Loyalty In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Shakespeare seems to believe that extreme loyalty causes people to act rashly as shown by Mercutio fighting against Tybalt for Romeo, and Romeo and Juliet’s suicides.

From the moment we first hear about Romeo, it is in the context of his suffering at the hands of love. Romeo’s father, Montague, perplexed by his son’s behavior states that, “Many a morning hath he there been seen, / With tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew, / Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs” (1.1.124-26). While this may be the first time we encounter Romeo’s melancholy humour, it certainly isn’t the last. In fact, one of the primary sources of our infatuation with Romeo rests in our sympathy for him. From the very start this poor boy is plagued by affections for girls that fate, it seems, will not let him be with. At first, it’s Rosaline, a girl who has “sworn that she will still live chaste” (1.1.210), a vow that sets Romeo reeling and complaining because “from love’s weak childish bow she lives unharmed” (1.1.204). His depression over Rosaline is enough to draw the attention of his father, Montague, who has observed that Romeo shuts himself up in his room all day in order to wallow in the darkness. These are the actions of someone who is undeniably quite

Romeo is a melodramatic 16-year old that lets his downheartedness over Rosaline take over when he sees Juliet. Romeo is unhappy, as Rosaline decided to stay chaste, and then he meets Juliet and he sees that she is looks attractive and wants to make irresponsible decisions. Romeo gives a perfect example of his irresponsible, lustful identity when he says this, “Did my heart love till now? / Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night”(Shakespeare,

Shakespeare places Juliet in interior, domestic settings as a metaphor for the how females were viewed as property. Initially Juliet fits the role of a designated daughter who yields to her parents matchmaking with Paris, claiming she “won’t let myself fall for him any more than your permission.” The use of formal phrasing and need for “permission” highlight her docile acquiescence.

He isolates himself from the merrymaking both socially and physically in his refusal to dance and banter with Mercutio. Upon request by Mercutio to dance, Romeo replies by saying ‘I have a soul of lead’, connotations of lead being heavy, therefore disabling him to move, but also poisonous. This idea sustains the theory that Rosaline has deprived and made him suffer, to the degree of poison, also supporting Romeo’s melodramatic nature. Romeo spends his time, not pursuing Rosaline, but despairing ‘under love's heavy burden I do sink’. Once again, Romeo’s over metaphoric and dramatic nature describes how he is being weighed down by the symbolic weight of being out of love. It begs the question, is Romeo simply in love with the sadness of being out of it.

When Romeo and Juliet comes up in school curriculum any observer can see students eagerly signing up for roles, puzzling over Juliet’s eagerness to marry a stranger, or rehearsing their own unique interpretation of the play. In these moments students are released from the usual monotonous class period and allowed to enjoy a timeless piece of literature. While some may claim that Shakespeare is outdated or difficult to read, the positivities of including it in ninth grade curriculum far outweigh any struggles of comprehension.

In order to be loyal to yourself, one may have to sacrifice relationships in the process. In the play, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Conveys the story of Young teens, Romeo and Juliet from rival families who fall in love with each other and suffer a hard decision whether to be loyal to their family or themselves. Shakespeare shows Romeo with his one-sided love for Rosaline, resulting in him heartbroken and depressed to being lovestruck about Juliet and Juliet being obedient and reserved to being flirtatious when meeting Romeo. The development of these characters and the love Romeo and Juliet have for each other refines the central idea that loyalty to yourself is more important than loyalty to family.

Shakespeare used religious images in this sonnet in order to give the audience an idea that Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is either pure and not of a physical one. Shakespeare is suggesting that their relationship is all about them being faithfully to each other. It is apparent that Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is truthful and they love each other equally, unlike Romeo’s love for Rosaline. Rosaline and Romeo’s ‘relationship’ differs from that of Romeo and Juliet as Romeo was only attracted to her for her physical appearance. This is shown in a conversation with Benvolio. Benvolio asks Romeo ‘tell me in sadness, who is that you love’. Romeo tells Benvolio in sadness, cousin, I do love a woman. He explains that to Benvolio that she was ‘A right good mark-man! And thee I love’ He says he looks how fair she is however doesn’t say he loves her. He also shows her doesn’t love her when he says ‘O’, “she is rich in beauty, only poor that when she dies with beauty dies her store”. This suggests to us that her appearance is the only

Often with death, there are those who place blame. Authors often write with tragedy, love, or death. William Shakespeare wrote a lot of poems and plays. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is about two families that are in a feud but there are also two people from the opposite families that are in love. The two families are the Capulets and the Montagues. In his play, Shakespeare uses the themes of nobility and loyalty to create a great romantic tragedy.

Shakespeare thus portrays Romeo and his love as an infatuation. This infatuation is evident in how instantaneously Romeo falls out of love with Rosaline and into love with Juliet. At one stage, Rosaline was the “precious treasure of his eyesight”, yet Romeo’s embodiment of perfection was, a few scenes later, his notion of defectiveness. This therefore reveals to the audience the instantaneous and reckless path of the two lovers, as well as the fickleness of adolescent “love”, diminishing at the sight of

All events that have occurred over time have been influenced by people. However, individuals do not often have the power to alone determine their destinies or outcomes. All individuals, for good and bad, rely on those around them to accomplish their wants, desires, and dreams. Without a loyal entourage, these events might have had very different outcomes. The theme of loyalty and its importance to the outcomes for individuals is especially apparent in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. The main characters each relied on loyal friends to help them throughout the course of the play. These loyal followers greatly impacted the fates of the characters to whom they showed great allegiance.

Identity defines who one is and shapes their opinions and beliefs. Through personification and foreshadowing, William Shakespeare explores family and age to show how loyalty drives one to win a fight but has fatal consequences, as seen in the Montague and Capulet feud, and putting trust in an older figure can influence one’s choices, as seen with Romeo and Juliet’s loyalty to the Friar and the Nurse. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, identity is used to expand on the concept of the complications of choosing what to be loyal to. Through personification, a major aspect of identity that is focused in the play is family.

As both characters seem to feel love and adoration between each other, attention on   Romeos abrupt love and obsession with Rosaline poses the subject of Romeos possible lack

Romeo is shallow, foolish, rash, emotional, dramatic, and careless. At the beginning of the play, Romeo is crazy about Rosaline but quickly forgets about her which makes him seem foolish and shallow. According to the text, “Romeo With Rosaline, my ghostly father? No. I have forgot that name and that name’s woe.”

When analyzing The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, people argue if, in fact, the lovers follow the classic pattern of courtly love. Leonora Brodwin, on the other hand, argues that Shakespeare composed a spiritual mysticism in the relationship. In Brodwin’s article, The Classic Pattern of Courtly Love Tragedy, she connects the spiritual ideas of Romeo and Juliet's relationship to each monumental crossroad the characters arrive at in the play. She asserts that Romeo’s relationship with Rosaline follows the attributes of a courtly love romance more than his divine relationship with Juliet. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet surpasses the common courtly love pattern as seen through the religious imagery used when Romeo and Juliet