At first the audience is led to believe that Romeo is heartbroken by Juliet as no names are mentioned and everyone knows the title of the play is ‘Romeo and Juliet’ with the theme of romance. Later on in the play it is becomes evident that it’s not Juliet that he is in love with but someone else. This is revealed when he meets with Juliet at the Capulet party for the first time. Shakespeare presents Romeo’s love in this way as fickle and shallow as soon as he meets with Juliet; he falls in love again and immediately forgets about his old ‘love’, Rosaline.
The instant attraction Romeo has for Juliet is almost unbelievable. He raises Juliet to a cosmic level and praises her. At first he compares her with light and bright things against dark backgrounds. For example; It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night. ‘as a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear and that she is a snowy dove trooping with crows.’ This reflects Juliet in a high and elevated level as the contrast of black and white emphasises the way Romeo sees Juliet. Romeo uses hyperboles to elevate Juliet and perhaps puts her on a pedestal that is grand and eminent. The ‘love’ he immediately feels for Juliet may come across to audience as fake and fickle. The fact that he had changed who he loved so fast as he did makes the audience wonder if the love Romeo’s is expressing is as true as he makes it out to be. This engages the audience more and they begin to ponder where the story where lead them to.
Finally when Romeo and Juliet speak to each other it is in the form of a sonnet which makes us immediately think of love and romance. Shakespeare uses this form to emphasis the connection of the two characters, both for the audience but also for the actors playing the roles.
In the sonnet Shakespeare chooses to use the image of religion as he wants to show how much Romeo thinks he feels for Juliet and Juliet consents with this imagery as she responds in a similar manner. The use of religious imagery shows that Romeo and Juliet (mostly Romeo) see this love as sacred and holy. Images such as ‘holy palmers kiss; my lips two blushing pilgrims; saints have hands that pilgrims do touch.’ They all involve intense contact and displays of affection. This can indicate that Romeo is still using the convections of courtly love because he elevates Juliet to a ‘’saint’’ that is too false to be true love. True love shouldn’t need to be highly imagerized because real love is shown through simple ways.
In Act 2 Scene 2, Shakespeare uses a soliloquy for Romeo because it has great effect in order to express personal thoughts and emotions for the audience who can clearly see how he feels. The scene is also known as the ‘balcony scene.’ The Globe theatre presented this scene well as there was/is a balcony above the stage for scene such as this. Romeo, during his soliloquy, will be looking up to Juliet in admiration when she appears from above. The fact that she is on a balcony also subsides with the ongoing religious imagery, as Romeo is looking up to her, as many religions do when praying or worshipping. This also emphasises Romeos love in an effective way through how something as simple as Juliet being on her balcony in her room can portray the love and thoughts he has for her. At this stage of the play Romeo at first is still at ‘courtly love’ as he still obviously uses religious imageries, For example: ‘’fair saint’’ but once Juliet declares her love Romeo begins to move past the stage of courtly love and starts to expresses true love for Juliet. The audience knows this by the use of vocabulary he uses. He changes his high religious speech to simple words such as: ‘’my love’’. This shows that he hasn’t escalated Juliet to an unthinkable place but sees her for what she is which is his love.
Juliet has an immense effect on Romeo as she reveals to Romeo what she truly feels which in return moves Romeo to the true love which he feels for Juliet. She makes Romeo a new person by making him see his love in a different way. Their receptive attitude moves their relationship to the next stage. Marriage.
Romeo truly shows in Act 5 Scene 3 that he has changed and now feels what he had been looking for from the start: pure love. He uses more regularly the phrase of: ‘my love’ to Juliet and calls her ‘dear Juliet’; ‘my wife’. Simple phrases that show he simply loves Juliet for herself. His language change is dramatic but Shakespeare uses this to present Romeos love at this stage in a simple way. ‘Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty’ His feelings are true and he no longer needs to put Juliet on that high pedestal as he shows by the use of ‘’honey’’ rather than comparisons to the ‘sun’’ or ‘’stars’’. The deaths in Scene 5 Act III links back to the prologue at the beginning of the play. ‘A pair of star-crossed lovers take their lives’ The prologue becomes more apparent and understood, now that the theme of death had concurred. Their ‘death-marked love’ is reminded through the murder of Paris, the mourning of Juliet’s ‘’death‘’ [from Romeo], and lastly the suicide of Romeo then Juliet.
From the play we can learn that true love can be experienced at a young age but they shouldn’t get too ahead of themselves as it can lead in unfortunate circumstances. Some could even say that the play highlights that people not, only young ones, shouldn’t rush into things. That all people should think twice before making decisions, important or not. Whether it to do with Love or hate.
In conclusion, I think that Shakespeare presents Romeo’s love as detailed and complex thing. At first he is fickle and thinks he knows love but towards the end true love is show to him through Juliet. Shakespeare shows this through his excessive dramatization of his words. ‘’she hath forsworn to love, and in that vow do I live dead.’’ Shakespeare also presents Romeo’s love very close to a connection of violence. Romeo’s love is regularly closely followed behind the theme of it. For example: Tybalt notices Romeo has crashed the Capulet’s party, and vows to kill him as soon as Romeo first catches a glance at Juliet and falls in Love with her. The audience will have picked up on this and would have seen the contrast at that time. Shakespeare uses this technique of contrasting to emphasise and make Romeo’s love more dramatic and exaggerated. The image and involvement of love and violence is also seen when Romeo threatens to kill himself in Act 3 Scene III in the presence of Friar Lawrence, which Juliet then later does in Act 4 Scene I. Shakespeare repeatedly keeps Romeo’s love very close to violence to make sure that the audience see this dramatization of his love. The ever-changing and complex growth of Romeo’s love keeps the audience captivated and involved in the entire play. Shakespeare does this very effectively.
By Tobi Adegboye
101G
