Romeo and Juliet: In Love or In Lust? It is within human nature to call something by a name which is misleading. The 88 modern constellations are named after animals, objects, and characters from Greco-Roman mythology, yet none of the patterns created by the stars themselves accurately resemble their namesakes. Similarly, people who are conflicted by their emotions and desires often call their emotions by a name that does not accurately describe what is really going on. William Shakespeare’s famous romantic tragedy, Romeo & Juliet, tells the story of two teenagers in love despite their violent circumstances in the midst of a family feud. Often called the greatest love story ever told, the plot of the play doesn’t leave much room for a build-up For example, when Romeo first meets Juliet, he says “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/ For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.” (Shakespeare 1.5.57-58) Here Romeo is confusing love with lust since the sole basis of his love for Juliet, whose name he doesn’t even know yet, is her beauty. Another example of Romeo’s words showing his true intentions can be found in the famous balcony scene where he watches Juliet on her balcony from a distance and remarks on her beauty (Shakespeare 2.2.2ff). Throughout the whole scene, nothing Romeo says relates to Juliet’s character, only her beauty and his desire to be her love. Near the end of the scene, as Juliet is leaving him, Romeo says, “O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?” (Shakespeare 2.2.136), implying that he is wanting more from Juliet than words, a hint which Juliet may get, but does not act upon. In addition to his words, Romeo’s actions throughout the first two acts of the play reveal that he is acting upon lust for Juliet and not love. Romeo kisses Juliet as soon as they meet face-to-face after a short conversation about saints and pilgrims filled with innuendos (Shakespeare 1.5.102-117). Romeo also orchestrates their swift marriage with an urgency that implies a desire for sex. Romeo’s lustful obsession for Juliet is not uncommon in literature; another example of two teeenagers One example of Juliet misnaming her emotions comes from during the ball. After she finds out Romeo’s identity, Juliet says, “My only love, sprung from my only hate!/ Too early seen unknown, and known too late!/ Prodigious birth of love it is to me/ That I must love a loathed enemy.” (Shakespeare 1.5.154-157) Here she is describing Romeo as her only love in life, a claim which cannot be true since she hardly knows anything about him and has only met him once. Another example of this comes from the beginning of the balcony scene, where Juliet promises to give up her family for Romeo because of her love for him (Shakespeare 2.2.36-37). In this instance, Juliet is making a dangerous promise to a person she only just met- a decision more foolish than loving. Yet another example of Juliet’s words describing her feelings as love rather than lust can be found in the final scene of the second act where Juliet says, “But my true love is grown to such excess/ I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth.” (Shakespeare 2.6.35-36) Here Juliet reveals that she considers her love for Romeo her greatest possession. All of these instances would lead one to believe that Juliet does indeed love Romeo, but due to the circumstances, this cannot be true. First of all, Juliet has known Romeo for only a day; she knows virtually nothing about him. Also, Juliet is the
Lust or Love: An Essay Analyzing the Relationship of Romeo and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
"Do you particularly like the man?’ He muttered, at his own image; ‘why should you particularly like a man who resembles you? There is nothing in you to like…" (Dickens 103). Romeo Montague is no less desultory, but youth is his excuse, while alcohol and lifelong disappointment are Carton’s. Shakespeare has Friar Lawrence state [about Romeo’s multiple infatuations], "Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes" (1.3.67-68). Having not experienced life yet, Romeo does not yet understand the nature of love. He still sees it as a physical reaction, rather than emotional, "For beauty, starved with her severity / cuts beauty off from all prosperity" (1.1.227-228). Juliet is so immature and unskilled in the ways of love, that she shares her youthful desperation with her nurse, "Go ask his name; if he is married / my grave is like to be my wedding bed" (1.
