Juliet, part of the Capulet family was to marry Paris, a cousin of the prince. Juliet did not actually choose Paris and her suitor, but instead Lord Capulet, who was well acquainted with Paris, and decided that if Juliet marries Paris (who had much power and money) then Juliet and the rest of the Capulet family would have more power and money. We really never witness any ‘true’ love between Paris and Juliet. At one point Juliet even states that she doesn’t want to marry Paris (‘I will not marry yet, and when I do I swear / It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate, / Rather than Paris. These are news indeed!’ Act 3, Scene 5, Lines 126-129), but later withdraws her statement in order to please her father, Lord Capulet. This also introduces the familial love between Juliet and her parents.
When Juliet first chooses not to marry Paris, Lady Capulet was calm and understanding, while Lord Capulet was enraged and greatly angered. He felt that Juliet had to right to challenge his decisions. After Juliet realizes how she angered her father, she tells him that she would indeed marry Paris. Juliet said this only to keep the relationship between her parents and herself strong. But her decision to marry Paris was in fact a lie, because she already knew about her plan to act dead before the wedding.
The Nurse, and Friar Lawrence also played crucial roles within the story, and added to the love relationships. Friar Lawrence acted as a parental figure for both Romeo and Juliet, since neither the Capulet nor Montague family knew or would accept the couples marriage. He also gave the advice on how to deceive their relationship to their families. The Nurse acts as a guidance figure to Juliet, who is confused about her relationship with Romeo. The Nurse and Juliet always had a strong relationship, and the Nurse always looked out for the best interest of Juliet. But when the Nurse found out that Romeo had been banished she told Juliet to abandon her love for Romeo, and just marry Paris to please her family. Juliet refused to follow her advice, and broke her long lasting relationship with the Nurse.
The most important type of love that Shakespeare describes in the story is true love. There were many different kinds of love in the story: fraternal, familial, and romantic. But the one the prevailed at the end war true love. At the very beginning of the story the reader learned that Romeo was in love with Rosaline. Soon he completely forgot about Rosaline, and fell in love with Juliet. This relationship continues throughout the book. There is also love between the Nurse and Juliet. The Nurse acts as a maternal figure to Juliet. She advises Juliet about her relations with Romeo. She was always happy for Juliet, and supported her relationship with the Montague openly. Only until she found that that Romeo had been banished, she began telling Juliet to forget about Romeo, and instead marry Paris. Juliet refused to believe the nurse, and no longer confided to the nurse for advice. There was also a familial relationship between Juliet and her parents. Parents have the responsibility for looking out for the best interest for their child, and do what is best for the child. The Capulet parents practically did the opposite; they chose Paris and Juliet future husband, and did not even let Juliet contest their judgment. Then when Juliet said she refused to marry Paris her father was completely outraged. But when Juliet discovers the Friar plan of making a deceiving death, she agrees to marry Paris only to convince her father of her love, but it was nothing more than a kind gesture. Beside romantic and familial love there was also a fraternal relationship linking Romeo and his buddies Benvolio and Mercutio. Mercutio quickly dies in the beginning of the story. And once Romeo had been banished Benvoilio was rarely mentioned. So the fraternal relationship between the three guys was in essence broken up. None of the relationships mentioned here survived. Except for the true love relationship between Romeo and Juliet. There was love at first site when Romeo and Juliet met. The two lovers then confessed their love to each other and eventually get married. Even the fighting between their families would not separate the couple. When Romeo was banished from Verona, Juliet did not just forget him. She continually thought and thought about him, and finally came up with a plan to make herself appear dead, and then we she actually awakes Romeo will come to get her, and the couple will be happy, together. But the plan did not exactly work, as Romeo never got word of it. However, Romeo did find out that Juliet was ‘dead’, and even risked receiving harsher punishments as he went back to Verona to see Juliet one last time. When Romeo finally got to Juliet, and saw her motionless body, he decided that he and Juliet will be reunited when he will be dead. Romeo drinks the poison, and dies instantaneously. When Juliet awakes and sees that her beloved Romeo is dead, she stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger, because she believed that love will bind Romeo and herself together when they are dead.
True love was obviously the only love that prevailed in the story. All the other types of love, including familiar, and fraternal, had very weak or meaningless relationships, where as the relationship that Romeo and Juliet shared eventually led to their deaths.
