Love and relationships are the main driving force behind the play and Shakespeare presents many types of love during the coarse of the play. Possibly the most intriguing of these is platonic love; this is due to the very interesting pairings it occurs in.
Platonic love is presented through several relationships during the coarse of the play; the most notable of these is the relationship between Romeo and Mercutio. The relationship between Romeo and Mercutio is a very engrossing one. From Romeos point of view he holds a strong platonic bond with Mercutio and regards him as a friend who he can trust fully Mercutio pays for this friendship with his life “my very friend hath got this mortal wound on my behalf”.
Romeo whole heartedly believes that Mercutio has sacrificed himself for Romeo in the full interests of friendship, Romeo then takes it upon himself to repay this act with the death of Juliet’s cousin Tybalt; “fire and fury be my conduct now…for Mercutios soul”.
Mercutios feelings towards Romeo are of an unclear nature there is no doubt that Marcutio is a very kind friend and confidante of Romeo, but throughout the play some scenes and speeches imply a love interest from Mercutios point of view. One such example of this is when Mercutio speaks very much against women during the famous “Queen Mab” speech “o’er ladies… with blisters plagues”. The use of the word plague especially shows Mercutios ill feeling towards Ladies because when Shakespeare wrote this there was a plague epidemic in London.
Another prominent platonic relationship in the play is that of Romeo, Juliet and Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet rely
heavily on Friar Lawrence we get our first glimpse of this when Romeo goes to him to ask him to marry him and Juliet “ but this I pray that thou consent to marry us to-day”. At first he is a minor character but as the play goes on and for both Romeo and Juliet a list of confidantes is wearing thin he becomes there last true friend, this is epitomized when Juliet goes to visit him for the final time “tell me not Friar, that thou hear’st of this unless thou tell me how to prevent it”.
Another type of relationship that is an important factor during the course of the play is filial love; filial the Montague’s parents towards their son Romeo initially show love. This is because Lady Montague is worried about the perpetuate absence of Romeo and questions Benvolio about it “o where is Romeo see you him today?” this evident worrying shows a very caring side of an otherwise cold hard women.
Another very good filial relationship is that of Juliet and the Nurse, as Juliet and Lady Capulet have never been very close the more prominent mother figure has always fallen to the nurse. The nurse also sees Juliet as a daughter and this is first evident when the nurse says “I could tell her age unto an hour” this shows that Juliet means a lot to nurse so much that she knows exactly when she was born. Juliet has always told the nurse her secrets and she has been a very close and well trusted confidante but later in the play she later realizes that she may not be completely faithful to her when during an argument between Juliet and Capulet she sides with Capulet over Juliet
“Marry I will and this is wisely done”
“…o most wicked fiend…”.
Juliet has also not always had a great relationship with her father; this becomes available to see shortly after Tybalts death when Capulet arranges for Juliet to marry Paris. This is meant as a kind gesture “a sudden day of joy” but as Juliet is married to Romeo she has to refute this kind gesture which makes Capulet angry “hang thee young disobedient wretch” Capulet threatens to disown her and hits her which shows a very vicious side to him.
The most important relationship in the play is that of Romance that is shared between Romeo and Juliet, when we are first introduced to Romeo he is love sick after being dumped by Rosaline “…sad hours seem long…”. Benvolio eventually talks him into sneaking into a ball at the Capulets house, which is where their epic love journey starts.
Romeo and Juliet first meet at the ball and they use a lot of poetical language laced with beautiful imagery. Thye talk of “saints”, “devotion” and holiness, all of which can be linked with religion, marriage, eternity and romantic love. This scene shows a very fickle side to Romeo’s character because one minute he is talking about “sweet Rosaline” and the next he is in love with Juliet who he only met that night.
Later that night Romeo sneaks back into the Capulets yard and proposes to Juliet “th’ exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine”. This is an exciting scene because we know that Romeo has snuck into Capulets mansion and if he is caught he will be killed.
In my view the most important scene of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship comes shortly after Tybalts death and Romeos banishment when Romeo visits her for the night, after the night they arrange to make a plan for them to meet and live together after all has died down. As Romeo is leaving Juliet has a premonition that she sees him dead “o God I have an il-divininng soul, methinks I see thee now, thou art so low, as one dead in bottom of a tomb”, this is the first time within the play that a true sense of ill fated destiny is put across by the characters.
Romeo and Juliet’s relationship comes to a dramatic end when Romeo takes poison to kill himself after hearing news of Juliet’s death “tonight I shall rest with thee” not knowing that it is all part of a plan to bring them back together, and as he takes the poison Juliet wakes only to see him die within her arms “thus with a kiss I die”. Juliet then slays herself so that they can be together and that ends Romeo and Juliet’s tragic tail of love.
