Romeo and Juliet Theme of Love Essay

By Joe, Grant and Lauren

The compelling Shakespearian tragedy ‘‘Romeo and Juliet’’ is an emotive and dramatic play in which the two eponymous characters, who come from the feuding contrasting families of Montague and Capulet fall deeply into passionate love. It appears to overpower the loyalties and emotions they have and is a consistent theme throughout the entire play. The pair defy their entire social surroundings and go against their family’s archaic and long-standing grudges in order to pursue their intense love.

Throughout the entire play, the audience is presented with various representations of love. The first of which is a bawdy and smutty attitude, particularly towards women, which is depicted through Sampson and Gregory in the play’s very first scene:

“Tis true, and therefore women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push Montagues men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall”‘‘Me they shall feel while I am able to stand, and ‘tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh.’’

A spirited exchange of vulgar jokes between servants opens the play and immediately links sex with conflict. In their bawdy quarrel, the servants' repeated images of striking and thrusting and reference to male genitalia – “thrust his maids to the wall”, and “pretty piece of flesh”- illustrate how images of love and sex are intertwined with violence and death, and will continue to be throughout the play. This also illustrates the contrast of their differing views of love between Sampson and Gregory with Romeo. The servants view of love as a purely sexual act, contrasts with Romeo’s love of Juliet, which is spiritual and compassionate. This clearly demonstrates how the theme of love is apparent in the beginning of the play.

In stark contrast, the view possessed by Romeo regarding love is elaborate and striking. An impulsive and rather immature character at the start, he wallows in self-pity, which demonstrates his highly romanticised view of love and the alleged suffering he goes through. Romeo declares his thoughts that Rosaline is beautiful but adverse to love and it is killing him. The love is unrequited:

‘‘Out of her favor where I am in love’’

Romeo tells Benvolio that that he is ‘out of her favor’, illustrating that he is not her favourite, suggesting she does not love him. This is very dramatic of Romeo. He is incredibly lustful and he feels as though his world has come crumbling around him.

Mercutio often mocks Romeo’s vision of love, he is an anti-romantic character. He regards love as an exclusively physical pursuit. Romeo describes his love for Rosaline to be like a rose with thorns, Mercutio taunts him.“If love be rough with you, be rough with love”Mercutio acts in contrast to the lovesick Romeo - he is a witty and quick-tempered sceptic. He acts as a foil to Romeo. Mercutio teases Romeo for his love melancholy over Rosaline by sarcastically using conventional images of Petrarchan, a famous love poet to undercut Romeo's naive view of love. He is an anti-romantic and this is exemplified by his use of bawdy wordplay, he sees love as purely physical – “be rough with love”, referring to sex, similar to Sampson and Gregory, but not as explicit or violent. Mercutio is very comical with the way he puts this across.“I am the drudge, and toil in your delight. But you shall bear the burden soon at night”The Nurse acts as a foil to Juliet, similar to Mercutio. She and Mercutio both make bawdy references to love and sex –“bear the burden soon at night”, for example. They also both like to talk at great length, they are quick witted and amusing. Her speech here echoes Mercutio’s earlier conversation with Romeo about Rosaline. Instead of talking about the pleasures of the wedding, she instead talks about the pleasures of the wedding night, yet again, connotations of sex. Between the two of them, they set the idealistic love of Romeo and Juliet apart from the other characters in the play. This further illustrates the contrasts in types of love that can be seen throughout the play and clearly demonstrates the theme.

Shakespeare presents us with yet another depiction of love. The love experienced by Lady Capulet in her marriage to Capulet is somewhat forced. Like her daughter, she was forced into an arranged marriage to her husband. When Juliet is rebelling against her own planned marriage to Paris, it is viewed as if she is rebelling against her mother’s way of life.‘‘so shall you share all that he doth possess, by having him, making yourself no less’’Lady Capulet considers Juliet to be old enough for marriage: Besides, a marriage to Paris would bring increased social status and wealth for the Capulets. While the Nurse regards marriage as a purely physical relationship, almost a burden women simply must bear, Lady Capulet sees Paris as the chance to make a socially advantageous match for the family, rather than considering Juliet's feelings. Paris is admired by the public and in marrying him, so too will Juliet. In our day, Lady Capulet may seem hopelessly backwards, but she's only expressing a common idea, one which is not dead yet. That wealth and status overrules all else.

The love between Romeo and Juliet is our classic idea of romantic love displayed specifically by the intense passion that springs up at first sight between the pair. After the party at the Capulets, one of the most famous scenes in the play is presented with Juliet and Romeo continuing their passionate conversion from earlier:‘‘o Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’’In this balcony scene, Romeo and Juliet reveal their love for each other, and at Juliet’s suggestion, they plan to get married. Juliet is asking, why does Romeo have to be Romeo. She loves him but him being a Montague complicates it all and she knows she shouldn’t love him. Juliet compares Romeo to a rose and reasons that if a rose was given another name, it would still be a rose in its essence. If Romeo abandoned his family name, he would still be Romeo, just without the feud. Juliet calls into the night for Romeo to "refuse thy name" and in return she will "no longer be a Capulet." The great conflict of the play is highlighted here, something as simple as a name can operate against their love. While their love blossoms throughout the play against all odds, the only thing continuing to stop them is their own familial battles. "The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine" Juliet has asked Romeo what satisfaction he would like to have that evening. He asks for them to make ‘love’s faithful vow’ indicating that this is a true love vow, which indicates the deep and passionate love which has consumed the pair. Unlike Romeo’s love for Rosaline which was unrequited, his affection is finally being returned and he is no longer thinking just of lust, but of solid vows. The ‘exchange’ of the vows indicates Juliet is also mutually agreeing to commit to this relationship. She sees him as in idol. This is a clear indication of the fondness between them and highlights the theme of love very clearly.

In conclusion, Romeo and Juliet is a poignant tragedy which depicts the theme of love straight from the outset. Throughout the play, Shakespeare portrays different characters and their view of love, compared to the spiritual, passionate love between the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet. These different views of love are influential in setting the pair apart in the play, isolating themselves from their respective families and confiding in other people, which eventually will result in their untimely death. Therefore, we can clearly see that the theme of love Shakespeare portrays throughout the play was made clear early in the action and is successfully displayed continuously throughout the play.