The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet has been a great example of “true love” in the past. But a question arises: Was this story really a story of true love or just true lust? The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is the story of Romeo and Juliet, both from enemy families who are so madly in love with each other, they end up killing themselves. In the play, we can see so much physical contact and talks of love between Romeo and Juliet the moment they meet. Because of this, people think what Romeo and Juliet felt for each other was attraction for the physical body and not the person. I think that Romeo and Juliet did not have feelings of true love, but rather true lust for these 3 reasons Romeo thinks he is terribly in love with Rosaline, Romeo’s love is immature and on the 2nd day after their meeting, they marry and Juliet wants to feel the “rewards” of marriage.
The story of Romeo and Juliet is a story of true lust. Webster’ dictionary describes lust as “a desire to gratify the senses”. Merriam-Webster defines lust as “a strong feeling of sexual desire”. It can be understood that lust is only meant to satisfy the senses, as stated by Webster’s. Romeo was so terribly in love with Rosaline that he said “When the devout religion of mine eye maintains such falsehood, then turn tears to fires” (Shakespeare 799, Lines 90-91). Romeo thinks that he is so terribly in love with Rosaline that if he sees anyone more beautiful, his eyes are lying to him, his tears become fires and his eyed burnt. He describes Rosaline as “O, she is rich in beauty; only poor that, when she dies, with her beauty dies her store” (Shakespeare 795, Lines 212-213). This showed that he was thinking just about her beauty. Then he met Juliet and forgot about Rosaline. He thoug...
... middle of paper ...
...iet’s story was not a story of true love, but a story of lust. 1, Romeo promises that he will never forget about Rosaline, but he does at the feast, and all Juliet wanted was physical contact. Romeo and Juliet were so convinced that they loved each other. But, Romeo and Juliet both wanted to get away from something. Romeo was trying to get over Rosaline. Juliet’s father, Capulet, gave her the choice of marrying Paris, that he only had a small say in her marriage. She really didn’t have any choice because in the end, she was being forced to marry Paris. But what if Juliet didn’t like Romeo back? We saw that Romeo described Rosaline and Juliet’s beauty in so many ways. Does this mean that he was only looking for beauty instead of personality and character in a woman? It certainly seems so. Relationships, such as these tend to be those of true lust, rather than love.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s impulsiveness contributes to the tragedy of the play. There is no doubt that Romeo rushes into love throughout the play. One example of this is when he falls in love with Rosaline. Although Rosaline is not a major role in the play, it shows the sorrow and uncertainty Romeo goes through after not being loved back. Marilyn Williamson said “During the time in which he was infatuated with Rosaline, he was … withdrawn into darkness” (6). The fact that Rosaline never shares the same feelings with Romeo, shows how quickly Romeo is to fall in love. “Out of her favor, where I am in love” (Rom. 1.1.158). Ironically, Romeo falls in love with Juliet during his plan to get closer to Rosaline. He is at a Capulet party when he first sees Juliet and
Romeo had unrequited love for Rosaline, who is mentioned, but doesn’t appear in the movie or the original script. But those feelings are dead the second he sees Juliet.
“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...
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
Romeo and Juliet is known as one of the greatest love stories, but it has its fair share of tragedy as well. The story riddles with themes throughout. Love is the first theme and there is no greater love than the love Romeo and Juliet share. Shakespeare offers his audiences just as much hate as love in Romeo and Juliet. The families of both Romeo and Juliet involve themselves in centuries of feuding. The ongoing feud between the Montagues and Capulets drives Romeo and Juliet into a life of secrecy, which ultimately causes their deaths. Youth is another theme and ties directly to how young both Romeo and Juliet are both in their age and their relationship. The story of Romeo and Juliet uses sex as a theme as well although not in the intimate details of more modern stories. The two lovers concerns are not with the wishes of their warring families, they just want to be together “Deny thy father and refuse thy name / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn by my love / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.34-36). Love is the first theme Shakespeare displays in this play.
Romeo shows that he is reckless with his obsession of the idea of love. Romeo Montague was just around the age of manhood when he met Rosaline. ‘She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair’/ ‘to merit bliss by making me despair.’/ ‘She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow’/ ‘Do I live dead that live to tell it now’ - (Act 1, Scene 1 L. 215-218). He goes on about her beauty and how shameful it is that someone as beautiful as she will stay a virgin for life. Ironically enough, he meets Juliet a few hours later and describes her as this ‘Did my heart love till now? Foreswear it, sight!’/ ‘For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night’ - (Act 1, Scene 5 L. 49-50). He’s so needy for love that his affections can get replaced in a matter of hours with and pretty girl to look at. Also, it’s very obvious that through his words that Romeo is a fickle fellow bases his love on how somebody looks. His shallowness can be seen through his age by his meager knowledge and lack ...
