Juliet compares her and Romeo’s love to the sea:
‘ My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love is deep; the more I give to thee the more I have, for both are infinite.’
Everything Juliet says here is the same image, she is saying that her love for Romeo is as deep as the sea. She says that the more love she gives to Romeo the more love she has in return because he will always return her love. His love is infinite and boundless in the same way as the sea is. You again get the impression that Juliet is very taken aback by the love, as the sea is often rough, stormy and unpredictable just like her love with Romeo.
‘My only love, sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!’
After asking the nurse Juliet realises that Romeo is a Montague. This is too late; Juliet is already in love with him, she says that she knew this too late and knowing it now will not save her from a very sticky situation. This is another example of how sudden the love is, Romeo and Juliet have not even barely known each other very long but they are already passionately in love.
The next type of love shown in Romeo and Juliet is the infatuation that Romeo has with Rosaline. Now many may argue that this isn’t real love simply a teenage crush that will not be returned. However I think that everyone has gone through the pain of loving someone or being infatuated with someone that does not return that feeling. It is a normal teenage feeling, and I think that anyone who cannot say that it is not connected with love has obviously never felt it.
In the first part of the play Romeo is absolutely, completely and totally obsessed in Rosaline. He is also extremely upset because he knows that that love is not returned.
‘Well, in that hit you miss: she’ll not be hit. With Cupid’s arrow, she hath Dians wit…’
Romeo explains that the woman he loves (Rosaline) will not be hit by cupids arrow and will not fall in love the way Romeo has. He says that Rosaline has Dians wit. Dian was the goddess of hunting and chastity and she avoids Cupids arrows in the same way that Rosaline avoids them. This sort of feeling people can really relate to, not being loved back. But people still think that Romeo’s feelings were not genuine as he tends to exaggerate on everything. He is a romantic dreamer who rushes into everything and who’s feelings fade as quickly as they appear. Romeo has instantly forgotten about his love for Rosaline as soon as he meets Juliet. However I still think that Romeo did love Rosaline, but his passionate love was not returned; because Juliet returned Romeos love he didn’t need to think about Rosaline anymore.
Romeo describes his feelings for Rosaline as a lot of confusing opposites. He says that love is as light as a feather but heavy as lead. He says its bright smoke when we only see smoke as dull. Cold fire- Fire is supposed to be hot, Sick health- like being healthy but feeling sick. Romeo is trying to explain how it feels when love is not returned; that nothing really seems right, he says how love can confuse and mix up young minds; turning sensibility into madness. This is the effect that Shakespeare wanted.
‘ Feather of lead, bright smoke , cold fire, sick health! Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!’
This explains that Romeo thinks that love is not always kind but can sometimes treat you very cruelly when your feelings are not returned. Romeo uses many exaggerated descriptions of feelings that make him seem a very boring and dreamy sort of person. However it is important to note that throughout a lot of the play Romeo is not being himself. I think that Romeo genuinely did feel love for Rosaline as his descriptions of how he feels are very heart felt and most teenagers could relate to that infatuated feeling.
Many examples of the love shown in Romeo and Juliet are not shown as ideal and Romeos infatuation is one of them.
Benvolio says ‘ Why, Romeo, art thou mad?’ When he hears about Romeos crush on Rosaline.
Romeos love for Rosaline is not ideal and Benvolio thinks that Romeo is mad for loving Rosaline. Romeo is very moody and upset because of his love. This shows a darker more destructive side to love. This could also show that the more in love Romeo and Juliet are, the bigger destruction will become of them.
Another example of the sort of infatuated, unreturned love is the love that Paris has for Juliet. Paris obviously really likes Juliet, I just think that he finds it harder to express his love than Romeo. Paris probably did really love Juliet just in a quieter more controlled way than Romeo did.
Paris finds it very hard to convey his real feelings to Juliet. The only time they really meet in the play, the conversation is brief, matter of fact and passionless.
‘ Happily met, my lady and my wife!’
