Themes in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was written in 1595, and with its
passionate and realistic treatment of universal themes such as love,
war, fate, hate and death, the story has become timeless. Parallels
with many other extremely successful plays and performances can also
be drawn, proving that the story can be interpreted in several
different ways, and still understood by people able to relate to it
everywhere, regardless of their culture, background or differing
lives.
Love is one of the main themes in Romeo and Juliet. Idealistic love,
physical love, mature love and paternal love all have their own place
throughout the play, and each character also describes a different
view and take on what it is. Benvolios’ view on love is
interchangeable, and he sees love as something you feel for the
duration a relationship, but also believes that a man should feel and
display no grief if he is initially rejected by a woman, or at the end
of a relationship. In contrast with this are the views of Lady
Capulet, who believes love comes from appearance, both physical and
political. She shows this when she speaks favourably for Paris looks
and nobility, also she displays that she does not love Capulet when
she publicly denounces him. Paris also has a similar view of love,
although his love for Juliet appears to be pure, he regards her more
as property and is more interested in her appearance. Mercutios view
of love in Romeo and Juliet is mainly physical, like the nurse, but he
also appears to be very level headed, in his queen mab story, this is
evident. The nurse also shows her views when she announces that Juliet
will ‘fall upon her back’ when she is older, referring to sex. Both
Romeo and Juliet’s ideas of love change drastically during the play.
Juliet has no real idea of love at the beginning of the play, and at
such a young age has only really experience the paternal love of the
nurse and her parents.
To show that the Nurse is not very well educated she does not speak in
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.
The lover’s immediate connection is established at the Capulet feast, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” Through doing this, it shows that Romeo is reckless and continues even though he recognizes that they come from different families, “o dear, my life is my foe’s debt”. Throughout the play, it establishes that Juliet allows herself to behave impulsively and be persuaded by Romeo into a impetuous and thoughtless marriage, “The exchange of thy love’s faithful vowel for mine” Juliet expresses her concern that it is too soon to promise to love Romeo when they have only just met, “It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden / Too like the lightning” This simile is used to convey Juliet’s thought on their sudden love. Although Juliet has recognized how spontaneous they are acting, it does not prevent her from continuing her relationship with Romeo, proving that Juliet is just as impulsive as Romeo. Thus, Shakespeare has skillfully utilized the lovers to demonstrate that their own reckless actions is a reason for their untimely
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...
Love frequently entails several obstacles, and is not always as simplistic as it appears. This is a recurring theme in Romeo and Juliet, as the lovers go to great lengths for their relationship. They are not the only individuals involved, however, and many intervene in the situation. In effort to help their love, Friar Laurence creates a plan in hopes that the two will live happily together for the rest of their lives in Mantua. The Capulets, unaware of Juliet’s secret romance with Romeo Montague, attempt to arrange a marriage for her own benefit and believe that it will lead to her happiness. Both of these become obstacles in the way of Romeo and Juliet’s love and prove to be fatal, leading to the foreshadowed death of the couple. Although
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.
However, no one is able to on account of the fact that the audience is so focused on how rash and unwise they are. Within the first few hours of knowing Romeo, Juliet bemoans the fact that her “only love, sprung from [her]only hate.” First off, she barely met the guy and she’s already saying that he’s her only love. It doesn’t make sense. Then, at the beginning of the play, Romeo is in love with another woman, and then all of a sudden he’s in love with Juliet, whom he’s barely met? What is up with that? You can not forget someone and fall for someone else that fast. The friar says it best when he says “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.” And again the friar says wise words when he comments to Romeo as he’s leaving that Romeo should be wise and slow, because “ they stumble that run fast.” He’s clearly telling Romeo to not marry so soon, to think this
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
“Love life and life will love you back. Love people and they will love you back.” A quote by Arthur Rubinstein. I ibelieve iArthur iRubinstein iis itrying ito iexplain iif iyou ilove isomething, iyou igive ia ipart iof iyourself ito iit. You isacrifice iuseless iparts iof iyourself ibecause iyou iappreciate ithat ilife iis itelling iyou ithat iyou ineed ito igrow. When iyou ilove ipeople iand igive ithem ia ipiece iof iyourself, irather iyou're iallowing ithem ito itake ian advantage iover iyou iin isome iway, iand ithey ilike ithat ibecause iit's iwhat ithey iwant. There are three main types of love shown in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet such as Romantic love, Unrequited love and the love Juliet and her nurse share.
Furthermore, Romeo starts the whole tragedy. True, Juliet acts naïve, nonetheless Romeo acts hastily by encouraging the relationship. Prior to Romeo and Juliet’s encounter, Romeo is in an infatuation with Rosaline. In Act 1.1, Romeo depicts Rosaline's beauty and says, "She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair." Romeo’s love for Rosaline is only skin deep and faces heart break when she chooses to be celibate. Yet when Romeo sees Juliet for the first time, he forgets all about Rosaline and instantly falls for Juliet. In Act 1.5, Romeo is the first to spot Juliet and immediately feels an attraction to her. In addition, Romeo thinks Juliet is very beautiful and convinces her to kiss him without knowing each other. Then in Act 2.1, Romeo pursues Juliet and goes to her balcony and begins to profess his love for her. When Romeo is swearing that he is in love with Juliet, she stops him and says everything is happening so quickly. However, Romeo reassures Juliet and they plan for their marriage.
Despite what many people think, Romeo and Juliet is not a love story; rather a story of desperation and obsession. People have been reading Shakespeare for hundreds of years and several people have mistaken it for a love story, due to the fact that Romeo loves Juliet so much he is willing to kill himself when he finds her supposedly dead; she does the same when she wakes up to find him dead. But in fact, Romeo is more taken aback by her beauty than he is in love with her. Juliet is intrigued by the fact someone could love her because her parents are very unsupportive of her. When the two find each other, they immediately become obsessed, mistaking this for love at first sight.
Themes of Love and Hate in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is a play about two young lovers, whose love was destined for destruction from the beginning because of hatred. between the two families, Montagues and Capulets. Therefore, Themes of love and hate are very important in the play as the plot is driven by these two themes. Shakespeare brings out the love between the two rivals through Romeo and Juliet and their relationships with the Friar and the Nurse.
of the disgust that he as appeared at their party. He goes to speak to
Some people may not believe that destiny is something that truthfully exists in the world. These people doubt that there is anything that is actually meant to be, or supposed to happen, thinking that there is always a way around troubling predicaments, knowing that it is not necessary to turn out just one certain way. They trust that whatever occurs in their lives comes as a result of the decisions that they make with their own free will. Others believe that whatever happens during the course of their lives is inevitable and every event is laid out before them like a road map to life, in other words, fate. William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet has fate as an exceptionally crucial element which makes fate as important as any character in the production. The events leading up to and during the party were definitely caused by fate. The moment that Romeo and Juliet meet is the exact incident that leads to their death, however unaware these "star-crossed lovers" are to that fact. Thus, fate is undoubtedly the most responsible influence for the couple's tragedy.