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 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...
It’s often said that love at first sight is what occurred in this dismal story but you can not truly be in love until you have gotten to know the person and actually talked to them. When Romeo first saw Juliet he was already saying he was in love with her and didn’t even speak to her, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!” (I.V.52). When in actual, true love you must know the person. Juliet had just learned his name and she was already calling him her love, “My only love, sprung from my only hate!” (I.V.138). On top of that, they were just teenagers. Majority of all teenagers suffer from mood swings due to the hormones raging through their body. One day they’re angry the next they’re sad, so how could they have truly known what they have wanted? Yes, it is possible for teenagers to be in love, but it’s hard to tell whether it’s actual love. “One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun” (I.II.96) In that line he was talking about a girl he met before he met Juliet, Romeo was claiming he was in love with her, Rosaline, and he was really down about that sitatuion. “Is Rosaline that thou didst love so dear, / So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies / Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” (II.III.66-68) Friar Lawrence even pointed it out; if he was able to get over Rosaline that quickly then he did not love her. If he could get over her that fast then he could find somebody else and get over Juliet
Romeo has an obsessive personality. The morning before he meets Juliet, he is obsessing on Rosaline. To see Rosaline, Romeo snuck into a Capulet’s party; once there, he meets Juliet and instantly he forgets his obsession of Rosaline, thinking Juliet is the most beautiful creature on earth. Friar Lawrence even acknowledges this when he states, “Young men’s love then lies / Not truly in their hearts but in their eyes” (II iii 67-68). Romeo’s affection is easily swayed from Rosaline to Juliet.
Initially Juliet was just like Rosalynn. Romeo saw her once at the party and immediately fell in love. All of the sudden the idealism and the metaphors change titles from Rosalynn to Juliet. In addition, Romeo turns Juliet into a god like figure. 2.2. 114 “ o, swear by the moon the inconstant moon.” this is an example of the metaphor of which he compares his love towards Juliet to the moon. Again, this is not true love. Romeo has just met her and again he is infatuated. He is in love, with the idea of being in love. This is not true love. He just met her. He simply is so desperate to have someone to love him that he falls in love with every girl that he sees. The infatuation tendency of his is turned into true love.
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.
After being rejected by Rosaline, a member of the Capulet family, Romeo rests his gaze on Juliet, her cousin. His methods to win Juliet’s heart consisted of sneaking into the Capulet’s party, however he receives a vision that “some consequence [was] yet hanging in the stars, shall bitterly begin [with] this fearful date” (I,v). The consequence was slowly becoming more realistic from that day, the day that the two ‘star-crossed’ lovers met. Romeo made the decision of attending the event despite his predicted vision of demise, risking his own safety for the sake of being in love. From that specific day, Romeo had been a changed man. His mindset had been corrupted to the point at which he could not see clearly, being blinded by love. This ultimately resulted in Romeo to make additional poor decisions in the future. The love that he felt for Juliet was so immense that he questioned any prior ‘love’ he felt, "did [his] heart love till now (meeting Juliet)? Forswear it sight, for [he] ne 'er saw true beauty till this night". Romeo’s perception of ‘true love’ differs from the accustomed apprehension. He is a petrarchan lover, essentially meaning that he is in love with the idea of being in
... off.”(“Love’s Bond”, Robert Nozick) If that is true when loving someone, Romeo evidently made the wrong decision to kill Tybalt. By fulfilling this revenge, Romeo not only caused Juliet to be upset, but he also placed a burden on himself: an imprudent decision. After analyzing Romeo’s careless approach to risking to lose Juliet’s love, it becomes clear that Romeo’s love for Juliet is not a real romantic love, but it is a hormone-driven, passionate, hasty love that is portrayed as ruinous and preposterous by Shakespeare through Romeo’s actions.
Even before Juliet is introduced, Romeo considers himself to be in love with Rosaline. Although he says that it is true love, stating “..Doth add more grief to too much of mine own. Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes..” (Shakespeare, I.1.23), it is clear that his obsession with Rosaline is purely surface-level-- later on in this same scene, it is revealed that Rosaline is taking a vow of chastity, and after that, it could be inferred that Romeo does not know Rosaline well at all. He is simply interested in the concept of her, rather than being in true love with her. After he pursues Rosaline, and quickly gets over her at the masquerade party, Romeo moves on to Juliet, the two immediately “fall in love”, even though they are meeting for the first time. Romeo experiences the same thrill, speaking of Juliet in poems and flowery adjectives, for example, saying that “..It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.” (II.2.69) There are many other incidents where he speaks similarly about the two women, even though they are different. His similar fixation with the two different girls tells us something about Romeo: he is not in love with them specifically-- moreso, the idea of being in love and its caveats, a strong theme that Shakespeare