You could imagine how awkward this scene would be, I don’t think that Juliet and Paris have ever had a proper conversation with each other, or that Juliet even really knew who Paris really was. This was not the ideal time for them to meet, especially as Juliet was so in love with Romeo, and so upset about what was happening to him. For Paris to express his feelings to Juliet in such a short scene would be very difficult for him.
Paris is genuinely heartbroken when he thinks that Juliet is dead;
‘Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew…The obsequies that I for thee will keep nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.’
Paris goes to visit Juliet’s tomb and talks to her whilst she lies there in apparent death. He compares her to a flower, which seems to be his way of showing affection. This is a lot less affectionate and passionate that how Romeo compares Juliet to light. He says that he will attend her tomb every night to lay flowers, which is about the most romantic he gets. He is not passionate, unlike Romeo. However he is willing to give up his every night just to visit Juliet. This may prove that his love was eternal, he just doesn’t show the audience much proof of that.
When Paris is dying he asks Romeo to place him in the tomb near Juliet.
‘O, I am slain! If thou be merciful, open the tomb, lay me with Juliet.’
This is one of the only places where true emotion is shown by Paris towards Juliet. Paris probably did really love Juliet he just found it really hard to prove his feelings. It took his death to make him realise how much he wanted to be with Juliet. He was not prepared to die with Juliet, as he probably felt he could live without her, unlike Romeo. However, when he is dying the one person he wants to be with Juliet. He probably did have very strong feelings for Juliet he just never let his heart rule his head.
The next type of love and probably most heartfelt love, is the friendship love between Romeo, Benvolio and Mercutio. They are probably more like brothers than just friends, they stand together through everything and have always got each others backs when ever anything happens. Like normal teenage boys these days; they are there for each other through everything, they help with girl trouble, make each other laugh and are always right behind each other when a fight occurs.
An example of the friendship love that Romeo and Benvolio share is that they are always there for each other through trouble with their love lives.
Romeo is upset because he thinks he is in love with Rosaline. Benvolio comforts him:
‘By giving liberty unto thine eyes, examine other beauties.’
Benvolio tells Romeo to stop bothering with Rosaline and to look at other girls. He says that there are far more beautiful girls out there. This a very good example of friendship love, friends always put each other before themselves. This reflects a lot about Benvolio’s character as well, Benvolio is not a bad person he is a good friend. He always does his best to stay out of trouble and look out for his friends. He also makes a real effort to cheer Romeo up after Romeo is upset about Rosaline. He persuades him to go to the Capulet’s party and look for other girls who will return Romeo’s love.
‘At the same ancient feast of Capulet’s Sups the fair Rosaline whom thou so loves…Go
thither…compare her face with some that I shall show.’
Benvolio says that he can show some women that are far better looking than Rosaline. He says that if Romeo goes he should compare the faces of those to Rosaline’ s. Benvolio probably knows Romeo really well; and like the audience, knows how quickly and easily Romeo will fall in lust with girls. Benvolio has probably guessed that Romeo will be over Rosaline by the next day and be after another girl. Little does he know that it could be Juliet, or would he predict the tragic ending for Romeo.
Romeo also heavily relies on his other best friend Mercutio. Mercutio is one of the funniest and most likeable character in the whole play. Mercutio is always bursting with energy and is always making jokes and teasing people. A lot of what Mercutio says are based on crazy ideas and stories and he uses plenty of wordplay and puns. When Romeo is upset about his love life Mercutio tries very hard to make him laugh, he uses many puns, jokes and lots of wordplay to make the mood lighter. This is an important thing to note in the play, when Mercutio is killed the whole atmosphere of the play changes, it becomes darker and the life seems to have gone from it.
Romeo is still upset about Rosaline so Mercutio does his best to make Romeo laugh:
‘If love be rough with you, be rough with love: Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.’
Mercutio says here that if love treats you bad then treat love bad, if no ones going to love you back then don’t fall in love. He says that you should hurt love for hurting and that way you’ll fall in less easily. He also (typically of Mercutio’s character) uses puns with the words ‘prick and pricking’. Meaning that he should be rough with love if it is rough with him, and ‘you beat love down’ means you can succeed over love but don’t lose your enthusiasm for love just because one person doesn’t love you back. Mercutio uses many puns all the way through the play and many of sexual nature.
