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Infatuation In Romeo And Juliet

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According to dictionary.com, love is defined as "a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person." To infatuate is "to inspire or possess with a foolish or unreasoning passion, as of love." Both words might be similar in definition, but to me, they are completely opposite. To me, the words differ because of the desires they each imply. Although, in the play Romeo and Juliet, the two are used carelessly and interchangeably. If I had to define the word "love" I would say that it is a type of feeling that people get in admiration for another person. It is a tingly, warm, fuzzy feeling on the inside, not in your head. This is related to, but does not directly imply sexual intentions, since there are different forms of …show more content…

He is directly explaining his feelings of infatuation, which is not love, even if he says it is. These two quotes from Romeo and Juliet, along with what they mean, show how love and infatuation are different, but are used in the same ways in the play. Romeo claims that he loves Rosaline, but love should be an unbroken feeling you have for a person, without the desire of sex. This doesn't describe Romeo in either way because he soon breaks the "love" with Rosaline for Juliet, and he says it himself that he only wants Rosaline for her looks and sex. The picture below details the true meaning of love; all Romeo feels is infatuation. In conclusion, love and infatuation are two completely different desires that a person can feel. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare does not do a very good job in explaining the difference. Maybe Romeo calls the feeling love, but these quotes and examples explain that all Romeo feels is infatuation. In my opinion, that's all love is today. Considering the young ages of marriage and numbers of children during Romeo's time period, I'm guessing it was the same then too. I genuinely wish that everyone could see the contrasting definitions of these two words and apply it to their own hearts, but I do not see that happening anytime

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