Reality And Reality In William Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

In the early stages of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare conveys love in many different ways. Love is shown as being imperfect, such as bawdy love, unrequited love and fatherly and maternal love, this contrasts greatly to Romeo and Juliet’s pure, perfect and requited love, and makes it seem all the more true before it is shown to be deadly.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – popularly considered by many to be the quintessential love story of all time – is a play that we are all familiar with in one way or another. Whether it be through the plethora of portrayals, adaptations and performances that exist or through your own reading of the play, chances are you have been acquainted with this tale of “tragic love” at some point in your life. Through this universal familiarity an odd occurrence can be noted, one of almost canonical reverence for the themes commonly believed to be central to the plot. The most widely believed theme of Romeo and Juliet is that of the ideal love unable to exist under the harsh social and political strains of this world. Out of this idea emerge two

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet discusses the many challenges the ‘star crossed lovers’ face. It is their own deceptive actions that ultimately lead them to their untimely end. However Romeo and Juliet are forced to be deceptive due to their fate and misfortune, the ongoing feud in Verona, and the misleading guidance they receive from others; which also contribute to their deaths. Romeo and Juliet focuses on the theme of love and hate, this theme is interweaved throughout the play.

Love is an important theme in most of Shakespeare’s play, including in Romeo and Juliet because love is a stronger force than all the animosity and forces of fate in Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s play, Shakespeare explores Romeo’s change in attitude to love between Rosaline and Juliet. In Act 1 Scene 1 Shakespeare introduces us to Romeo’s passionate desire towards Rosaline through the use of oxymoron, monologues and vivid imagery. In contrast, in Act 2 Scene 2, when Romeo is addressing Juliet, his language shifts through the use of light, religious and mythical imagery to reflect his newly found romantic love to Juliet.

The play Romeo and Juliet has been considered to be the most touching love story of all time, but when you look closer and past all the initial “fantasies”, you see the truth. Romeo and Juliet believed that they were in love because of the mere idea of it, however based on their actions and the short amount of time that the stages of their “love” progressed in, it soon became clear that what they were actually feeling was infatuation.

The titular play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare, suggests a very negative view of the human nature that in all its complexities, is flawed and hinders a very glorified subject of Shakespeare’s from ultimately prevailing: love. The faults of young love, a family feud and the power struggles within the chain of being are all complex products of the human nature that prevented a happy ending. Shakespeare stresses that the lovers were only driven to their suicidal fate by their young love in a very limited time triggering attempts to rebel against the wishes of their feuding families and the chain of being. Shakespeare utilises dramatic

The first time that love is explored during the play is when Romeo first speaks of Rosaline and his passion for her, even though he is ‘Out of her favour’ (I.i.159) which is a powerful statement as it shows that Romeo still has these feelings for Rosaline even though he knows she doesn’t feel the same. This is also the first occasion where love and hate coincide as Romeo is speaking about Rosaline when he hears of the duel and comments ‘Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love’ (I.i.166). The fact that the conversation switches from love to hate and visa versa so quickly shows that the two themes are closely linked and that one has an effect on the other. In this passage of speech Romeo speaks as a ‘Petrachan Lover’ as he elevates Rosaline in his language. He uses oxymorons such as ‘O loving hate’ (I.i.167) and ‘Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health’ (I.i.171) to add effect and drama to his speech, and his language is so exagerated it makes the audience believe that he really is in love.

The first kind of love shown in the play is teenage love through Romeo. Montague tells us that "Many a morning hath he (Romeo) been seen... adding to the clouds more clouds with his deep sighs." Romeo is often seen sighing showing that he is either depressed or in love. Romeo is both. He says he is "out of her favour where I am in love". He is "in love" with Rosaline but she has sworn herself to a life of chastity and does not return Romeo's love. Shakespeare mocks Romeo's infatuation with the

In conclusion, Shakespeare shows us that love has two faces. One face shows us that love can be beautiful and can bring happiness, the other shows a darker and more painful side where love can be heartbreaking and mournful.

Shakespeare does this by noting how Romeo and Juliet do not actually love each other. This is represented by Romeo and Juliets actions and rash decision making. Their decisions are very impulsive and rushed. As a result, it will impact them badly in the near future and as well as their relationship. Romeo and Juliet’s love for each other is not actually how we view love as. They’ve mistakenly confused love for lust.

Love is defined as the intense feeling of deep affection. In the play, Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, the attraction between the two protagonists, Romeo and Juliet, does not factually classify as true love. Meanwhile, lust is a concept in which is commonly mistaken for love, which is very apparent throughout this classic “love story” of Romeo and Juliet. While others could debate that Romeo and Juliet’s love, was love at first sight, it is debateable that their feelings towards one another were pure lust. Romeo and Juliet are too immature to fully understand the concept of love as they are too young and hormone-driven, they were both in search for escapism from their present troubles, and they had an excessive amount of

Romeo expresses his broken-heartedness at Rosaline’s rejection when he says that: “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; Being vexed a sea nourish'd with loving tears: What is it else? a madness most discreet, A choking gall, and a preserving sweet.” (1.1.197-201).

The word love can mean many things. Love can be an object, emotion, and a life. However, love could lead to a loss of power, prosperity, and status. In the literary work “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, the readers are introduced to a tragic love story. In this play, readers are also shown the different perspectives of love and the many downfalls it could lead to. The central theme of this work is the recklessness of love. The theme is significant because it is shown throughout the whole story and it’s a strong force that takes place of all the other emotions and values. In this play, Shakespeare uses characters to present different aspects of love. In addition, Nurse, Mercutio, and Romeo completely show what actual love is and what it is like to lose it due to their experiences.

Shakespeare does this by noting how Romeo and Juliet do not actually love each other. This is represented by Romeo and Juliets actions and rash decision making. Their decisions are very impulsive and rushed. As a result, it impacted them negatively in the future and as well as their relationship. Romeo and Juliet’s love for each other is not actually how love really is. They’ve mistakenly confused lust for love.

“The course of true love never did run smooth,” comments Lysander of love’s complications in an exchange with Hermia (Shakespeare I.i.136). Although the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream certainly deals with the difficulty of romance, it is not considered a true love story like Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare, as he unfolds the story, intentionally distances the audience from the emotions of the characters so he can caricature the anguish and burdens endured by the lovers. Through his masterful use of figurative language, Shakespeare examines the theme of the capricious and irrational nature of love.