Mercutio continues to make his puns throughout the play, and they are nearly always sexually related. Mercutio obviously knows Romeo very well; as in a conversation with Benedick he mocks Romeo and Romeo’s fickleness in love.
‘If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark. Now will he sit under a medlar tree, and wish his mistress were that kind of fruit as maids call medlars, when they laugh alone.’
I think that Mercutio means by this that Romeo falls very quickly almost blindly in lust with women, this means that they never really love him back, he wishes that they would love him back and give themselves to him hence the word ‘medlar’ used with a sexual reference. Mercutio doesn’t really have any real respect for women as you can see that to him love is only really sex related. He is mocking Romeo because love is a very big thing to Romeo. Romeo isn’t really about the sexual side of love and Mercutio can see this but enjoys teasing Romeo.
There is a big gap left in the play when Mercutio dies; his death wasn’t meant to happen. Mercutio is not even any real part of the feud as he is neither Montague or Capulet, the only reason he was fighting was to protect Romeo’s honour.
‘O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!’
Mercutio did not agree with what Romeo was saying and so says that he will fight instead of Romeo. This shows off the strong bond of friendship that Romeo and Mercutio have between them, Mercutio wants to make sure that Romeo does not look like a wimp for not fighting, as a lot the ideas back then meant that if a fight broke out you fought to protect your honour, else you were not considered a real man.
When Mercutio dies the energy suddenly leaves the play, from his death onwards things start going wrong. Even as Mercutio is dying he is still making puns;
‘ Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.’
Mercutio is saying here that if you look for him tomorrow he will be serious (grave) because he will be dead and buried in a (grave) in the ground. This is a typical way of Mercutio using puns to make a point, he will be dead tomorrow; but he still tries to make it as funny as possible. This is an example of how much life Mercutio brought to the play, when he dies, the play becomes a lot darker and dangerous.
Romeo is partly to blame for Mercutio’s death, not only for the fact that it was Romeo who should have been fighting but also because Romeo’s intervention caused the death of Mercutio. However the biggest sorrow of Mercutio’s death is that he did not deserve to die, he was not part of the feuding families.
‘ A plague a’ both your houses! They have made worms’ meat of me.’
Mercutio blames the feuding families for his death, he says that he hopes that ill-being will come to both the houses. Mercutio also blames Romeo for his death, he wouldn’t have been killed if Romeo had not got in the way. Everything that happens in the whole play is central to the feud, if there hadn’t been a feud Romeo and Juliet could marry properly, Romeo wouldn’t need to stop Tybalt and Mercutio fighting, Mercutio wouldn’t be dead. It is also important to note that the feud is as much to with hate as it is with love. The love between each family strengthens the hate for the opposing family; and Romeo can see this:
‘Here’s as much to do with hate but more to do with love.’
Romeo is completely furious when Mercutio is killed, he feels partly to blame and wants to get even. Romeo is not bothered by the fact that Tybalt is Juliet’s cousin now, he is just desperate for Tybalt to be dead. Romeo is not bothered about the feuds any longer, the most important thing to him was the fact that he has a lost his best friend, because of the feud or not.
‘ Mercutio’s soul is but a little way above our heads, staying for thine to keep him company : Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.’
Romeo says here that Mercutio is dead and that either him or Tybalt or both of them must join him in death. Romeo wants fair compensation for the death of a man that should have been prevented. Romeo may be a bit of a romantic but he is also prepared to fight to the death for the right cause. This is a side to Romeo that only starts to come out in the middle of the play, although he seemed passionate, he also seemed a bit wimpy and a nomadic sort of dreamer. The audience see a side of Romeo where he loses his head and lets his heart rule over his head. Romeo lets his feelings rule him and he rushes into things without thinking about the consequences; the first time the audience see this is when he falls instantly in love with Juliet and within the next twenty-four hours he is married to her. Romeo is far to upset about the loss of his best friend to care what actually will happen in the future. Romeo is probably reeling with guilt as well, Mercutio had blamed Romeo for getting in his way whilst he was fighting.
