How does Shakespeare use language to establish a variety of attitudes to love and marriage in Acts One and Two of Romeo and Juliet?
How does Shakespeare use language to establish a variety of attitudes to love and marriage in Acts One and Two of "Romeo and Juliet"?
The play 'Romeo and Juliet' explores many very different views of 'love' and marriage. As well as love being expressed in the obvious loving way, it is sometimes expressed in a vulgar and hostile way. The play shows two approaches to love; the first being a sexual, more physical relationship, and the second being romantic and spiritual. There are also two approaches to marriage; the first is to do with status and money instead of love and the second is more spiritual and romantic; the declaration of love between two people in the eyes of God.
The play begins with the nadir of society, Sampson and Gregory. Sampson and Gregory have a low status because they are servants of the Montague's. They frequently use barbaric and violent language to assert themselves despite their lack of power or status. They have a crude and barbaric attitude to people of the opposite sex. "I will push Capulet's men from the wall, and thrust his maids", they later mention taking the Montague's women's "maidenheads" (raping them). These crude and aggressive fantasies undoubtedly demonstrate Sampson and Gregory's interpretation of 'love', as sex and female domination by men. Their language is unsophisticated and rude with sexually explicit images of women. By using the phrases "tool" and "naked weapon" to describe women, it brings a very sexual meaning to the words.
The Nurse of the Capulet household shares the same social statues as Sampson and Gregory. The Nurse uses the same vulgar and sexual language as Sampson and Gregory; but, she uses the crudeness in a comical and saucy way. The Nurse's unmistakable basic language is immediately clear with her first line being; "now, by my maidenhead". This immediately gives us an insight into the Nurse's sexually influenced language. We find out the Nurse's views on 'love' and marriage when she describes Paris as a "man of wax". She significantly chooses not to reference Paris's character or personality. This ...
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The Nurse of the Capulet household shares the same social statues as Sampson and Gregory. The Nurse uses the same vulgar and sexual language as Sampson and Gregory; but, she uses the crudeness in a comical and saucy way. The Nurse's unmistakable basic language is immediately clear with her first line being; "now, by my maidenhead". This immediately gives us an insight into the Nurse's sexually influenced language. We find out the Nurse's views on 'love' and marriage when she describes Paris as a "man of wax". She significantly chooses not to reference Paris's character or personality. This demonstrates that the Nurse has physically dominant ideas of 'love' and marriage. Despite her certain views of love and marriage, the Nurse is ductile for Juliet's future. For example, when Juliet is forced to marry Paris, the nurse sides with Juliet's farther. Nevertheless had Juliet been made to marry another man, the nurse would have gone for the preferred solution.
The head of the Capulet household is Lord Capulet, and his wife, Lady Capulet. They are the antithesis to the Nurse In terms of power and social status. Lord Capulet seems to have very liberal views on Juliet getting married to Paris "my will to her consent is but a part." And he suggest to Paris to wait "two more summer" before she is "ripe to be a bride. However, Lady Capulet disagrees with this idea as at Juliet's age she had already married and given birth. "I was your mother much upon these years
that you are now a maid". She sees marriage as a financial transaction and a way of boosting the social status of the Capulet's. Lady Capulet's idea of 'love' in a marriage is based on tolerance. "Can you like of Paris' love?" In Lady Capulet's eyes, a man is like an incomplete book without a cover .And only by marrying a woman will the 'book' be complete. "This precious book of love, this unbound lover, to beautify him, only lacks a cover".
Mercutio is Romeo's best friend. He is a misogynist who has a very negative view of 'love'. This is clearly show by the language he uses to describe, and eventually degrade, the opposite sex. "Pricked from the lazy finger of a maid" the image he creates, as well as many other images, is used in an attempt to humiliate females. As well as his hate for the opposite sex, he has an enormous bitterness towards the idea of 'love'. "If love be rough with you, be rough with love", "And, to sink in it, should you burden love; too great oppression for a tender thing". This shows Mercutio's lack of tolerance with 'love' and his solution to win against love. It furthermore shows that he does not think 'love' is worth being depressed over as it is irrelevant and nasty. Romeo suggests that Mercutio's aggressive outlook towards 'love' is caused because, he has never experienced 'love'; "He jests at scars that never felt to wound".
At the beginning of the play Romeo is in a severe state of depression because of his unrequited love for Rosaline. This makes his views gloomy and melancholic towards love. He uses a set of oxymorons to show his confused state of mind; "O brawling love, O loving hate" "Where shall we dine? O me! What fray was here?" This shows the negative effects love has on him. In Act One, Scene Four, Romeo's friends try and raise is sprits by attending the Capulet ball. However, Romeo is exceptionally depressed to find the motivation to attend the Capulet ball; "I am too sore enpiercèd with his shaft to soar with his light feathers". His view of love is not a positive one as he is too saddened to even dance. However, his depression and negative view of love soon dissipates when he sees Juliet at the Capulet Ball. "Did my heart love till now?" This is shows the fickleness of youth in Romeo, as just minutes before Rosaline was the love of his life and believed he would never love anyone but her. His love towards Juliet then becomes spiritual, with many religious and biblical references; "My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss" These words show that Romeo find their love is not just physical connection, but a more deep spiritual true 'love' . He makes symbolic references when he refers Juliet to light; "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon" This shows Romeo trying to describe Juliet's radiant beauty in a poetic manner. Romeo sees marriage as a spiritual bonding between two people who are in love; "and all combined, save what thou must combine by holy marriage" This shows that he believes the only way two people can be joined is only by marriage.
At the beginning of the play Juliet has no desire to be in love or to get married by saying; "It is an honour I dream not of". It shows that she has no thoughts or ideas of love and marriage at the beginning of the play. Her youthful fickleness ,similar to Romeo's, becomes evident at the Capulet ball, when she meets Romeo; "and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss" As well as the obvious love references in this quotation, there is also a distinct spiritual reference which shows the religious influence in Juliet's idea of love. As well as spiritually influenced love ideas, Juliet's idea of marriage is religiously based as she says with reference to a proposal; "o gentle Romeo, if thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully" This shows that she has the same views of love and marriage as Romeo.
Peter Beszelzen
0C Mrs Machin
