The ability to maintain the purity of love is a difficult idea when addressed through the love of allies, family, or lovers. No other work of William Shakespeare more accurately conveys this concept than Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy with numerous types of love and examples of impurities. Through the love of family and the love of allies, the reader sees how love is not respected in its own purity; instead, it is mixed with selfish purposes, thereby creating conflict. Although Romeo and Juliet manage to isolate their romantic love from their environment, they are ultimately unable to overcome its corruption.
Shakespeare illustrates how love can become impure through the love of allies. Through their relationships with the young lovers, both the
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Lord Capulet consistently uses his familial love for Juliet to sate his hunger for power. This selfish use of love is apparent in his first conversation with Paris, who asks for the girl’s hand in marriage: “She is the hopeful lady of my earth./But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart;/My will to her consent is but a part.” (I, ii, 15-17). Here, Shakespeare establishes how Capulet’s inclination for competition, as well as his hunger for power, interferes with his ability to purely love and care for his daughter. Capulet may be defending Juliet’s right to a romantic marriage, but the phrase “hopeful lady of my earth” suggests matters of the Capulet inheritance, as “my earth” implies that she is his property. Despite his political and monetary goals, Capulet’s love for Juliet is apparent; his use of the words “woo” and “heart” suggest that he desires romance and happiness in marriage for his daughter. In contrast though, he asks Paris to “get” her heart, an unromantic and greedy word. Capulet’s word choice, therefore, reveals the tension between business and love throughout their conversation. Unfortunately, this tension becomes palpable through Capulet’s eruption at Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris: “Having now provided/A gentleman of noble parentage,/of fair demesnes,…./And then to have a wretched pulling fool…/to answer “I’ll not wed, I cannot love,” (III, v, 188-195). Here, …show more content…
Juliet, the more capable of the two lovers, is no stranger to impure love; she has experienced it with her father, the Friar, and the Nurse. The young Capulet girl knows that love cannot survive when invaded by outside influences. Juliet’s desire to keep her love with Romeo pure is apparent in her pleads to the Montague: “Romeo, doff thy name;/And for thy name, which is no part of thee,/ take all myself.” (II, ii, 48-50). Juliet knows that Romeo’s name “is no part of thee” and that he is not defined by his allegiance with the Montagues; however, for their true love to survive, the two teenagers must rid themselves of the impure influences on their relationship; specifically, their families’ feud. By saying, “take all myself,” Juliet establishes to Romeo that she cannot fully commit herself to their love until it has been wiped of the corruption of their families—but she is prepared to give Romeo everything once the love is pure. Another example of Juliet’s efforts to isolate their relationship from lecherous influences appears subsequently in the conversation, when she states: “Do not swear at all;/Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self.” (II, ii, 116). Here, we see how Juliet’s efforts to keep their relationship pure have increased. By saying “Do
One of William Shakespeare’s most renown plays, set in Verona where two young star-crossed lovers; Romeo and Juliet met in tragedy as their family feud bound their love within solemn hatred. The Montagues and the Capulets are two families of equal powers who’s prolonged bitter quarrel leads to the tragic death of these two lovers, and by their love reconciled the family’s hatred. Love is a predominant theme within this novel portrayed through the eyes of Romeo and Juliet, however, the maternal endearment between Juliet and her nurse can not be denied.
The play, Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is about a tragedy of two star crossed lovers who want nothing more than to be together forever. “…Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” (2.2.35-36) Romeo, a Montague, who is young and passionate, meets Juliet at a Capulet party. When they meet, it’s love at first sight. Juliet, a Capulet, is a beautiful young lady tired of being controlled by her father, Lord Capulet. The two families are in a never ending feud that comes between Romeo and Juliet’s love. In the course of four and a half days, Romeo and Juliet plan their marriage with the help of Priest Friar Laurence and Juliet’s Nurse. After the couple is married,
Juliet is not unlike the typical young women constantly struggling to find happiness and acceptance from those who are closest to her. Young Juliet must confront the harsh reality that exists between her and those who profess to be her friends and family, which is they failed to support her, love her, and lift her up with she needed it most. In the timeless book, “Romeo & Juliet” William Shakespeare writes a moving story about the betrayal, disappointment, love, and eventual death of Romeo and Juliet. No reader can truly appreciate and understand the level of Juliet’s struggles without first understanding the roles the Lord Capulet, Friar Lawrence and Romeo, their betrayal and their role in her faithful decision.