The next type of love shown in Romeo and Juliet is family love. Now some people may argue that the whole basis of the plot of the story is based on the love between the families. If the families were not so close, the hate between opposing families would not be so strong. However, some examples of family relationships don’t always show that the families loved each other that much, that family was more about respect, honour and money.
An example of this is when Juliet has fallen passionately in love with Romeo.
‘ Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn by my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet.’
Juliet shows here a sign of rebellion; she says that to be with Romeo she would actually give up her family and change her name to be with him. She realises that the feud is only really to do with a name, not real hatred. I think that the love she feels for Romeo is a lot stronger than the loyalty she feels for her family. Juliet also wants to marry for love not just for a good name.
After his marriage to Juliet, Romeo will not fight Tybalt.
‘ But love thee better than thou canst devise, till thou shalt know the reason of my love; and so good Capulet which name I tender as dearly as my own, be satisfied.’
Romeo will not fight Tybalt because he is now married to Juliet and that makes him family to Tybalt. This could be just an honour thing, the fact that Romeo is now family with Tybalt means that he shouldn’t fight him as it is against the general family rules. As Romeo says the Capulet name is now as dear to him as his own Montague name. However I think that it is more to do with the fact that he loves Juliet so much that he is not prepared to hurt anyone that she loves. Tybalt only picks a fight with Romeo because he wants to defend the honour of his family, however I think that if he would have know he was now related to Romeo he would still fight him, as I think the character of Tybalt just liked looking for trouble, a trait in his character that the Capulet family found hard to see.
Another example where I think that family love was more about honour is when Juliet refused to marry her parents choice of husband Count Paris.
‘ For you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend ; And you be not, hang , beg , starve, die in the streets, For by my soul , I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee nor what is mine shall ever do thee good.’
I think that this really proves just how much family was about honour and not about love at all. It makes me wonder how pointless the feud really was because everything in the play is in connection with the feud and yet within the families they didn’t show that much love for each other. Lord Capulet says that if Juliet goes with the husband that he chose for her then she can be part of his family. But if she does not marry Paris he will disown her and will not care what becomes of her. He will not help her or even acknowledge her existence. I can not see how this can be genuine love between a father and daughter. Juliet wants to marry for genuine love but her father is not at all bothered about the happiness of his daughter at all, I cannot see how he can really love her.
However when Juliet’s parents find her apparently dead it is a completely different thing.
‘O me, O me my only child, my only life! Revive look up or I will die with thee.’
This is Lady Capulet talking about how she feels when she finds Juliet’s ‘dead’ body. She says that Juliet is her only child and that if Juliet does not get up Lady Capulet will die with her. This should be genuine sadness for the loss of her daughter, but there is something that makes me think that that is not the only thing on Lady Capulet’s mind. She says that Juliet is her only child; now this would obviously be very sad to lose your only child, but I also think that Lady Capulet means that if her daughter does not marry Paris then Lady Capulet will not get to share in his families riches and honour. This apparent sadness I also find suspicious as a few days ago Juliet’s parents had been willing to throw her out onto the streets.
Another thing that I think shows just how much Juliet was not or did not have love between her and parents is the formality between them.
‘Madam, I am here, what is your will?’
Juliet speaks to her mother referring to her as ‘madam’ I find this very formal as it seems that Juliet talks to her mother as if she is a servant. She doesn’t seem at all close to her mother and I think that she is nervous around her as you could see she is probably on her best behaviour around her mother. Also the Nurse refers to Juliet as ‘lamb’ and ‘ladybird’ this is something that makes you think that actually Juliet thinks of the nurse as her mum other than her real mother.
The whole feud is based on the hate between the two families but has as much to do with ‘love’ within families, however I find some of the love displayed within the families as very suspicious, I just do not see it as genuine love. The formality between parents and children ,the general feeling that family is more about honour makes me think that the feud is actually pointless.
The last type of love included in Romeo and Juliet is the parental love shown by the Friar and the Nurse. I actually think that both the Friar and the Nurse cared more for Romeo and Juliet than their actual parents did. The Friar and the Nurse cared a lot more for the welfare and happiness of Romeo and Juliet rather than just about the family honour and riches.
