The Theme of Love Presented in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Love, or a lack of it, is a very central theme in Romeo and Juliet and often is the root of many arguments in the play. It is very difficult to group love as just one thing as there are many versions of it. A love which the capulets particularly, seem to possess is a love of material possessions and power. For example, the Capulet ball (and subsequent plans for the marriage) is an indication of wealth and the ability to entertain on a lavish scale. Thus Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of ease and opulence. At the end of the play Shakespeare makes the point that no amount of wealth and power, no statues erected in pure gold, …show more content…
From familial love Juliet has moved to romantic, but true, love. A love of friendship plays an important part in the story and is allied to the idea of loyalty. Shakespeare uses Benvolio and Mercutio as representative of the Montague 'gang'. We assume there are more young men involved, as specified in the stage directions: 'Enter Mercutio [and his Page], Benvolio and Men'. Emphasis on the Montague's being a 'gang' leaves a macho impression. However the gentle nature of Benvolio shows that not all of them are macho, all the time. The Capulet 'gang' is represented in the same way, but Shakespeare needs only concentrate on Tybalt as the leader. The idea of close friendship is established early on when Benvolio takes it upon himself to counsel and help Romeo with regard to his love for Rosaline. It is Benvolio who suggests they go to the masked party where the main action of the play really starts. Throughout the play Benvolio retains the characteristics of loyalty and honesty. He serves as the peacemaker, supporting not only his friends but also the law. The fiery Mercutio shows himself a concerned friend of Romeo before the ball and it is this close friendship that leads to the fight with Tybalt. Mercutio comes to the defence of his friend Romeo who, he assumes, is too cowardly to accept the Capulet's dare. Angry and offended, he takes up the challenge. This may
How effective is Luhrmann’s film Romeo and Juliet as a modern day appropriation of Shakespeare's play you ask? Baz Luhrmann's appropriation of the original play of “Romeo And Juliet” is highly effective as it is modernized to meet the interests and expectations of a 20th century teenage audience. Throughout the original 16th century play, Shakespeare develops the themes of family rivalry and love. The theme of family rivalry has been implemented into the original play through the conflict between two powerful families in the city of Verona. Throughout his appropriation of the play, Baz Luhrmann successfully preserves the same concept of family rivalry but modernises it by portraying the two families as two large business corporations and brands who are constantly in competition with each other. Shakespeare implements the theme of love through main character Romeo being made to resemble and fulfil the role of a typical "Petrarchan lover". Luhrmann also effectively integrates the theme of love through his successful use of filmic techniques to illustrate the unbreakable love between Romeo and Juliet whose love resembles and portrays the characteristics of a 20th century relationship. Using these modern elements, Luhrmann’s film effectively appeals to the contemporary teenage audience whilst powerfully conveying the themes of family rivalry and love. These adaptations made by Luhrmann in his film create a more comprehensible meaning as teenagers can relate to the film with a
On face value, to “love moderately” implies “loving less”, thereby “reducing” the amount of love. However, it must be read in the context of Friar Laurence’s speech to Romeo, such that it acts as an elderly piece of advice and wisdom to Romeo, perhaps conceivably as a warning. As an uninvolved party surveying the course of events in Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence is given insight on all perspectives, such that he may provide impartial judgements. In Act Two, Scene Five, before wedding the couple, Friar Laurence advises Romeo to simply slow his pace with Juliet, using proverbs to articulate the destructiveness his hastened relationship may likely lead to. The Friar is not suggesting that “moderate” love is wiser than fleeting love, instead guiding Romeo to understand the reasoning behind his wisdom: Based on experience, he believes that loving in moderation allows for a lasting relationship, where the couple should take time to explore their relationship, rather than rushing desperately onwards (i.e. falling in love, be wed and consummated within days).
entirely in this scene as he stops thinking of love in a bad way as he
Love is something everyone feels, and is different for everyone. It can make people do things that they could never see themselves doing. It impacts everyone in their day to day lives. In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, love is shown in a variety of ways and can make people do crazy things. Love can be friendly, forced, or romantic.
