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Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, about two teenage "star-cross''d lovers" whose "untimely
deaths" ultimately unite their feuding households.
Romeo and Juliet are widely represented as archetypal young lovers, written in 1595. The story itself was not anything new or different, but the way Shakespeare wrote the story made it popular. The language that he used to communicate their love for each other was written so poetically. Proposals for a main theme include a discovery by the characters that human beings are neither wholly good nor wholly evil, but instead are more or less alike, awaking out of a dream and into reality, the danger of hasty action, or the power of tragic fate.
A woman was required to play hard to get, to be sure that her suitor was sincere. The lovers are able to skip a lengthy part of wooing, and move on to plain talk about their relationship—developing into an agreement to be married after knowing each other for only one night. another point is that although their love is passionate, it is only consummated in marriage, which prevents them from losing the audience''s sympathy.
Romeo and Juliet''s love seems to be expressing the "Religion of Love" view rather than the Catholic view. Romeo and Juliet''s love is a light in the midst of the darkness of the hate around them, but all of their activity together is done in night and darkness, while all of the feuding is done in broad daylight. This paradox of imagery adds atmosphere to the moral dilemma facing the two lovers: loyalty to family or loyalty to love. At the end of the story, when the morning is gloomy and the sun hiding its face for sorrow, light and dark have returned to their proper places, the outward darkness reflecting the true, inner darkness of the family feud out of sorrow for the lovers. All characters now recognize their folly in light of recent events, and things return to the natural order, thanks to the love of Romeo and Juliet. The "light" theme in the play is also heavily connected to the theme of time, since light was a convenient way for Shakespeare to express the passage of time through descriptions of the sun, moon, and stars.
Death, that hath ''d the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
Thou art not conquer''d; beauty''s ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
And death''s pale flag is not advanced there.
Romeo and Juliet is a play about love and passion between two young people. Who eventually take their own lives because of misunderstandings? You could say that Romeo and Juliet had just too much bad luck and the play leaves you thinking “if only…” If only the messenger had delivered the letter, if only Juliet had woken up sooner … there are so many unfortunate chances in the play.
Love plays an important role in Romeo and Juliet. Throughout the play, one can analyze the different types of love that Shakespeare explores. First, there is lustful love. This is basically loved for the purpose of sexual pleasure. First shown in the Conversation between Sampson and Gregory, this type of love is also illustrated by the Nurse and her comments to Juliet. The second type of love is infatuation. Romeo thinks he’s in love and moans over Rosaline. How many people can relate to that? Much of teenage love is simply in the head--- you think that you have found the "only one," when you’ve really only found an Obsession. The third type of love is the one illustrated with Paris. In the play, this has to do with the fact that marriages were arranged. Paris is the guy that Juliet’s parents think is fit for her. He/She seems perfect and your parents love him/her, but that isn’t love. Love is not an image; it’s a commitment. Finally, we come to true, 100% pure love. When Romeo meets Juliet, he knows that she’s different. Love changes people. Romeo became a more passionate, eager person and Juliet became mMost importantly, love lasts through hardships. Love is not just a feeling; it is something that a person is willing to do something for. In the extreme case of Romeo and Juliet, they were each willing to die for each other--- that is love. Their love was so strong that they were willing to go against years of hatred between their families and try to make things work.
Now the warning: don’t rush out and marry some guy/girl that you meet at a party. Don’t forget that Romeo and Juliet are dead. Romeo and Juliet is a story. But the lessons of love do hold true: love is not self-seeking, obsessive, or based on appearances. Love is shown through actions.
Published: January 18, 2008
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