David busfield
How does Shakespeare present love in act 1 scene 5 and act 2 scene 2?
Shakespeare presents love in many different ways throughout the play. He uses a great variety of different types of love as well. Different types of love he shows include courtly love, romantic love, true love, fickle love and instant love. Shakespeare wrote the play in the 16th century so it had to be relevant to the times but what makes this play stand out is the way that due to the major use of love to show emotions means that it is still relevant to today’s audience. An example of this is Baz Luhrmanns movie interpretation of Romeo and Juliet which was an award winning success.
Courtly love originated in the Middle Ages where a noble or rich maid would be in complete control and the gentleman would often admire her from afar before trying to make a move on her. Shakespeare does the same thing with Romeo and Juliet, showing her as the one in control and Romeo is the one having to work and impress her. He does this through the use of emotive language and taking great risks just to be near her. Shakespeare also shows Juliet in a higher position on the stage to Romeo. For example, probably the best known scene of the whole play is where Juliet “appears aloft” and talks down to Romeo. By being above Romeo it makes him look up to talk to her and the audience can see that she is in has total control of the situation and of Romeo. During the conversation Romeo refers to her as a “bright angel” the use of the word angel suggests to the audience that he thinks her to be pure and almost goddess like. The use of the word bright could suggest that even when they are apart he can still see her. This way of presenting the relationship between Romeo and Juliet means that Shakespeare can show brilliantly well how Romeos feelings are greater for her than for Roseline. Also in act 1 scene 5 he says that “my life is my foes debt”. When he says this he is talking to Juliet and as the audience sees it he is saying that he owes his life to her. This is a massive thing to say and the audience really can see that he is serious about his feelings.