True love is worth the sacrifice of family and friends. From a young age, you are taught to love your family and friends to the fullest extent so as to not lose them. Now, let’s introduce a new element, romantic love. This person is your world, life couldn’t be the same without them. They’re the reason you carry on. This love is much different than platonic love in which you share with a family. This love makes you do crazy things. Perhaps it can be argued that platonic love is stronger than every other kind there is. I stand by many others when I say that you cannot replace that true love you feel with your soulmate, you can only try. Family, although it might rough, is interchangeable especially considering your true love is family and that
Juliet and Lady Capulet’s expression of their view on love displays fundamental opposites in ideology compared to Romeo and Benvolio’s. Romeo’s character presents itself throughout the act as limited towards a thirsty, headstrong perspective regarding love and beauty. He previously believed that Rosaline is the only beauty he can discern, and that he is not able to recognize or love any other beauties . As the title suggests, Rosaline does not cease to be Romeo’s true love. His “coz” moves to persuade him to forget to think and view other beauties by “Giving liberty unto thine eyes”, but Romeo continues to persist, developing his character into having an untreatable disease of desire (1.1.211-218).
Since Juliet said that she didn’t want to marry Paris, Lord Capulet snapped, “An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, For, by my soul, I’ll ne'er acknowledge thee, Nor what is mine shall never do thee good” (3.5.193-195). It is a parent’s duty to be kind, supportive, and loving to their child, but in this scene Lady and Lord Capulet were anything but that. Now out of everybody in her life, Romeo is the only one who seems to truly care about her, or at the very least he is the one who cares and respects her the most. This makes her more passionate about Romeo, and she desperately longs to be with him. So she goes to the only other person who understands her love for Romeo, the Friar.
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.
They begin to make decisions on their own without the important support, confirmation and assistance from others. As can be seen, when these two star-crossed lovers undeniably meet, they fall in love instantaneously. Unfortunately, due to the Montague and Capulet’s long-lasting ancient feud, they sorrowfully become conscious of their ill-fated future. As Juliet discovers Romeo is from the Montague family, she realizes that “[Her] only love [is] sprung from [her] only hate!” (I, v, ll. 140).
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy that involves young lovers, their “untimely death,” and a feud between their two families. The Capulets and the Montagues war against each other. The feud continues to escalate and provides the background for the story of these “two star-crossed lovers.” This literary masterpiece is still relevant today since it involves parental ambition, family fighting, and young love.
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, two star-crossed lovers, will do anything to show their deep affection for each other. Since they are from two different families, who happen to be enemies, they can be punished for expressing their love for one another. Unfortunately, their passion sparks many outrages. Due to Father Capulet’s feud with the Montague family, Romeo and Juliet's love life results in death.
Throughout the play a comparison is made between Paris and Romeo and the different aspects of love they offer Juliet. Paris is "a gentleman of noble parentage" and seems to be a sensible husband. He is rich and would be a gain to the Capulet family. The marriage to Paris is a logical arrangement, Capulet says Juliet should "count her bless'd" as he has "wrought so worthy a gentleman to be her bride". She should be proud and grateful that her father has persuaded such a worthy and noble man to marry into their family. Paris is the courtly lover that Romeo wasn't given the chance to be; he brings flowers and kisses Juliet's hand
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 understood that with young love came rebellion, (which upon Juliet’s marriage to Paris being advanced ahead of time), made the lovers more determined to defy their scorning families and the chain of being. Had their families ceased their feud and with time, let their children get to personally know each other, their young love might’ve extended into true love. Shakespeare presents the complexities and faults with young love in the play with rebellion and time as catalysts in their downfall, suggesting a negative view of the human nature.
In this essay, I will be examining Shakespeare’s treatment of relationships in Romeo and Juliet. As a poet and playwright, he wrote 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems and 38 plays, one of his most famous plays being Romeo and Juliet. There are many different types of relationships between characters, and these are essential to the play. The prologue tells us that the play is about two star-crossed lovers from two feuding families, the Montagues and Capulets. There is hatred between these two families, this explains this, ‘Thou villain Capulet’. This quote suggests because of the hate between their families, the lovers are doomed from the start.
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.