A Comparison of Today's Attitudes About Love and Marriage to those in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Attitudes towards love and marriage have changed greatly throughout
time. Different traditions, morals and personal beliefs have become
more apparent in today's attitudes.
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William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' portrays perhaps the most
vivid view of love ever written, and shows us clearly the views of
love in the sixteenth century. The idea of love is complicated to come
to terms with, but it is my belief that the feeling of love today has
not changed at all from Shakespeare's day. I believe it can still be
as vivid and passionate as it was when the play was written. Love
perhaps is not so strong an issue as marriage is, as it is a feeling
and not a subject, therefore love cannot be changed.
Marriage on the other hand, today, is left down to free will in most
cases, and has a lot less to do with economic well-being and social
status. This is not always the case as this is a westernised idea, in
most eastern countries and some religions, arranged marriage is still
common.
The attitudes to love and marriage in 'Romeo and Juliet' differ
between different characters. Perhaps this was Shakespeare's way of
portraying the different views that were held by people in his time.
Since the sixteenth century many aspects of marriage have changed.
Perhaps the biggest difference is that marriage, back then, was
arranged by the father of the bride. The father would arrange the
wedding ceremony, the husband of the bride to be and the dowry (a
payment made to th...
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the dramatic fight scenes, that make us appreciate the play a little
bit more. The fact that the attitudes to love and marriage have
changed over time does not hinder our appreciation of the play,
instead it allows us to see different points of view on the matters.
However, the story is meant to be about love, which Shakespeare does
through showing the lengths that some people may go to for love,
(although at times they may seem, unrealistic to us). He does not only
show this through the eccentric Romeo, but through the sonnets that
other characters recite during the play. This I feel, on top of every
other aspect of the play, rules out the fact that attitudes to love
and marriage were different in the sixteenth century, and does not
hinder our appreciation of the play, as there is so much more to
appreciate.
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the views of love held by the character Romeo contrast sharply with the views of Mercutio. Romeo's character seems to suffer from a type of manic depression. He is in love with his sadness, quickly enraptured and easily crushed again on a passionate roller coaster of emotion. Mercutio, by contrast is much more practical and level headed. His perceptions are clear and quick, characterized by precise thought and careful evaluation. Romeo, true to his character begins his appearance in the play by wallowing in his depression over Rosaline who does not return his love:
to be a quite romantic person, as, to start with, he is in love with
The Different Attitudes to Love and Marriage Presented in Romeo and Juliet In “Romeo and Juliet”, the characters of Juliet, the Nurse and the Capulets have different attitudes to love and marriage. The relationship between the characters reflects their attitudes for marriage. The Capulet’s have a distant relationship with their daughter Juliet, as was common in Shakespearean times. Juliet is much closer to the Nurse who knew her from birth and she is Juliet’s
Attitudes Towards Love in Romeo and Juliet In the play Romeo and Juliet, love is a very important theme. The play is a tragedy set in the sixteenth century in “Fair Verona”. Love is a very important theme in the play and appears in many forms. Different people talk about love from very different points of view.
“LOVE IS A Certain Inborn Suffering derived from the sight of and excessive Meditation upon the beauty of the opposite sex, which causes each one to wish above all things the embraces of the other, and by common desires carry out all of love’s precepts in the other’s Embrace” is definition of medieval love. But Really, How much does Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet comes to terms of traditional “ love”? Think about Romeo in the very beginning of the play, when he talks about Rosaline. He describes, rather about her looks as he says: “ O, she is rich in beauty, only poor”. Romeo talks of his unattainable love to the beautiful Rosaline. He sees Rosaline as strong, for she would never be hit by cupid’s arrow. This is an example of courtly love. He mourns that she would never be with him. In Elizabethan time, Courtly Love was accepted in every day life, and it was not suppose to lead to marriage. Poor Romeo was not able to receive love back from Rosaline and he uses oxymoron’s to show is his confusion“ O Brawling loves, o loving hate”. He also adds a little sexual element“ Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold”. Now we ask, Does Romeo only like Rosaline for her body and appearance?Words like “ the precious treasure of his eyesight lost” and imagery of blindness and darkness all relate to the fact that Romeo sees loves as a bad thing. Yet Courtly Love is much like the tradition of “ Arranged Marriage”. Today, we see this as destruction to our freedom and our right to chose, we mos...
