A Comparative Study of the Theme of Love in Romeo and Juliet and the Taming of the Shrew.
28th April, 03
A Comparative Study of the Theme of Love in Romeo and Juliet and the Taming of the Shrew
Romeo and Juliet and the Taming of the Shrew are the famous plays written by William Shakespeare in the 16th Century. In the two plays, Shakespeare tried to explore many aspects in human life and the theme of love is one of the common themes in the two plays. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, love refers to the affectionate devotion that exists between a relationship. There are many different kinds of love within a relationship. In this paper, I am going to focus my discussion on the kind of love between men and women. What I am going to do is to compare and contrast the theme of love in the two plays by answering two questions. Those questions are: what is the theme of love in the plays and how is it presented.
First of all, let's discuss what is the theme of love in both plays. There are three couples in the plays, they are Romeo and Juliet; Lucentio and Bianca; Katherina and Petruchio. In both plays, Romeo and Juliet and Lucentio and Bianca are young couples. The idea of love at first sight can be applied to their relationship. For example, when Romeo and Juliet first meet, they naturally fall in love with each other and it seems there is no reason behind their love. Everything just happens so naturally and directly. In the Taming of the Shrew, when Lucentio first sees Bianca, he complains that Bianca's "sudden sight hath thralled my wounded eye" (1.1.217). Since Romeo and Juliet are mutually attracted to each other, there is no courtship between them. However for Lucentio and Bianca's case, Bianca doesn't fall in love with Lucentio immediately after they meet, rather Lucentio has to disguise himself as a schoolmaster to court her. Even so, I think the love between both couples can be considered romantic love as the lovers react to their beloved with romantic passion. For example, Romeo compares Juliet to the morning sun, far more beautiful than the moon it banishes. They always compare each other with natural images. In the Taming of the Shrew, Lucentio does a lot for Bianca. He even exchanges his role with Tiano, his servant and play truancy from the school in order to court her. For Katherina and Petruchio, their love is not the love at first sight. Their love is so unromantic that Katherina's father uses money to "buy" the marriage for her. On the surface, it seems Petruchio does court Katherina but indeed he forces her to marry him and he does not offer her any choice: "Will you, nill you, I will marry you" (II.i.263). Though they do not fall in love at the first sight they see each other, they can still have a happy marriage as they have mutual understanding after their marriage. One point which is worth mentioning is that the three couples have a kind of married love instead of adultery love. Though Romeo and Juliet, Lucentio and Bianca cannot make their marriage public, both couples do marry with the witness of a priest. For Petruchio and Katherina, their marriage is not a significant issue to discuss as it is expected by others, like her father, Hortensio and Gremio. But for the other couples, their marriage, I mean the ritual itself, is worth discussing. One may ask the love between the two couples is kind of secret love, why do they bother to have the rituals in church before eloping or having sexual relationship. In my opinion, for the couples, the rituals itself is very crucial for the reason that both of the couples see the value of their love and they respect their beloved. Thus, we can say Romeo and Juliet, Lucentio and Bianca's love and marriage are based on mutual respect. However, for Katherina and Petruchio, wealth plays an important role in their marriage, but not love itself.
Though both Romeo and Juliet and the Taming of the Shrew are plays with the theme of love, the way love presented in the plays is a bit different. However, there are also some similarities of the way love being presented, I will discuss them later.
Love appears to be more radical and extreme in Romeo and Juliet than in the Taming of the Shrew. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet regard each other not as ordinary human beings but saints. This can be shown by their use of blasphemous terms, for example, Juliet calls ...
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Though both Romeo and Juliet and the Taming of the Shrew are plays with the theme of love, the way love presented in the plays is a bit different. However, there are also some similarities of the way love being presented, I will discuss them later.