Shakespeare uses Romeo’s internal feelings as a method to draw a full character and prove his impulsive and emotional outlook. Generally, Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting plays a huge part of determining Romeo’s true demeanor. At Capulet’s party, Romeo encounters Juliet for the first time. Love at first sight definitely takes place in this scene; upon seeing Juliet, Romeo denies ever previously experiencing love. He changes his feelings for Rosaline, his old love, in an instant as he gazes at Juliet and says to himself, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight,/ For I ne’er saw true beauty til...
Her love for Romeo is so strong that she also feels banishment is even worse than death. This truly conveys the message that they may be in this so called “love,” but their excessive obsession replaces their love for each other. “What’s here? A cup, closed in my true love’s hand?/ Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end” (V iii 174-175). After Juliet sees that Romeo has killed himself with poison, she is quick to think and she kills herself. “Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger,/ This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die” (V iii 183-184). These quotes are crucial to the plot of the play. Instead of Shakespeare portraying Juliet as morning over the death of her loved one, he uses this quote to portray her desperation for Romeo. Therefore, this quote never really conveys the story as one of love, but as Shakespeare puts it, a story of obsession and desperation. Shakespeare’s true language is shown in this very quote by Juliet’s desperation and not true, star-crossed love. He also points out that obsession and desperation are contrasted to true love. One of the main examples of any form of love is shown
Friar Laurence astutely states, “Thy love did read by rote, that could not spell./ But come, young waverer”(II iii 88-89), and he perhaps comes closest to the reality of the lovebirds’ affinity for each other: Romeo is a flighty young man falling in love with whoever pays him attention, and Juliet is an isolated, sheltered girl desperate for a change. Shakespeare uses the chorus to reinforce that Romeo and Juliet lust for one-another, rather than truly love their fiancee. The chorus states, “Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie,/And young affection gapes to be his heir…/ Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,/Alike bewitchèd by the charm of looks”(II prologue 1-6). This is vividly contrasted by the actual love that is apparent between Lord and Lady Montague, and even more acutely towards their son, as evidenced by their worry for him following the brawl in Act I, scene i, and their grief following his banishment, culminating in Lady Montague grieving herself to death. Romeo and Juliet’s passionate lust, rather than love, and obsession are more than simply strong emotions-they lead to dangerous
Albert Camus points out that for some people, it is easier for them to take their own life, than it is to continue living an empty one. This is the case for the star-crossed lovers, Romeo, and Juliet, in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. Although there were multiple contributing factors to the suicides of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence is directly responsible for their deaths. He is responsible because he trusted someone other than himself to deliver the letter to Romeo, he gave Juliet the potion, and left when Romeo and Juliet were in danger at the tomb.
Loving and being loved adds a feeling of purpose to our lives. Humans accept love from anyone and anything they can receive it from, it’s just human nature. In the literary work of “The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, the reader is introduced to two characters, Romeo and Juliet, who believe they share feelings of “true love” towards each other. However, such deep affection that both characters had for each other is not something that can be developed in a short amount of time, for that would not be love, it would be lust. Romeo and Juliet were two impulsive teenagers who did not understand the concept of “true love”.
Throughout the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, various types of love are portrayed. According to some of the students of Shakespeare, Shakespeare himself had accumulated wisdom beyond his years in matters pertaining to love (Bloom 89). Undoubtedly, he draws upon this wealth of experience in allowing the audience to see various types of love personified. Shakespeare argues that there are several different types of love, the interchangeable love, the painful love and the love based on appearances, but only true love is worth having.
When Romeo first meets Juliet, you can tell by his interactions with Juliet that Romeo loves Juliet. In Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 44-53, Romeo keeps talking about Juliet’s beauty and his love for her. In Act 1 Scene 5 Lines 93-111, Romeo is talking to Juliet and is attempting to impress her. If Romeo did not love Juliet, Romeo would not be talking about how
When Romeo meets Juliet, he claimed to be immediately in love. Although he has been sulking over Rosaline, when he met Juliet, he states, “Did my heart love till now? forswear it sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (Act 1.5 Lines 51-52). The entire time as he envisions love with Rosaline, it was all incoherent. Romeo’s impulsive attitude causes him to fall head over heels with Juliet, which begins the drama in this play.
