“It is an honour that I dream not of.”
But that soon changes when Romeo and Juliet speak in the ‘balcony’ scene. Marriage is the thought that they both share to express their devotion to one another:
“If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow”
Romeo is a little older than Juliet, but by how much we cannot really be sure. Romeo could be seen to be the type of boy who would fall in love very easily; as he himself fell “in love” with Rosaline and then within a few minutes of seeing Juliet, loves her! However, the love that he shares with Juliet is reciprocated, not like the unrequited love Romeo had for Rosaline.
There seems to be an instant attraction between Romeo and Juliet, which is fuelled by their situations: Juliet wants to get away from having a closeted life, and Romeo wants to be loved in return.
The only kind of love that Romeo has felt before is Courtly Love, which is unrequited. Courtly Love is a rather artificial, pointless love, where Romeo places Rosaline on a pedestal, and becomes devastated and curses everything under the sun when all he does impress Rosaline with his worthiness and undying love is rejected.
“Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate,
O any thing of nothing first create!”
The language used by Romeo when speaking about Rosaline is artificial sounding and very self-pitying. Rosaline is all that Romeo can think about in the beginning of the play and he feels that nothing will ever be able to change that:
“Show me a mistress that is passing fair,
What doth her beauty serve but as a note
Where I may read who passed that passing fair?”
Even if he sees a beautiful lady, he will only be reminded of Rosaline’s beauty. Romeo’s first impression on love cannot be a good one. It is because of this that when Romeo realises that Juliet loves him in return, he is ecstatic because his love is now requited.
Romeo often equates love with beauty, as he mentions eyesight in great detail when speaking of love. He seems to be able to love and worship beautiful girls, without taking any interest in their personalities or social status.
Lady Capulet believes that love equals marriage, and marriage equals money. She is a firm believer in the ways of the times.
“So shall you share all that he doth possess,
By having him, making yourself no less.”
She herself married Capulet when she was roughly Juliet’s age and she most probably married Capulet for social status, as there is never any feeling of love or respect evident between them. This is quite unlike the Montagues; who seem to have set an excellent example of love for Romeo. Montague is genuinely distraught when Lady Montague dies because she cannot stand Romeo being banished and away from her.
At the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, Capulet, like Montague seems sincere and that he genuinely loves and respects his daughter:
“And too soon marred are those so early made…
… My will to her consent is but a part;”
However, he goes behind Juliet’s back and arranges for her to marry Paris, a man who she has barely even met. He tells Paris:
“I think she will be ruled
In all respects by me; nay more, I doubt it not.”
Capulet has not even asked Juliet about the wedding at this point, and so when she refuses, gets enraged. He is not used to his daughter not being as she used to be, subservient and obedient to him, therefore, he threatens to kick her out of the house and leave her for dead:
“And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets;”
He does this because of the patriarchal society that they lived in. A Patriarchal society was one where daughters especially were seen and not heard, and expected to do what their fathers said.
In October 2002, I went to see a production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at the Old Rep in Birmingham. The Capulet family were portrayed as Asian. I think that this was an excellent idea because Asian countries still have arranged marriages as part of their tradition. It also showed the hatred between the two families, emphasised because there is a lot of racism and violence between the English and Asian people in Birmingham today.
During our study of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, we also watched the Baz Luhrman film. This had a Catholic theme throughout, which I felt was good, as the catholic religion was an important feature of everyday life in ‘Romeo and Juliet’, as portrayed in the film. The film also related to every day life in the 21st century. I found this most interesting, as it was a change to most of the other productions, but showed how the same themes, Love conquering all and attitudes towards marriage as a social institution, can still relate to our lives today.
Friar Lawrence plays an important part in ‘Romeo and Juliet’, as he is part of the church, and religion was very important. It is said that without Friar Lawrence’s interference, Romeo and Juliet would not have ended as they did. Friar Lawrence could not have foreseen the circumstances, and his intentions were good, as he felt that by marrying Romeo and Juliet, the two families would see sense and stop the ancient grudge between them:
“So smile the heavens upon this holy act,
That after-hours with sorrow chide us not.”
The Nurse is an important character in the play. She doesn’t say anything to Capulet or Lady Capulet when it is announced that Juliet is to marry Paris, even though she knows Juliet has already married Romeo. This is bigamy, but Nurse keeps her word to Juliet and does not interfere. Nurse shows almost a mother figure towards Juliet, and as Juliet’s mother doesn’t spend much time with Juliet, Nurse practically raised Juliet herself.
The Nurse’s view on love and marriage is completely different to that of Romeo, Juliet and the Capulets. She thinks that to have a good marriage, is to have a good-looking husband, and a good sex life. She then revels in telling Juliet:
“You shall bear the burden soon at night.”
Mercutio has similar views to the Nurse on love and sex. He is not interested in love, and when Romeo talks about how he loves Rosaline, Mercutio mocks him for talking nonsense:
“Dido a dowdy, Cleopatra a gipsy, Helen and Hero hildings and harlots, Thisbe a grey eye or so, but not to the purpose. Signor Romeo, ‘bon jour’!”
Mercutio is a joking character, and is always making crude sexual jokes. When the Nurse comes to speak to Romeo about marrying Juliet, Mercutio mocks her too:
“An old hare hoar
And an old hare hoar”
When the Nurse and Mercutio joke about sex, the language and lack of rhythm used makes the comments stand out and seem much more amusing and far less romantic:
“To fetch a ladder, by the which your love
Must climb a bird’s nest soon when it is dark.
I am the drudge, and toil in your delight;
Despite the sexual coarseness, the hatred between the two families and the deceit, there is a clear, underlying moral. Pure love conquers all. Shakespeare makes this apparent by using different types of language with each type of love. From the first time that Romeo and Juliet meet, it is obvious that they are in true love, because they speak to each other in sonnets when they first meet, and always speak to each other in verse, often with rhyming couplets. Their love feels very elevated. When Paris speaks to Juliet, it does not seem like love, it seems insincere because Paris and Juliet speak in normal verse. He talks of owning Juliet:
“Thy face is mine, and thou hast slandered it.”
‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a play full of comparisons; love and hate, Capulet and Montague, sadness and happiness. The problems that the young couple face are due to marriage being seen as social standing, with your reputation depending on it. As the opposing families would not have allowed their children to marry, Romeo and Juliet’s devotion to is shown by secretly rebelling against their parents’ marital wishes. Such rebellion would never have been thought acceptable and had the couple stayed alive, both their reputations would have been destroyed by the deceit to their families. The whole play revolves around these themes and comparisons, but through love, the sadness and hatred is destroyed. Romeo and Juliet’s love conquered all.
