Romeo and Juliet Essay - Misconceptions Between Love and Lust

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

“An intense feeling of deep attraction.” That is the definition of love. Love between a man and a dog, a kid and ice-cream, a mother and her family, and love between two selfless people. This is true love. In the play, Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, the feeling of attraction between the two main characters is not true love. The setting of this play is the streets of Verona, Italy, during a time when arranged marriages at the age of 14 were socially acceptable. Two young teens, Romeo and Juliet, were convinced that they had feelings for each other, but acted more out of lust than anything else. Lust is defined as “a very strong sexual desire”, and it becomes more apparent as the

Romeo is portrayed as an emotional and reckless character. His friend Mercutio and Fr. Lawrence comment on Romeo’s fickle attitude when he immediately falls in love with Juliet completely forgetting about Rosaline, his first love. Romeo quotes,” Did my heart love until now? Foreswear it sight, for I never saw true beauty until this night”. His love for Rosaline was superficial. Juliet transforms Romeo’s immature and erotic infatuation to true and constant love. After meeting Juliet he matures very quickly. Maybe Romeo’s love for Juliet is so intense because unlike Rosaline, Juliet reciprocates his

Love - an intense feeling of affection and care towards another person. Lust - a strong desire of a sexual nature. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a romantic tragedy that forms many questions and arguments. Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is very confusing. Were they really in love? Was it just lust? Was she just trying to avoid marrying Paris? These are all questions raised by this play. The theme of love vs lust is best addressed by Romeo’s soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 2.

Moreover, Romeo through his infatuation with Rosaline learned valuable lessons that help him come to appreciate and understand the feelings he experiences with Juliet. Romeo felt rejection, sorrow, and misery from his infatuation with Rosaline which is seen when he is talking to Benvolio, “In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman” this particular quote shows the sadness or sorrow he feels from the feelings for Rosaline (1.1.201). Also when he says “She hath forsworn to love”, the words Romeo speaks allow it to be inferred that his feelings for her have been rejected (1.1.220). “At the opening of the play [Romeo] is maundering about like an erotic woman novelist, sighing and groaning because Rosaline will not listen to his tenders of affection” revealing that Romeo’s love was rejected and was upset because of this, allowing him to learn these feelings and what it is like to be rejected by the one he had feelings for (Northwood 19). Due to having felt these emotions from his infatuation, when he finds his love for Juliet and receives love and acceptance from her. Since he went so long, feeling sorrow and rejection when he finally finds Juliet, he can fully appreciate the love and acceptance he is given which intensifies his love for her and does the opposite of weakening the credibility of his love. Through his infatuation with Rosaline, he was able to grow as a person and become able to fully commit to his love for Juliet.

do not think this is genuine love to me as he later falls in love with

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.

However, at the party he meets Juliet for the first time, and immediately falls in love with her: “Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” Romeo, who was in love with Rosaline until a moment ago, completely forgets about her and is now all focused on Juliet. But what is very surprising is not the fact that he is in love with his enemy’s daughter, the astonishing thing is the speed at which he falls in love with her. Soon, in fact, he and Juliet kiss each other: “Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged.” However, Romeo’s characteristics to love so deeply Juliet is just a symbol of his lacking the capacity of moderation for intense feelings of all kind. Had Romeo stopped himself from being so deeply caught up by Juliet’s beauty, the tragedy would have never happened.

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.

Romeo was in love with Rosaline a couple days before which he barely knew. And now he fell in love with Juliet in 1 day which he was with for only about a hour and a hour isn’t enough time to know someone a lot and to even love them. In Romeo and Juliet it also says “O she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear, Beauty too rich for use , for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows The measure done, I’ll watch her of stand, And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now?forswear it, sight.” This is part when Romeo crashes the Capulet party and see Juliet for the first time. Romeo in this piece of verse , Romeo was saying that he never saw anything more beautiful and he ask himself if he just fell in love which he was but he only fell in love for seeing her beauty not her personality. The two lovers would have to know each other more other than beauty and might now love each other and be happy because they would've found out who they actually were and how they act as individuals.

At the beginning of the play, Romeo is infatuated with Rosaline. When Montague’s nephew, Benvolio, comes home from a fight with the Capulets’ servants, his aunt Lady Montague tells him about how her son Romeo, has been in a melancholic mood, walking alone in the gardens. Benvolio promises Lady Montague that he would find out what is troubling his cousin, Romeo. Not one who is interested in fighting, Romeo is preoccupied by what he thinks is love and begins to confide in Benvolio that he is madly in love

Romeo seems to be miserable as he is in love with Rosaline yet Rosaline is not in love with him. Once Romeo learns that the Capulet’s are holding a party at which Rosaline is attending he risks his life just to be with the one he loves. Romeo is passionate for love.

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.

In today’s terms, what Romeo and Juliet experienced when they first saw each other was infatuation. Juliet was thirteen, almost fourteen, she could not understand what romantic love is like because she has never been in love. Romeo is seventeen, he does not know what romantic love is as well.

Romeo and Juliet were facing many obstacles during the time they first encountered one another. Their, so-called, “love” sprung as they were both trying to escape from their present problems. Romeo was previously in love with a beautiful girl named Rosaline, although she couldn’t love him back and fulfill Romeo’s sexual desires because she was becoming a nun. He was heartbroken when he found out about this, and thus, he was left inconsolable. Once he discovered that Rosaline was attending the Capulet ball, he decided to sneak in. Minutes into the ball, Romeo sees Juliet and immediately professes his love for her. Juliet also had her own dilemmas to deal with. Some of which included being forced into marrying Paris, a man whom she did not love. Therefore, her love for Romeo was influenced by her reluctance to marry Paris. Prior to Romeo and Juliet’s encounter at the Capulet party, Juliet comments on marriage stating, “It is an honor that I dream not of,” (1.3.68). This quote shows that Juliet had no interest in getting married anytime soon, although when she meets