On the other hand, he may want the audience to realise that although he thought he loved Rosaline, it was not true love, and this is why he forgot about it so easily.
Romeo never mentions his love for Rosaline after he sets eyes on Juliet, and so we know he never was really in love with her.
Another kind of love, and probably the most obvious and important is the true love that is shared between Romeo and Juliet. As soon as Romeo sees Juliet at the party he falls in love with her.
‘So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows
As Yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.’
To Romeo, Juliet stands out from everyone else at the party, much more beautiful than any other girl.
The true love then turns into ‘sexual love.’ Romeo and Juliet see sleeping with other as the ultimate act of their love to each other, but they must admit their love to God, in church before this, by getting married.
Juliet is frustrated after the wedding, as she has not yet slept with Romeo.
‘O, I have bought the mansion of love,
But not yet possessed it, and though I am sold
Not yet enjoyed.’
She is annoyed that, in the eyes of God they are allowed to sleep with each other, but have not yet.
I think Juliet is so annoyed because she truly loves Romeo but feels like until they have slept together, their marriage is not complete. Shakespeare may have intended the audience to think of Juliet as a little wary about her love, as she is still so young,
and hardly knew Romeo when they got married, and she believes that sleeping with Romeo will rid her of any doubt about their marriage.
There is a complication is Romeo and Juliet’s plan – Paris. Paris is a rich count whom Juliet’s parents wish her to marry. Juliet does not want to marry Paris, but her parents force her. Juliet has no choice in the matter, as women did not have very much power and she was still only a child, and so had to obey her parents’ wishes. Paris’ love for Juliet is a kind of ‘romantic’ love. He speaks to Juliet in a very formal manner.
‘Happily met, my lady and my wife!’
I think that Paris just wants to marry Juliet because she is young and pretty. It is obvious that he does not love her, as when Romeo speaks to Juliet he speaks from his heart. He speaks in riddles and uses very figurative language to show that he cannot control himself around Juliet. Romeo also often speaks to Juliet in sonnets.
‘Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief’
He speaks to Juliet in a very poetic manner. This also makes the reader feel that Romeo is, like Juliet, young and naïve, and blinded by love. He is still very young and has a lot to learn.
Another kind of love, shown a few times in the book is loyal love, or friendship. Benvolio is Romeo’s cousin, and he tries to help Romeo get over Rosaline.
‘By giving liberty unto thine eyes;
Examine other beauties’
Mercutio is Romeo’s best friend. Tybalt challenges Romeo to a fight and when Romeo backs down, Mercutio comes to his defence. This is true loyalty to Romeo, as the fight ends in Mercutio’s death. This devastates Romeo, and so he kills Tybalt.
‘Staying for thine to keep him company.
Either thou or I, or both mush go with him.’
Romeo shows his loyalty back to Mercutio, by killing Tybalt to get revenge for him.
Two other characters that show a loyal love to each other are Juliet and her Nurse. Juliet’s nurse is very loyal to Juliet and cares for her very much.
‘Tis since the earthquake now eleven years,
And she was weaned – I never shall forget it’
Juliet’s Nurse has been with her since she was born. She spends a lot of time with Juliet and so they become good friends. Juliet’s Nurse is the only one of her friends that is mentioned.
I think that Shakespeare purposely doesn’t include any other of Juliet’s friends because it makes the friendship between Juliet and her nurse much stronger. Juliet has nobody else to talk to for advice on Romeo and so she goes to her Nurse.
When Romeo and Juliet get married, Juliet’s Nurse acts as a messenger between the two, even though she knows that if she were caught, she would be in serious trouble.
‘And she brings news, and every tongue that speaks
But Romeo’s name speaks heavenly eloquence’
Juliet believes wants to hear news of Romeo, no matter what it is, because any news of Romeo will be good news.
Friar Lawrence is also a good friend to Romeo and Juliet and shows loyalty to both of them. It is he who gives Juliet the potion to fake her death.