Love appears to be more radical and extreme in Romeo and Juliet than in the Taming of the Shrew. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet regard each other not as ordinary human beings but saints. This can be shown by their use of blasphemous terms, for example, Juliet calls Romeo "the god of my idolatry" (II.i.156) elevating him to level of God. Virtually, it is very dangerous if one is regarded as a saint in the eyes of his/her lover. This may suggest the idea of love is kind of madness and blindness. In the play, the love between Romeo and Juliet has close relationship with death. They are plagued with thoughts of suicide. As Jay L. Halio comments "The idea of death pervades their thoughts almost constantly" (69). In Act iii, scene iii, Romeo brandishes a knife in Friar's cell and threatens to kill himself after he has been banished from Verona and his lover Juliet. Juliet also pulls a knife in order to take her own life in Friar's presence just three scenes later, after Capulet decides Juliet will marry Paris: "If all else fail, myself have power to die" (III.V.242). Meanwhile, they are so blinded that in their eyes, they see nothing but each other. As Marianne Novy suggests "The play expresses both the appeal and the danger of a love in which two people become the whole world to each other" (368). Both Romeo and Juliet ignore their family and society's opposition in order to pursue their love. For example, they deny their names for the sake of each other: "...be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet." (Juliet) (II.ii.19-20) and "...call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; henceforth I never will be Romeo" (II.ii.34-36). For them, love means more than anything, even their lives. No doubt their love is extremely powerful, but ironically because it is too powerful it is also powerful enough to destroy their lives.
Comparing with Romeo and Juliet, love appears nether too extreme nor too radical in the Taming of the Shrew. Rather, love appears as something normal and part of their daily life. For instance, Katherina is generally regarded as a shrew and no one loves her. One may argue it is Petruchio who forces her to marry him, but one should remember Katherina is such a fire-eating person that no one can force her to do something she does not want to do. Once she is willing to put on the wedding gown, there are some reasons behind. For me, perhaps Katherina knows that love and marriage is something ordinary in human life and she does not want to be an old maiden forever. That's why she agrees to marry Petruchio. For Lucentio and Bianca's plot, the love between them appears to be something naturally happens. Young Lucentio sees beautiful Bianca and he decides to court her. After acquiring more mutual understanding, Bianca starts to love him back. This is something very natural and common to happen in our daily life, so we can say love does not appear too radical in the play, rather, it is quite moderate.
Besides, love between Romeo and Juliet seems to be more sacred than the love between Lucentio and Bianca, and Katherina and Petruchio. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo totally has two lovers, they are Rosaline and Juliet. For Rosaline, Romeo just tries to conquer her and satisfy his sexual desire by showing the image of attacking her: "she will not stay the siege of loving terms/ Nor bide th'encounter of assailing eyes" (I.i.210-11). However, with Juliet, Romeo speaks more of wanting to touch her than to conquer her: "O that I were a glove upon that hand, /That I might touch that cheek..../I would I were thy bird" (II.ii.24-25,183). As Novy states "with Juliet he gives up images of himself as violent aggressor" (361). Another reason for me to perceive that the love between Romeo and Juliet is so sacred is that their love is not initiated by worldly reason ( e.g.not because of their wealth and social status), but just their inner passion. However, the love between Katherina and Petruchio is more materialistic. Ironically, their so-called love (before their marriage) is because of no reason but Katherina's wealth. This cheapens love itself though they fall in love with each other at last. For Lucentio and Bianca, when Lucentio first sees Bianca, he says "I saw sweet beauty in her face", "Sacred and sweet was all I saw in her" (I.i.105,107). This shows that maybe Lucentio's love to Bianca is real, but his love to her is initiated by something, here by her beauty. This means if Bianca is not that pretty, he may not fall in love with her, that's why I think their love is not sacred and pure enough.
As defined in the introduction, love refers to kind of relationship. I think the relationship between Juliet and Romeo, and Lucentio and Bianca is based on equality while relationship between Katherina and Petruchio is based on authority. At that time, people tended to believe that men should hold the authoritarian power within the household. In Katherina and Petruchio's case, Petruchio regards Katherina as a thing, a servant to conquer: "She is my goods, my chattels; she is my house,/ My household stuff, my field, my barn,/My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything." (III.ii.230-32). We can say their relationship is based on hierarchy, but not equality. In Lucentio and Bianca's case, as a man, Lucentio does not say what Petruchio has said. What he tries to do is to court Bianca and win her love. In Juliet and Romeo, the equality between the lovers is obvious. In their relationship, I cannot see any desire for conquest or patriarchal power. All I can see is that they try their best to cherish and sacrifice for each other. For example, after knowing Juliet died, Romeo says: "Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight." (V.i.18-19). From this example, we see that not only they treat each other in equal basis, but they are also willing to sacrifice for each other. Their power of love is proved by their treating each other without any desire for conquest, but on equal basis.
Though the way love presented in both plays is somehow different, it also shares some similarities.