play is also about hate as well as love. We are always reminded of the
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – popularly considered by many to be the quintessential love story of all time – is a play that we are all familiar with in one way or another. Whether it be through the plethora of portrayals, adaptations and performances that exist or through your own reading of the play, chances are you have been acquainted with this tale of “tragic love” at some point in your life. Through this universal familiarity an odd occurrence can be noted, one of almost canonical reverence for the themes commonly believed to be central to the plot. The most widely believed theme of Romeo and Juliet is that of the ideal love unable to exist under the harsh social and political strains of this world. Out of this idea emerge two characters who, throughout history, have been heralded as the world’s greatest lovers and who have been set up as yardsticks against which future lovers must be measured. The tragic courtship between Romeo and Juliet has become so idealized and revered that even the Oxford English Dictionary lists this definition under the word ‘Romeo’:
Gazella, Katherine. “. Young Love in The Twenty-First Century.” Social Issues in Literature: Coming of Age in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, ed. by Vernon Elso Johnson, Christine Nasso, 2009. Print.
Romeo is desperate to be in love, and is in fact in love with the idea
What makes a piece of literature relevant or irrelevant to a society? There have been many debates on the relevance about particular pieces of literature, especially old literature, in the modern day. Their relevance can be judged by how they address issues happening in society when they were written compared to those same issues today. It can also be judged on whether the themes present can apply to the modern day. And even if a story portrays issues that are either resolved or irrelevant today it can still have value on how it portrays human nature The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a relevant work for a person in modern times due to its themes on suicide, human recklessness, and violence and revenge.
In the first scene of Act one there is the servants Sampson and Gregory talking about sexual love. As they both talk about taking girls virginity. They both sound arrogant as they talk as if it is through experience. To them the thoughts of taking a girl’s virginity seems a joking matter.
In High School people scavenge to find love or to even fake their love all for an image they desire to have. In Shakespeare’s times people normally married for riches and social status even if they did not love them. When we first meet Juliet Capulet she is
In the play “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare shows that love has power to control one’s actions, feelings, and the relationship itself through the bond between a destined couple. The passion between the pair grew strong enough to have the capability to do these mighty things. The predestined newlyweds are brought down a rocky road of obstacles learning love’s strength and the meaning of love.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a Renaissance poet and playwright who wrote and published the original versions of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, and often called England’s national poet. Several of his works became extremely well known, thoroughly studied, and enjoyed all over the world. One of Shakespeare’s most prominent plays is titled The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In this tragedy, the concept that is discussed and portrayed through the characters is love, as they are recognized as being “in love”. The general umbrella of love encompasses various kinds of love such as romantic love, the love of a parent for a child, love of one’s country, and several others. What is common to all love is this: Your own well-being is tied up with that of someone (or something) you love… When love is not present, changes in other people’s well being do not, in general, change your own… Being ‘in love’ infatuation is an intense state that displays similar features: … and finding everyone charming and nice, and thinking they all must sense one’s happiness. At first glance it seems as though Shakespeare advocates the hasty, hormone-driven passion portrayed by the protagonists, Romeo and Juliet; however, when viewed from a more modern, North-American perspective, it seems as though Shakespeare was not in fact endorsing it, but mocking the public’s superficial perception of love. Shakespeare’s criticism of the teens’ young and hasty love is portrayed in various instances of the play, including Romeo’s shallow, flip-flop love for Rosaline then Juliet, and his fights with Juliet’s family. Also, the conseque...
It is well known that Shakespeare’s comedies contain many marriages, some arranged, some spontaneous. During Queen Elizabeth's time, it was considered foolish to marry for love. However, in Shakespeare’s plays, people often marry for love. With a closer look into two of his most famous plays As You Like It and Twelfth Night or What You Will, I found that while marriages are defined and approached differently in these two plays, Shakespeare’s attitudes toward love in both plays share similarities. The marriages in As You Like It’s conform to social expectation, while the marriages are more rebellious in Twelfth Night. Love, in both plays, was defined as