The next type of love is the love that evolves when you find the person that you want to spend your life with. This type of love is known as romantic love and is what happens with Romeo and Juliet at first sight. Romeo says, “Did my heart love till now? Foreswear its sight, I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” This shows that Romeo never loved Rosaline as he forgets about her when he sees Juliet. He also uses bright and joyful language when he talks about Juliet, “ Juliet is the sun”. This exhibits that his love for Juliet contrasts his love for Rosaline, as his love for Rosaline is sad and morose whereas this is bright and joyful. Romeo also shows eternal love when he speaks about Juliet because he uses religious imagery in verse, “ Heaven is where Juliet lives.” This shows that his feelings for Juliet are sacred which is the biggest bond that a man and woman can have which is also shown when they marry.
Juliet has the same sort of feelings for Romeo although her view of love is more strong and practical. This is illustrated when Romeo
comes to visit Juliet after the Capulet banquet and he is using his flowery language as she says, “Yet if thou swearest, Thou mayst
prove false; at lovers perjuries They say Jove laughs” which means that the King of gods laughs at flowery language and that she thinks it is false to use such speech. This shows that that his flowery language does not attract her and that she just wants him to be straight up. This also proves that she prefers romantic love to fashionable love, which is stronger and more practical. It shows that she is more sensible than Romeo even though she has no experience of love. Although Juliet is practical she is also delirious and blinded by love because she does not think of the consequences of her parents catching them and she is the person who suggests to have a marriage the day after they meet.
The next type of love is all about sex. This is known as bawdy or sexual love. This type of love is demonstrated by the Nurse, Gregory, Sampson and Mercutio and is the first type of love that arises in the play when Gregory and Sampson are talking. They talk about women as sexual objects when they say that women are, “ pretty pieces of flesh.” and they joke about rape when they say they will fight the men and push the women to the wall and, “cut of their heads” which means to break their virginity. This shows that they do not take love seriously and use it as an excuse for sex. Mercutio also has the same view as he teases Romeo about love and calls the nurse “ Old hare hoar.” Shakespeare puts bawdy love in the book to contrast with Romeo and Juliet’s love.
Although the Nurse has a bawdy view of love which is shown when she says, “Women grow by men.” and “ have happy nights and happy days” which hints at having fun during the day and having sex at night, she also has a motherly love for Juliet. She spends a lot of time with Juliet and even breast-fed her as a child, “ sucked wisdom from thy teat” She replaces the role of Lady Capulet and it is shown in this quote. The Nurse will do anything for Juliet because she even helps arrange her marriage with Romeo. Although the Nurse has a motherly love it is not strong because when Capulet gets angry with her she changes her mind about Juliet being with Romeo.
When Capulet gets angry with the Nurse he also acts violently towards Lady Capulet, which shows that their marriage is not very affectionate. This may be the reason why he wanted Juliet to get married to Paris when she was a bit older. Although he says this, when Tybalt dies he says “ let it be a Thursday, tell her, she will be married to this noble Earl.” Juliet does not get a say in who she marries; Capulet just decides on his own who she will marry and this shows that he has an unromantic view of love. Love is like business to him because he believes it would be a good investment.
The last type of love demonstrated in Romeo and Juliet is Friar Lawrence’s moderate view of love, which is the opposite of Romeo and Juliet’s immediate and passionate. He says to Romeo, “Wisely and slow they stumble that run fast.” which proves the he believes in taking love slowly. He marries them since his reasoning is that it will bring their families together which is sensible and shows that he is religious, as he believes in peace.
Shakespeare has a very sophisticated view of love and this is proven by the act that he uses many types of love in all of his plays very effectively. Within Romeo and Juliet he uses several types of love and there are two messages that he brings across. Firstly he brings across that romantic love is the most powerful when compared to all of the others because Romeo and Juliet’s love is the most powerful love in the play and finally he brings across the point that love overcomes hate because the Capulets and Montagues break the feud between their families due to Romeo and Juliets’ death.
