Act 1, Scene 1, Line 170-174
Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate,
O anything of nothing first create!
O heavy lightness, serious vanity
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health
In “Romeo and Juliet” when Romeo is talking to Benvolio and Romeo is using very extravagant language when he continues to talk about Rosaline to Benvolio because Benvolio is trying to work out who Romeo is in love with. We get the impression that Romeos love for Rosaline is made up because it seems that he turns it ‘off’ when he suddenly says in the middle of talking about Rosaline where shall we have lunch
Act 1, Scene 1, Line 165-167
Alas that love, whose view is muffled still
Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will
Where shall we dine?
Then he reverts back to the flowery depressing language. Next we get the first major impression of the relationship between Romeo and Benvolio when Romeo has finished talking to Benvolio in oxymorons he asks Benvolio why he is not laughing at him in which Benvolio replies he weeps instead which shows the close relationship.
Act 1 Scene 1 line 177-178
Romeo: Dost thou not weep?
Benvolio: No, coz, I rather weep.
Romeo: Good heart at what?
Benvolio: At thy good heart’s oppression.
The next form of love that we come across in “Romeo and Juliet” is the superficial love of Juliet by Paris. It is superficial because Paris only wants to marry Juliet because she is beautiful and he would become the heir to the Capulets money and land also it would be a suitable match. Then in the same conversation he hear of lord Capulets love of Juliet who is his only child presumably the other were killed in battles with the Montagues but we are never actually told if this is so.
In the next scene we come across another two types of love there is the love of Juliet by her mother and the nurse love of Juliet but then we come to the nurses idea of love which is a love that has not previously come up in the play which is that the nurse believes that love between a man and a woman is only about sex.
We also see the love between Romeo and Mercutio when Romeo is acting depressed Mercutio tries to cheer him up and persuades Romeo to go to the Capulets party and Mercutio hopes that he will see another woman who will shake Romeos infatuation with Rosaline.
The next form of love we come across is the love at first sight that Romeo feels when he see Juliet for the first time and he again uses fancy language to describe Juliet to the audience.
Act 1, Scene 5, Line 43-52
O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear-
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear:
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I’ll watch her place of stand,
And touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.
When Romeo meets Juliet he presents himself to Juliet as a pilgrim approaching the shrine of a saint.
Act 1 scene 5
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss
Romeo keeps trying to get a kiss from Juliet but Juliet keeps denying him the kiss and basically playing hard to get by saying that religious devotion is satisfied by touching the statue of a saint with hands clasped in prayer and it is in prayer that lips express love. Romeo overcomes this obstacle by requesting Juliet “to let lips do what hands do” that is to say pray by touching. Juliet replies by saying that saints do not move, and meaning that she wants Romeo to kiss her, which he does after saying that this kiss will purge his lips of sin but afterwards when Juliet says
Act 1 Scene 5 line 107
Then have my lips the sin that they took.
Romeo replies to this by acting as though he has done something awful by letting Juliet take the sin from his lips and saying that he wants his sin back and they use that as an excuse to kiss again.
Act 1 Scene 5
Romeo: Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urg’d!
Give me my sin again
The next form of love we come to is true love that is felt between Romeo and Juliet. The first proof we get that Romeo is really in love with Juliet is that once again the extravagant words when he is thinking about her when he sees the light from her window but when he actually sees her on the balcony he just says
It is my Lady, O it is my love:
O that she knew she were
When we hear Juliet speak we know that she is talking the truth about loving Romeo because she is speaking to herself and we know it is true love because she is ready to sacrifice everything even her name if Romeo swears to love her and we know also that Romeo loves her because he is willing to do the same. Another characteristic of true love that we see is in act 2 scene 2 when Romeos love for Juliet transcends all other consideration even the fact that if he is caught he will be killed. Another characteristic of true love is that it is reciprocal which is shown in Act 2 Scene 2 from line ten to the end of the scene. We see the final characteristic of true love in act 3 scene 5 where the morning after consummating the marriage Romeo realises he must go but then says he will stay when Juliet asks him to and tells him it is not morning but when Juliet realises that it is morning and that Romeo will be executed if he does not leave, she tells him to go this shows self-sacrifice because Juliet is giving up what she wants for the good of Romeo.
Act 3 Scene 5 lines 1- 35
Juliet: Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day. ……. O now be gone, more light and light it grows.
Another example of self-sacrifice is when Romeo kills himself at Juliet’s tomb when he thinks she is dead and then Juliet kills herself when she sees Romeo dead beside her.
