Romeo and Juliet
Theme of Love Essay
By Joe, Grant and Lauren
The compelling Shakespearian tragedy ‘‘Romeo and
Juliet’’ is an emotive and dramatic play in which the two
eponymous characters, who come from the feuding
contrasting families of Montague and Capulet fall deeply
into passionate love. It appears to overpower the
loyalties and emotions they have and is a consistent
theme throughout the entire play. The pair defy their
entire social surroundings and go against their family’s
archaic and long-standing grudges in order to pursue
their intense love.
Throughout the entire play, the audience is presented with various representations
of love. The first of which is a bawdy and smutty attitude, particularly towards
women, which is depicted through Sampson and Gregory in the play’s very first
scene:
“Tis true, and therefore women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall:
therefore I will push Montagues men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall”
‘‘Me they shall feel while I am able to stand, and ‘tis known I am a pretty piece of
flesh.’’
A spirited exchange of vulgar jokes between servants opens the play and
immediately links sex with conflict. In their bawdy quarrel, the servants' repeated
images of striking and thrusting and reference to male genitalia – “thrust his maids
to the wall”, and “pretty piece of flesh”- illustrate how images of love and sex are
intertwined with violence and death, and will continue to be throughout the play.
This also illustrates the contrast of their differing views of love between Sampson
and Gregory with Romeo. The servants view of love as a purely sexual act, contrasts
with Romeo’s love of Juliet, which is spiritual and compassionate. This clearly
demonstrates how the theme of love is apparent in the beginning of the play.
In stark contrast, the view possessed by
Romeo regarding love is elaborate and
striking. An impulsive and rather immature
character at the start, he wallows in selfpity, which demonstrates his highly
romanticised view of love and the alleged
suffering he goes through. Romeo declares
his thoughts that Rosaline is beautiful but
adverse to love and it is killing him. The
love is unrequited:
‘‘Out of her favor where I am in love’’
Romeo tells Benvolio that that he is ‘out of
her favor’, illustrating that he is not her
favourite, suggesting she does not love
him. This is very dramatic of Romeo. He is
incredibly lustful and he feels as though his
world has come crumbling around him.
Mercutio often mocks Romeo’s vision of love, he is an anti-romantic character. He
regards love as an exclusively physical pursuit. Romeo describes his love for Rosaline to
be like a rose with thorns, Mercutio taunts him.
“If love be rough with you, be rough with love”
Mercutio acts in contrast to the lovesick Romeo - he is a witty and quick-tempered
sceptic. He acts as a foil to Romeo. Mercutio teases Romeo for his love melancholy over
Rosaline by sarcastically using conventional images of Petrarchan, a famous love poet to
undercut Romeo's naive view of love. He is an anti-romantic and this is exemplified by
his use of bawdy wordplay, he sees love as purely physical – “be rough with love”,
referring to sex, similar to Sampson and Gregory, but not as explicit or violent. Mercutio
is very comical with the way he puts this across.
“I am the drudge, and toil in your delight. But you shall bear the burden soon at night”
The Nurse acts as a foil to Juliet, similar to Mercutio. She and Mercutio both make
bawdy references to love and sex –“bear the burden soon at night”, for example. They
also both like to talk at great length, they are quick witted and amusing. Her speech
here echoes Mercutio’s earlier conversation with Romeo about Rosaline. Instead of
talking about the pleasures of the wedding, she instead talks about the pleasures of the
wedding night, yet again, connotations of sex. Between the two of them, they set the
idealistic love of Romeo and Juliet apart from the other characters in the play. This
further illustrates the contrasts in types of love that can be seen throughout the play
and clearly demonstrates the theme.
Shakespeare presents us with yet another depiction of love. The love
experienced by Lady Capulet in her marriage to Capulet is somewhat forced.
Like her daughter, she was forced into an arranged marriage to her husband.
When Juliet is rebelling against her own planned marriage to Paris, it is
viewed as if she is rebelling against her mother’s way of life.
‘‘so shall you share all that he doth possess, by having him, making yourself
no less’’
Lady Capulet considers Juliet to be old enough for marriage: Besides, a
marriage to Paris would bring increased social status and wealth for the
Capulets. While the Nurse regards marriage as a purely physical relationship,
almost a burden women simply must bear, Lady Capulet sees Paris as the
chance to make a socially advantageous match for the family, rather than
considering Juliet's feelings. Paris is admired by the public and in marrying
him, so too will Juliet. In our day, Lady Capulet may seem hopelessly
backwards, but she's only expressing a common idea, one which is not dead
yet. That wealth and status overrules all else.
The love between Romeo and Juliet is our classic idea of romantic love displayed specifically
by the intense passion that springs up at first sight between the pair. After the party at the
Capulets, one of the most famous scenes in the play is presented with Juliet and Romeo
continuing their passionate conversion from earlier:
‘‘o Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’’
In this balcony scene, Romeo and Juliet reveal their love for each other, and at Juliet’s
suggestion, they plan to get married. Juliet is asking, why does Romeo have to be Romeo.
She loves him but him being a Montague complicates it all and she knows she shouldn’t
love him. Juliet compares Romeo to a rose and reasons that if a rose was given another
name, it would still be a rose in its essence. If Romeo abandoned his family name, he would
still be Romeo, just without the feud. Juliet calls into the night for Romeo to "refuse thy
name" and in return she will "no longer be a Capulet." The great conflict of the play is
highlighted here, something as simple as a name can operate against their love. While their
love blossoms throughout the play against all odds, the only thing continuing to stop them
is their own familial battles.
"The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine"
Juliet has asked Romeo what satisfaction he would like to have that evening. He
asks for them to make ‘love’s faithful vow’ indicating that this is a true love vow,
which indicates the deep and passionate love which has consumed the pair.
Unlike Romeo’s love for Rosaline which was unrequited, his affection is finally
being returned and he is no longer thinking just of lust, but of solid vows. The
‘exchange’ of the vows indicates Juliet is also mutually agreeing to commit to this
relationship. She sees him as in idol. This is a clear indication of the fondness
between them and highlights the theme of love very clearly.
In conclusion, Romeo and Juliet is a poignant tragedy which depicts the
theme of love straight from the outset. Throughout the play, Shakespeare
portrays different characters and their view of love, compared to the spiritual,
passionate love between the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet. These
different views of love are influential in setting the pair apart in the play,
isolating themselves from their respective families and confiding in other
people, which eventually will result in their untimely death. Therefore, we can
clearly see that the theme of love Shakespeare portrays throughout the play
was made clear early in the action and is successfully displayed continuously
throughout the play.