Consider the different types of love Shakespeare presents in 'Romeo and Juliet'.

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Zaki Rafiq-Khatana

Consider the different types of love Shakespeare presents in ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Shakespeare considers different types of love

 

throughout the play, from the first scene, right up to the last.

      Romantic love is one type Shakespeare contemplates. Romeo’s love for

 Rosaline is the first case of this. The love Romeo has for Rosaline is

based entirely on physical attraction and his feelings are based on how

she appears on the outside. In Act one Scene one, Romeo uses oxymoron,

such as “feather of lead” and “bright smoke” to exaggerate his lovesick

position. Another oxymoron he uses in this scene is “loving hate”.

Shakespeare uses this one to highlight that love can be pleasurable and

painful at the same time. This idea is a particular feature of unrequited

love, which is the situation Romeo is in. In unrequited love, the woman

is ‘worshipped’, in this case, Romeo is ‘worshipping’ Rosaline. This love is

also superficial. His love for her is based entirely on what he can see of

her on the surface and so it is not deep enough for a relationship to form.

They do not know each other, which means this love is more insincere.

    Lord Montague also doubts the strength of Romeo’s emotions when he

is talking about what Romeo is being troubled by and says, “ I will not say

how true”.

    Romeo’s romantic nature is also present in his relationship with Juliet

when he uses poetic language to describe Juliet. An example of this would

be at the Capulet’s party where he sees Juliet for the first time. He talks

about her by showing that she is brighter and more beautiful compared to everything else around her. He says things such as, “a snowy dove trooping with crows” and “a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear”. He uses these flattering words to show that Juliet stands

out in the room in Romeo’s eyes. However, his use of words is very

unrealistic and therefore doesn’t show his true feelings for her. When they actually meet, which is later on in the scene, Shakespeare uses language associated with religion, such as, “palmer”, “pilgrim” and “prayer”, to make the meeting special. This conversation is written in the form of a sonnet. When Elizabethans wrote sonnets, love was a popular subject to write about, as this shows.

       There is also a sort of love between Juliet and Paris. Again, his love

for her is unrealistic. He does not know her, yet he admires her from

afar. This is just to get Juliet to love him so there marriage can be

successful. At this point in the play, the love between them is one-sided since Juliet has no

interest in him because she is loyal and deeply in love with Romeo

already, but if she had not met Romeo it is likely that she would have obeyed her father and learnt to love Paris. It is not clear in the play whether Paris actually feels affection

for Juliet. He may just want her to believe that he loves her so a

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marriage can take place and he will have a young beautiful wife who would

have his children and continue his family name and status. In the last

scene of the play, he nobly tries to protect Juliet’s tomb to show that he

does have respect for even though the truth of his love for her is

unclear. He also uses romantic language when he visits Juliet’s grave. For example, he says, “ Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew”. Because of what he says in this scene, it could ...

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