The Truth and Nature of Love in 'Shakespeare in Love'

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

It is undeniable that intense passion permeates Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet. Yet on a closer examination it is also evident that the characters, do not always comply with the expectations placed upon them either by society itself or the authority figures in the play. This can be seen in the flouting of Prince Escales’ edicts, we see it in Friar Lawrence’s unorthodox methods that go against the societal expectations of a member of the church, as well as in Juliet’s refusal to respect her parent’s expectations and authority.

In this essay I will be looking at how Shakespeare presents love in Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet from lines 18 through to 127. After reading the majority of act 2 scene 2 we are now able to understand and interpret Shakespeare’s language and language devices further. Act 2 Scene two is set in the shadow beneath Juliet’s bedroom window, with Romeo hiding in the darkness. Romeo listens on as Juliet speaks of her love for Romeo to what she thought was the darkness however as we as the audience know Romeo is able to hear everything she is saying. Once Romeo has revealed he is below Juliet in the garden the two begin to exchange expressions of devotion for one another, this is what we will be unravelling in this essay to understand and

In 'Romeo and Juliet', Shakespeare portrays different aspects and types of love in many ways. The obvious love is the fateful love between Romeo and Juliet although the play also displays platonic love, maternal love and aspects of adolescent love.

In Romeo and Juliet, love is depicted in several ways. Both Luhrman and Shakespeare represent love in different ways in different contexts to both the Elizabethan era and the contemporary audience. Both the original and later manifestations of the text are valued because they both communicate to the audience on the values of love and society by employing a variety of devices.

Love is another key theme within the narrative of the Shakespearean tragedy, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, and Baz Luhrmann's modern appropriation. The most famous scene that represents the depth of the characters love is the Balcony scene, and the 1996 appropriation proves greatly effective for a modern audience. A metaphorical comparison within the original play is used to represent Juliet as the ‘Light’ of Romeo’s life. “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun”. Luhrmann’s modern take on this sees the use of lighting when Juliet descends from an elevator, supplementing Romeo’s comparison to the sun as she is the light of the scene. A wide shot is used when both characters are seen,

Romeo and Juliet, a tragic love story between two-star crossed lovers, portrays themes that tend to revolve around young love. As the play introduces it’s two main characters, you soon see the challenge that the young lovers would have to face which lead them to the fate of death. The use of imagery and metaphoric language allows us to visualize the theme that is being set throughout the play. Shakespeare gave us several opportunities with his delicate word choice to understand the themes such as “love” and “duality of light and dark”. To help convey these themes to the given audience, Shakespeare carefully words the dialogue of each character to give us different views on each scene.

Almost everyone in the literary world is to some extent familiar with the ill-fated tragedy of the two star-crossed lovers in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. However, many people look past the subtle nuances hidden by Shakespeare’s intricate prose that challenge preconceived notions about gender in the Elizabethan Era. Shakespeare characterizes Romeo and Juliet in a way that defies the gender standards of the time, and in doing so, he brings the two to develop an undeniable yet slightly infatuated love. As the lovers attempt to conform back to societal expectations, they become susceptible to all kinds of disaster, but during their final moments, they revert back to their unconventional roles and are reunited in the afterlife.

“My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite”. Good morning Class, today I will be exploring the human relationship of love in modern interpretations of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ written by William Shakespeare. Shakespearean time was between the middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution and it was branded by religious changes. William Shakespeare is widely known as the greatest dramatist of all time. Born April 1564, Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is no doubt one of his most famous pieces. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was first published in 1597 and its tragic story of banned love still captures the creativity of its audience today. ‘Romeo and Juliet’, although not confined to, is an illustration of three aspects of human relationships; family, love and conflict. These features are still relevant in our modern lives because they are so relatable and the majority of individuals experience them. While Shakespeare dealt with these characteristics of human relationships modern transformations of Romeo and Juliet have recontextualized the play into the Twenty First Century. In 1995 the Australian director Baz Luhrmann transformed love in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to a modern version while keeping the dialogue the same. Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ has inspired many interpretations of the play as it contains the human relationships of love, conflict and family that can be understood by different audience.

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

and he says 'the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon'

Stoppard’s satirical movie, Shakespeare in Love, is a play on Shakespeare’s tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet. Stoppard places Shakespeare himself into a relationship with Viola De Lesseps, that resembles the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. Stoppard incorporates countless parallels into the film from Shakespeare’s love story, including the character development of major authority figures. The prince and the queen, Capulet and Viola’s father, and the Friar and the Priest are all figures of authority and parallel between the two works; Stoppard gave his cast similarities to Shakespeare’s characters, but they also varied in some aspects. Stoppard’s decision to both keep some and change some character attributes of these authority figures helps contribute and develop the ending of the movie, just as Shakespeare’s character developments contributed to the outcome of his plays.

Is love a special connection or is it something more physical? Throughout many centuries the perspective of love has always revolved around an association that the two people have in common. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, we see how love is diverse; Romeo talked about Rosaline. He mentioned that he was very depressed and even offered her money to marry him. Today, love is a crave, something that people do not take much time to think on.

William Shakespeare once told us, "All the World’s a Stage" —and now his quote can be applied to his own life as it is portrayed in the recent film, Shakespeare In Love. This 1998 motion picture prospered with the creative scripting of Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman and direction of John Madden. The combined effort of these men, on top of many other elements, produced a film that can equally be enjoyed by the Shakespeare lover for its literary brilliance, or for the romantic viewer who wants to experience a passionate love story.

The movie that is being compared to a story here is one of the all-time best. The main theme portrayed in "Shakespeare in Love" is a love that is never meant to be. "Shakespeare in Love" parallels the play Shakespeare is currently working on, Romeo and Juliet, in which love is not meant to be due to the many obstacles in the way. Shakespeare's life in the film is very comparable to Romeo's life in Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare's life in the film and the play he is writing has several similarities and differences. In my opinion, this is one of the best movies and books to compare.