
In Shakespearean times it was common for people to have arranged marriages. These were arranged in the best interest of the parents, and marriages only usually occurred between people of the same social status. Lady and Lord Capulet were arranged to be married, and their love is more of a business than a passion they share for each other. Lady Capulet married her husband for status, and not for love. She tries to encourage Juliet to marry Paris, as she thinks it would be a good union because it would mean that Juliet could be financially secure for the rest of her days:
“So you shall share all that he doth possess.”
Shakespeare used the idea of forced love in his novel to provide a contrast to the love of Lady and Lord Capulet and Romeo and Juliet. Her parents would rather that Juliet married into a wealthy family than for love, and this is why they are so against Juliet’s later rebellion and marriage to Romeo. They are of the opinion that money can bring Juliet happiness, because, as they have never felt it themselves, they do not know the true power of love.
In conclusion, William Shakespeare portrays the idea of love in “Romeo and Juliet” through showing us the contrasting ideas of love. Shakespeare illustrates that there are many different types of love, ranging from sexual to forceful to true and pure love. Through this, Shakespeare conveys the idea that true love will always triumph over death and anything else.
