A Comparison of Love in Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest

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The Phenomenon of Love in Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest We know from the very opening scene of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet's love will end in tragedy. We may wonder why Miranda and Ferdinand in The Tempest do not end up with the same fate as Romeo and Juliet. Both couples are from opposing political families. Both couples are enraptured with their lovers. Why then does Romeo and Juliet end with their death's and the Tempest end with Miranda and Ferdinand's marriage plan? In this paper I will argue that according to Shakespeare reason needs to guide the souls of lovers to avoid tragedy and find bliss. I will do this by examining and comparing William Shakespeare's plays; Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest. The main sections of my argument will be; the phenomenon of love according to Shakespeare, love ending in tragedy, love ending in bliss and the conclusion. The Phenomenon of Love The phenomenon of love is such that when two souls first fall into love, their passions and desires can be engaged without reason. Their thoughts are consumed by their desires for the object of their love. Those desires are only concerned with being satisfied, and not if that satisfaction is good for either person. We can see this phenomenon in both plays. Romeo and Juliet have only a desire to be together after meeting at the Capulet's supper, even though their families are at war with each other. They do not pause and ask if their relationship is good for themselves, or those emotionally connected to them. In The Tempest, when Ferdinand and Miranda first meet, Ferdinand wants to make Miranda his queen and Miranda feels that "there's ... ... middle of paper ... ...et, New York, Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1986. Clark, W. G. and Wright, W. Aldis , ed. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol. 1. New York: Nelson-Doubleday Cole, Douglas, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Romeo and Juliet. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970. Granville-Barker, Henry. Prefaces to Shakespeare. New York: Hill and Wang, 1970. Lamb, Sidney, ed. Complete Study Edition, Romeo and Juliet: Nebraska, 1965. Lipson, Greta Barclay and Lipson, Susan Solomon, Romeo and Juliet Plainspoken: A Speech-by-Speech Modern Translation, Illinois, 1985. Shakespeare, William. "Romeo and Juliet" 1597. Clark and Wright 247-277 ---. "The Tempest" 1610. Clark and Wright 971-992 Watts, Cedric. Twayne's New Critical Introductions to Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1991.

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