Brotherly Love in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Brotherly Love in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Throughout the play 'Romeo and Juliet', characters depend on one

another as a source of support and love. One prime example of this is

of Juliet and her nurse. This type of love is also featured at the

beginning of the play between Romeo and his cousin, Benvolio.

Throughout the beginning of Act 1 Scene 1 both Lord and Lady Montague

(Romeo's Parents) and Benvolio show concern toward how Romeo has been

behaving. They describe him as being 'tearful' and 'unsociable'.

Benvolio then shows himself as a close, sensitive friend to Romeo. He

talks to Romeo sympathetically even though he has been pushed away by

him. He displays care and support which could be classed as 'Brotherly

love'. These actions between two people do not stop there as the same

happens between Mercutio and Romeo in Act 2 Scene 4, Mercutio says to

Romeo:

'Whyis not this better now than groaning for love, thou art sociable,

thou art Romeo, for this drivelling love is like a great natural.'

Light

In 'Romeo and Juliet' Shakespeare used techniques such as Light

imagery to emphasise a mood or a particular speech. In Elizabethan

times, when 'Romeo and Juliet' was written, the stage in which it

would have been performed would have been very simple. Therefore,

Shakespeare had to rely on the words spoken by the characters to

create the imagery needed. By using light to denote love he could

create the images he wanted and the audience could picture the mood as

opposed to seeing it. An example of this is when Romeo describes

Juliet, his love, as a light breaking through a dark window (Act 2

Scene 2) or a bright ang...

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... prime example of this is when the

two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, meet for the very first time. They share

a 14 line sonnet. In this sonnet there is religious imagery:

Which mannerly devotion shows in this,

For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss. (Act 1 Scene 5 lines 97-99)

Here Romeo and Juliet use religious icons to express their love for

each other and through mirroring the love between a pilgrim and a

saint they are in reality talking about themselves.

One of the reasons why Shakespeare has used this sonnet in the first

meeting, between Romeo and Juliet is to emphasise their mutual feeling

of 'love at first sight'. It brings both rhythm and elegance to the

text. By including sonnets in his text, Shakespeare is able to enhance

and beatify the emotion.