Unrequited Love In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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

Rabbi David Wolpe from time.com says that, “Yes, you can love things that do not love you back… but the love of other people is directional… you don't’ just love, but you love at someone” (Rabbi David Wolpe 6). Romeo is loving the idea of loving Juliet not Juliet herself. He only loves her looks as he has told her many times before. You cannot know everything about someone by a couple of hours together. All that Juliet talks about in their short time together is wanting to get married to Romeo and losing her virginity. So, Romeo only likes the idea of love and Juliet only has lust towards

Love, in 'Romeo and Juliet' has its own importance in the theme of inner struggle between the two protagonists, Romeo and Juliet. Juliet is torn between staying loyal to her family and therefore obeying her parents to marry Paris or staying married to an enemy, Romeo, “My husband lives, that Tybalt has slain; / And Tybalt's dad, that would have slain my husband: / All this is comfort; wherefore weep I then?” (3:2). On the other hand, Romeo has his struggles too. He juggles between the idea of banishment from Verona and not being able to see his beloved Juliet again and that of death, “Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say 'death'.” (3:3). The secret marriage between Romeo and Juliet is also one of the outcomes due to love. It is because of love that Juliet risked her parents' disapproval to not marry Paris and Romeo risked the danger of being killed by Capulet's kinsmen to go to see her. Yet again, this shows the inner struggle of Romeo and 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.

Love is a powerful force that bonds people together through anything and everything. Love will make people do anything for the ones they love and sometimes can’t see the bigger picture. In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, two young lovers in “fair Verona” from rival families come together in love. They instantly fall in love as soon as they lay eyes on each other and have to marry each other after only knowing each other for twelve hours. Romeo and Juliet have no idea what is to come due to their actions. Young love often results in a selfish isolation from the rest of the world which causes impulsive decisions that bring unintended consequences.

True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice. This is the dominant theme in Shakespeare 's The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet, a play is about two rival noble families from Verona, the Capulets and Montagues. Indeed, the two families have such an ongoing hatred for each other that they are constantly feuding violently without end. Having had enough, Prince Escalus, the Prince of Verona, one day decrees the penalty of death to be upon the person who disrupts the peace again. It is against this vicious backdrop that Shakespeare by contrast, accentuates love in Romeo and Juliet. Three different types of love are depicted: the infatuation of Romeo, the son and heir of Montague, with a woman named Rosaline; the arranged love between Juliet, the daughter of Capulet, and Paris, a kinsman of Prince Escalus, whom Juliet’s parents have chosen to be her suitor; and ultimately, the true love between Romeo and Juliet, whose families are each other’s worst and greatest enemies.

Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, two teenagers fall in love. In the end, they kill themselves over one another. Between these two teenagers, only physical attraction was present. The “star-crossed” lovers faced many trials, and ultimately lost. The lack of Amor doomed Romeo and Juliet’s relationship.

As Shakespeare composes this tragic love story “Violent delights have violent ends / And in their triumph die, like fire and power, / Which as they kiss consume” (2.6.9). In the play Romeo and Juliet an enchanted love leads to violent ends and consumes two people’s lives until their powerful death. When Romeo first lays eyes on the gorgeous Juliet it is love at first sight. Though their love is authentic and empowering, it is also entirely banned. William Shakespeare writes this masterpiece with much delight but also great sorrow. Romeo and Juliet is the most abiding love story of all time. Shakespeare uses many literary devices in his works. Throughout this story the character Juliet changes remarkably. Shakespeare provides evidence for

To begin, unrequited love is one form that is present throughout the play. One time in the play where this is demonstrated is when Romeo speaks about his feelings concerning Rosaline with Benvolio. Romeo states, “Why, such is love’s transgression./ Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast,/ Which thou wilt propagate, have it prest/ With more of thine. This love that thou hast shown/ Doth add more grief to too much of mine own” (I, I, 183-186). This quote shows that Romeo loves Rosaline but, he is sad because she does not love him. Since this love is only one way, it shows unrequited love. Another example of unrequited love is when Paris approaches Capulet in hopes of marrying Juliet. Paris inquires, “But now, my lord, what say you to my suit” (I, II, 6). But, Capulet counters, “But saying o’er what I have said before:/ My child is yet a stranger to the world;/ She hath not seen the change of fourteen years./ Let two more summers wither in their pride,/ Ere we may think he ripe to be a bride” (I, II, 7-11). This shows that Paris loves Juliet and wants her to be his bride. But, the love would only be one way because the marriage would be arranged. One last moment where unrequited love is shown is after Romeo and Juliet get married. Romeo walks down the street and runs into Tybalt. Romeo says he loves Tybalt but, what Tybalt does not know is that they are now family. Romeo declares, “Tybalt, the reason I have to love thee/ Doth much excuse the appertaining rage/ To such a greeting. Villain am I none;/ Therefore farewell; I see thou know’st me not” (III, I, 61-64). Tybalt then replies, “Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries/ That thou hast done me; therefore turn and draw” (III, I, 65-66). This shows that Tybalt does does not

To begin, unrequited love is one form that is present throughout the play. One time in the play where this is demonstrated is when Romeo speaks about his feelings concerning Rosaline with Benvolio. Romeo states, “Why, such is love’s transgression./ Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast,/ Which thou wilt propagate, have it prest/ With more of thine. This love that thou hast shown/ Doth add more grief to too much of mine own” (Shakespeare I, I, 183-186). This shows that Romeo loves Rosaline, but, he is sad because she does not love him in return. Another example of unrequited love is when Paris approaches Capulet in hopes of marrying Juliet. Paris inquires, “But now, my lord, what say you to my suit” (I, II, 6). But, Capulet counters, “But saying o’er what I have said before:/ My child is yet a stranger to the world;/ She hath not seen the change of fourteen years./ Let two more summers wither in their pride,/ Ere we may think he ripe to be a bride” (I, II, 7-11). This shows that Paris loves Juliet and wants her to be his bride, but, the love would only be

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

The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is one of the most well known and influential pieces in English literature; more importantly, most people recognize it as a story of true love, or star-crossed lovers. This play tells the story of Romeo and Juliet, who are from two feuding families. They fall in love with each other, despite being from rivaling families, and face numerous obstacles because of the feud. After a series of tragic events and miscommunication, Romeo and Juliet end up taking their lives for their “true love”. However, Romeo and Juliet’s decisions do not seem to be out of true love as they claim, but rather infatuation. In The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet, William Shakespeare teaches readers that infatuation can

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

Throughout the course of the play, it is revealed in many ways this is a story of artificial devotion in which Juliet is in love, and Romeo is merely infatuated. Although Shakespeare is known to many as a “love expert”, the story of Romeo and Juliet is equivalent to an impersonal Valentine’s Day card. Love is all around, but true love is something very hard to find. Due to the lack of support for a truly love based relationship, it is easily seen that this is not a case of true love, but just a partial

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.