‘A thing like Death himself to scape from it
And if thou dar’st ill give thee remedy’
I think Friar Lawrence marries Romeo and Juliet because he believes that the two do truly love each other and so they should be joined in the eyes of God. He also believes that by marrying a Montague and a Capulet together, it will end the feud between the two families, and restore the peace in Verona. Shakespearean audiences lived at a time when people were very religious and so would be able to empathise with Friar Lawrence wanting to do what God would want – joining two people together.
On the other hand, he may be doing it because he doesn’t think that Juliet’s parents forcing her to marry Paris is the right thing to do. This could also be why he gives Juliet the potion.
Another theme of love portrayed is family love. Although Juliet’s parents love her very much, they think that by forcing her to marry Paris, it will make them look better as a family, as Paris is a rich count.
It is clear that Juliet’s parents to love her however, as her father is very cautious to agree to let Paris marry Juliet, as she is so young.
‘My child is yet a stranger in the world
She hath not yet seen the change of fourteen years.’
He thinks that Juliet may be too young to marry Paris.
‘She is the hopeful lady of my earth’
He thinks the world of Juliet and adores her, and she is the only child he has left, but in the end, still forces her to marry Paris.
At the time ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written, women didn’t have very much power at all. They had very little say in what went on. Not only did Juliet’s sex work against her, but also her age. She was still very young, and so her parents made all her decisions, and she had to respect them.
Juliet’s marriage to Paris was arranged, and even in some religions today, arranged marriages still happen. I think this is why ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is still so popular after so many years. People in today’s times can relate to it.
Throughout ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ Shakespeare uses sonnets, particularly when Romeo and Juliet are speaking. This helps the audience that the love between them was true. As well as speaking in sonnets, Romeo uses hyperbole quite often:
‘O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear.’
I think he uses hyperbole, because he believes that Juliet is so beautiful, she cannot be described, without comparing her to such magnificent things such as jewels.
However, he may speak in hyperbole because he is in love and is not thinking straight, and so exaggerates all the time.
I think this gives the effect of Romeo being confused and overwhelmed by love. He is so beset with Juliet’s beauty that he speaks in hyperbole to try to describe how he feels about her.
When Romeo first sees Juliet, he describes her in a sonnet, using hyperbole and juxtaposition.
‘Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear:’
‘So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows.’
He speaks about Juliet being so beautiful that she stands out from everybody else in the room like a snowy dove surrounded by crows.
His language is also very figurative, and it all adds together to make the audience feel that Romeo is truly in love and is confused by it, and this is why he speaks differently to all the other characters. Shakespeare uses this as a device to portray Romeo’s character, and to let the audience be aware that he is young and naïve.
Overall I think Shakespeare portrays the different themes of love very well. He uses language such as hyperbole, figurative language, sonnets and rhyming couplets to show how the characters interact with each other.
There are many themes of love – romantic love, courtly love, friendship, true love, family love and loyalty. This all adds to he effect of the play, as it shows that age, background and even status affect how the characters interact with each other.
Although ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written in the late 1500’s, it is still one of, if not the most popular love story of all time. I think the reason it has survived for so long, is because it can be related to modern day. Romeo and Juliet were not supposed to fall in love because their families were at war. Today, people can be disallowed from marrying whom they wish, because of background and religion. In some religions, it is still tradition for the parents to choose whom their children will marry, and this can be related to Juliet’s parents forcing her to marry Paris, even though she did not love him.
It did not matter that Romeo and Juliet were in love, because they had to obey their parents.
I think the theme of love that is most important and which Shakespeare wants us to think as the most important is true love. Throughout the play, Shakespeare makes true love seem to be the most important, for example when Romeo falls in love with Juliet, he totally forgets about Rosaline. And again when Romeo and Juliet are willing to die for each other, because they are so in love. I think Shakespeare wants to portray true love as ‘Love Conquers All,’ and that falling in love is an important part of life.