In the play `Romeo and Juliet` the writer William Shakespeare uses the theme of love as a main feature to push the story along. Presented are a plethora of variations of love including family love, true love and courtly love. This essay aims to analyse these three types of love chosen.
Love appears as a burden at first in Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet depicts two protagonists: Romeo and Juliet, respectively. Romeo is apart of the Montague family, an ancient household, and sworn rival to the enemy household of the Capulets. Perhaps the greatest conflict in the novel is that Juliet belongs to the Capulet family, but is deeply in love with Romeo from the opposing side, and vice versa. A common theme of Act 1 of the play is of love. Near the beginning of the book, Romeo is introduced as severely depressed due to him loving a girl named Rosaline, and her not loving him back. He goes on to scorn love and all the pain it brings to him to his cousin, Benvolio. Benvolio himself even recognizes the irony of the situation: “Alas that love, so gentle in his view, should be so rough and
To begin, a blooming flower marks more than just the commencement of spring. I decided to visually perceive a blooming flower within my slides as it portrays the importance of Romeo and Juliet 's love. Juliet verbalizes to Romeo that, “this bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath/ May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.” (2.3.121-122) The flower bud describes the beginning of their love while the blooming flower represents their growing love. In Act 2, the blooming flower utilises the commitment that Juliet wants from Romeo. Further, Juliet tells Romeo that this is only the start of their relationship and that she cannot make any promises until she is aware
Have you ever felt an extremely strong crush on someone to the point where you think you’re in love… only to fast forward a year you’re wondering what attractive qualities you saw in that person? “Eros” is an ancient Greek word for love at first sight, or love by looks. The famous play Romeo and Juliet goes forward in time by revealing the dangerous issue of “Eros” love that even modern-day teenagers face. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragic story about a young man and woman who fall in love by appearance and eventually commit suicide over each other’s death. The danger of Eros can be seen best through Romeo with what he thinks, says, and does.
What is love? Is it an object? Is it a feeling? Is it even attainable? Love is everything, it is an object, it is an emotion, and it cannot be bought, stolen, given. Love can only be found. Love is discovered in the most unthinkable places during the most unimaginable times. It can never be predicted who you fall in love with or when you do but all you do know is that you are in love and you would give anything for that person, and for your love to always stay resilient through all other obstacles and distractions. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Montague’s and Capulet’s are know and expected to hate each other until the miracle of love presented its self. Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. They both fell in love when
The central theme of the famous play Romeo and Juliet can be described in many different ways, but I believe the main theme of this play was about family because mistakes will be made by everyone, but your true enemy is yourself who isn’t willing to create a compromise to justify peace and happiness between you and your surroundings.
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.
and he says 'the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon'
In the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet are destined by fate to be with one another. Their love is very powerful but happens to come at an inopportune time as their parents are in the midst of a feud. The young lovers try to keep their marriage confidential between them, Friar Lawrence, and the Nurse. Romeo’s killing of Tybalt gets him exiled makes keeping their marriage a secret very hard. When her cousin is killed, Juliet is forced to act as if she is weeping for his death.
In Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, two star-cross’d lovers of enemy households are no longer entities, and cascade into each others souls, and more specifically, fall deeply in love. They develop an obsessive relationship with their feelings for one another; they have a constant desire to be together, even though their emotions are based on sight alone. The addiction was so enslaving, that their only solution to their family fued was to turn to their one and only lover. Romeo and Juliet’s addictive relationship has lead to their unavoidable departure, because it has caused their secret marriage, failed Mantua escape plan, and suicide.
Discuss how Julian Fellowes and Carlo Carlei, the screenwriter and the director of Romeo and Juliet (2013), convey the theme of romantic love in Shakespeare's play to a twenty-first century audience.