Firstly, as mentioned before, love in both plays is kind of married love. That means the lovers in the play have the ritual of marriage. Virtually, I think marriage here means more than a ritual. After lovers get married, not only their love integrates together, but their fate also link together. In Juliet and Romeo, Juliet and Romeo come from two different extremely feuding families. Noticing this point, we readers will never link them together, not even their fate. But with their marriage, their fate is undoubted linked with each other. This can be proved by Romeo's strong will to commit suicide after knowing Juliet's death. The corresponding example has been quoted before. In the Taming of the Shrew, it is obvious the two couples Lucentio and Bianca, and Petruchio and Katherina's fate is link together. For example, Bianca elopes with Lucentio; Katherina becomes Petruchio's tamed wife and leave with him from her father. For these characters, their fate should be different if they haven't met their spouse, it is love that link them and then their fate together.
Secondly, love in both plays appears to be under parental influence. In Juliet and Romeo, the love between the two lovers is strongly apposed by their parents who regarded each other as fend. That's why when the lovers know another's family background, they both lament. For instance, Juliet says "My only love, sprung from my only hate!/ Too early seen unknown and known too/ late!" (I.iv.115-17). After they realize the beloved is their feud, they both have psychological preparation to sacrifice for the integrity of their love. In the Taming of the Shrew, parental influence plays an important part on the two couples' love. In Katherina plot, it is Katherina's father who "buys" a husband for Katherina so that Bianca can marry soon. Besides, for Petruchio, as he says, he wants to get a rich wife to a certain extent is because of the death of his father: "Antonio, my father, is deceased, and/ I have thrust myself into this maze, to /wive and thrive as best I may" (I.ii.51-53). In Bianca's plot, Baptista creates a contest of bidding between Tranio and Gremio by stating: " 'Tis deeds must win the prize, and he of both/That can assure my daughter greatest dower/Shall have Bianca's love" (II.i.342-44). Though at last Lucentio can marry Bianca, it is because Lucentio can offer the highest bid for her. It is ridiculous that although love itself is only between two people, the lovers' parents can exert so much influence on it. This directly explores a question for us to think of: how much one can be free from one's parental influence? In the two plays, love is kind of personal matter, but it is also influenced so much by parents, let alone other aspects.
Though love appears as kind of madness and sickness in Romeo and Juliet, their love is still full of obligation and duty as that presented in the Taming of the Shrew does. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, knowing Romeo has killed her cousin, Juliet at first blames Romeo, but soon she realized that she is already his wife and it is her obligation to trust and show her loyalty to Romeo, no matter what has happened:
Shall I speak ill of him that is my
husband? Ah, poor my lord, what tongue
shall smooth thy name, when I, thy three-
hours'wife, have mangled it?
(III.ii.31-34)
In the Taming of the Shrew, at the end of the play, Katherina gives a famous speech:
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy
head, thy sovereign; one that cares for
thee, and for thy maintenance commits his
body to painful labor, and craves no other
tribute at thy hands, but love, fair looks
so great a debt.
(IV.ii.105-12)
Some people argue Katherina may not truly mean what she says, it may be she learns to play the game or adapt to the game that initiated by Petruchio. But for me, Katherina does truly mean what she says because I think if she just plays the game and pretends to be loyal in order to get her freedom as some critics state, there is no need for her to give such a speech. Instead, she only has to listens to what her husband tells her to do, she can still get her freedom and in this way the speech itself is somehow redundant. But now she really gives the speech and I think she does truly mean that. Though love is presented differently in both plays, one is more radical, extreme, one is more practical and mild, in both plays, love also represents kind of obligation and duty no matter how mad or sick it is.
To conclude, though love in the Taming of the Shrew appears to be not as perfect and pure as that in Romeo and Juliet, it is more real and more similar to the love we experience in our daily life. The love between Romeo and Juliet though seems to be more sacred and pure, it is something more likely to happen in a fairy tale world than our human world because it is too good and perfect to be true.
Bibliography
Halio, Jay L. Romeo and Juliet : a guide to the play. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1998.
Novy, Marianne. "Violence, Love, and Gender in Romeo and Juliet". Romeo and Juliet : critical essays. Ed. Andrews, John F. New York : Garland Pub., 1993.
Shakespeare, William. The taming of the shrew. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1968
Shakespeare, William. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. New Haven : Yale University Press, 1954.