The first person that Romeo goes to when he falls in love with Juliet is the Friar, to request a wedding. The Friar seems to be more like a father figure to Romeo than Romeos real dad. He knows many of Romeos secrets and Romeo trusts him.
‘ Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts but in their eyes.’
Friar Lawrence teases Romeo on his fickleness in love, he says that young men fall in love because of looks not because of personality. This proves that Friar Lawrence knows a lot about Romeos character, he can see faults and can perhaps foresee the danger of Romeos tendency to rush into things. He also plainly knew all about how Romeo felt about Rosaline, so he finds it hard to believe that Romeo can possibly have fallen in love with Juliet that quickly.
This is made even more obvious as just before Romeo marries Juliet the friar says:
‘These violent delights have violent ends…’
The Friar may be hoping that the wedding will cause happiness but he seems to know that in the end things will go wrong. What he says is spookily accurate but could only be his thoughts over how he wished that Romeo and Juliet would just slow down and think before they let their immediate feelings take over. The thing that probably worries the Friar the most is the suddenness of Romeo and Juliet’s love. The Friar is a slow and thoughtful character who a bit like the nurse has a tendency to go on a bit. However he always makes sure he thinks about what he is doing before he lets himself get involved, this could be why he is so worried when he has to help Romeo and Juliet as there are so many ways their plan could fail.
The Friar says that he will marry Romeo and Juliet as he thinks that it will end the feud.
‘ In one respect I’ll thy assistance be: For this alliance may be so happy prove To turn your households’ rancour to pure love.’
The Friar is a well respected and educated man, and he really believes that the feud will end if Romeo and Juliet marry, he is not keen to marry Romeo and Juliet, but he wants to help. I think he also wants to prove to Romeo and Juliet that they have a friend in him and wants them to know that they can come to him with any problem, whatever their parents say.
After Romeo has killed Tybalt and then offers to kill himself the Friar gives him good advice to stop him.
‘ Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art; Thy tears are womanish, thy wild acts denote the unreasonable fury of a beast.’
The Friar tells Romeo to face his worries like a man and that to cry is just simply womanly and childish. This will have an immediate effect on Romeo as he may appear a bit wimpy but infact he is a very passionate person with a very dangerous side, he will fight for his cause whatever may happen to him, he would not want to seem like he would give up; as he is simply not like that. I think that when the Friar refers to Romeo with ‘the wild acts denote the unreasonable fury of a beast.’ He is actually trying to say that Romeo crying is very strange for someone who was willing to fight to the death a few moments earlier.
The love between Juliet and the Nurse is particularly touching, Juliet has never had any real closeness with her real mother and really looks up to and treats the Nurse like her mum. The Nurse is comical, talkative and can go on a bit, but she always does what she thinks is best for Juliet. The Nurse genuinely cares very deeply for the welfare and care of Juliet. The Nurse has no choice but to obey Juliet’s orders as she is actually Juliet’s servant, however this does not stop her from trying to teach Juliet what she believes to be right and to give Juliet a lot of advice.
The Nurse likes to believe that she has brought up Juliet well, and that Juliet gets some of her knowledge from the nurse; something that Juliet’s mother would probably be quick to disagree with.
‘ An Honour! Were not I thine only nurse, I would say thou hadst sucked wisdom from thy teat.’
The Nurse says that if she didn’t know that she was only Juliet’s nurse she would believe that Juliet was her own daughter. That she had actually brought up Juliet as her daughter and that it was almost as if she had even given birth to Juliet. This proves how affectionate the Nurse really is to Juliet. The Nurse is very emotionally attached, like a mother, to everything Juliet does. Also a lot of what she says is meant to be funny, and she often comes up with little anecdotes that relate to what she says. She’s a real chatterbox and takes ages to make a point, this is what makes her one of the funnier characters in the play, as she easier to take the mick out of or to make fun of. It also means that in scenes where she appears alongside Mercutio, they can really play off each other. Mercutio will use his puns to insult her, and the more annoyed and wound up the Nurse gets the funnier it is for the audience.