Romeo's inclination to fall in love easily was first shown in his love for Rosaline. It was illustrated perfectly when he first met Juliet. "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight. For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night". (Lines 50-51, Scene 5, Act 1) He say this but he seemed to have forgotten Rosaline like old news, even though he speaks of Juliet as he spoke of Rosaline only a few short hours before. "One fairer than my love! The all-seeing sun ne'er saw her match, since first the world begun" (Lines 94-95, Scene 2, Act 1). Romeo immaturity was further shown by the way he handled Tybalt's slaying of Mercutio.
Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous love tales, but what if the play is not actually a tale of love, but of total obsession and infatuation. Romeo has an immature concept of love and is rather obsessive. Romeo is not the only person in the play who is obsessed though. Many people throughout the play notice his immaturities about love. Very rarely was true love actually shown in the play. attention. Romeo childishly cries to his friend, Benvolio because Rosaline will not love him back and says " She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow/ Do I live dead that live to tell it now" (I i 219-220). Romeo is stating that he's ready to die for loving Rosaline. This is exactly the same attitude Romeo had towards Juliet a little later in the play. During Scene I, Act ii, Romeo's friend, Benvolio tries to get him to go to the Capulet's party to help him get over Rosaline and meet other women Romeo gets very angry and emotional when he suggests this. “Now Romeo is beloved and loves again, / Alike bewitched by the charm of looks” (II 5-6). The chorus expresses Romeo’s juvenile way...
Romeo and Juliet’s true love is being mistaken for infatuation because they are in lust and are not emotionally stable enough to be in true love.
Romeo, son of Montague and Lady Montague, is introduced into the story as a depressed, upset young man, moping over a girl who will never love him back. As he says to Benvolio, “She’ll not be hit with Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit, and, in strong proof of chastity well-armed, from Love’s weak childish bow she lives uncharmed” (Romeo and Juliet I i 203-206). Romeo states that his true love will not love him as he thinks of her, as she intends to stay chaste and turn into a nun, thus upsetting Romeo and putting him in a depressed state of mind. He is a very extreme person, and in a way, that contributes to the hastiness of the whole play, as Romeo is always at either of his two extremes; his mood either quite happy or relatively dismal. He shows that in his thoughts, as he is at first convinced he should never love another woman, but then he meets Juliet only days afterward and forgets about his previous love. His encounter with Juliet is hasty, but he claims he “never saw true beauty till this night” (Rom I v 52). Romeo reveals his personality, and how quickly he is able to get over someone whom he thought he was in love with. However, after encountering Juliet and falling in love once more, Romeo develops an obsession of sorts w...
Romeo attends the Capulet’s feast as a part of a masquerade. When his eyes suddenly catch a glimpse of Juliet, he exclaims, “o she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night/ As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear” (Shakespeare 1.5.43-45). When Romeo compares Juliet to a torch, he makes a metaphor, suggesting that her beauty and radiance resemble the light of a torch. He continues to refer to Juliet’s beauty when he compares her to a sparkling jewel that catches the eye of the night sky (the “Ethiop” being a person of dark skin). Romeo correlates Juliet to a torch and a jewel, but never once mentions anything about her personality, even when he has his first interaction with her at the feast. Romeo simply feels desire towards Juliet and seems to over exaggerate his feelings for her. He relentlessly speaks about how beautiful she is when he questions, “did my heart love till now? forswear it sight!/ For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (Shakespeare 1.5.51-52). It is evident that Romeo cannot focus on anything else but Juliet’s looks, which is a sign of physical attraction rather than love at first sight. Romeo proclaims to “love” Juliet the minute he lays eyes on her. However, if he falls in love with just the sight of Juliet, there is no other reason he can claim to be in “love”