The Nurse only ever really wants to Juliet to be happy, a lot of what the Nurse does is purely based on the happiness of Juliet and not on what the Nurse wants at all. However if Juliet is happy so is the nurse.
‘Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days.’
The Nurse always wants Juliet to have a good time. She simply wants Juliet to always be happy. The way she talks to Juliet here you could imagine she would be excited and loving, very unlike how Juliet’s real mother acts around Juliet.
However the Nurse does know that Juliet is the boss and she has to do what Juliet says. The Nurse tries to be sensible and practical when it comes to Juliet and she tries to tell Juliet what she thinks is best for her, but in the end the Nurse has no real parental control over Juliet.
‘ I think that you are happy in this second match, for it excels your first.’
The Nurse tells Juliet that Paris is a better match for her rather than Romeo. The Nurse only wants Juliet to be happy and when Juliet is pressured into things by her parents the nurse wants Juliet to obey them. She probably hates telling Juliet this, as she knows Juliet well and knows that Juliet will think she is a hypocrite, but it is the Nurses duty as she feels like a second mother to Juliet and want what’s best for her.
When Juliet appears apparently dead on the morning of the arranged marriage to Paris, the Nurse is genuinely upset;
‘Alas, alas! Help, help! My lady’s dead! O weraday that ever I was born! Some aqua-vitae, ho! My Lord! My Lady!’
The Nurse is completely overcome with sadness and shock, she is very, very upset about the loss of Juliet. She is far more genuinely upset than any of the other characters, as she was probably the most emotionally attached person to Juliet. She also probably blames herself as she nearly always sleeps in the same room as Juliet. It was just tonight that she didn’t.
As you can see there are many different types of love shown in Romeo and Juliet. They are all very important, and they are all connected in some way to the feud. However the most important type of love is the actual love between Romeo and Juliet, I think they just had to fall in love, otherwise there would be no point to the play. You could blame their death on many things; the feud-if there had been no feud no-one would have had to die. Friar Lawrence- if he had not suggested the plan, maybe Romeo and Juliet would have lived. The Nurse- she should have tried to stop Juliet from falling for a Montague. Juliet’s parents-they did not care what Juliet wanted which made her rebel. A combination of bad luck and timing. However I think that Romeo and Juliet’s death was mainly down to fate and the fact that they were too in love to think about their actions. I think from even reading the first few lines of the play you can see what will be the outcomes of Romeo and Juliet. One of the first lines of the play is:
‘A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life’
Right at the beginning of the play the audience are told that Romeo and Juliet are doomed to die. This means that the prologue is saying that the stars control Romeo and Juliet and that the stars have bad things in store for them. Romeo is probably aware of the fact that his very life lies in the hands of fate, as he constantly talks about his unlucky stars.
‘ Some consequence yet hanging in the stars…’
Romeo believes that the stars control everything. So they are responsible for his infatuation with Rosaline and then his love for Juliet. He believes that everything that happens to him is to do with the stars. Romeo believes that his stars are unlucky;
‘And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars…’
Here Romeo is complaining about is unlucky stars, he is blaming Juliet’s death on his unlucky stars. He is going to kill himself to be with Juliet and get rid off his unlucky stars. I think that the fate of both of Romeo and Juliet was always laid out. Although I think that perhaps Romeo was the unlucky one, and perhaps ended up sharing his bad luck with Juliet, they just had to die for the play to have a real meaning. Love may have made Romeo and Juliet careless, reckless and more unlucky. Their love really shows what true love should be- unconditional and everlasting, but if they had not let love rule them, then perhaps they wouldn’t have died. However, I think that Romeo and Juliet had to die, that was the only way their love could be truly perfect. They were so in love on the day they died that there was no time for them to find faults in each other. Also because their love was so strong it meant that it brought the Capulets and Montagues together, the fate that meant Romeo and Juliet had to die, to mend what was not right.
Romeo and Juliet’s love was also the most important type of love in the play as it was the one of the only types of love shown that really contrasted with the hate of the feud.
