Romeo and Juliet: Attitudes of Love - page 1
Keywords: Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare Love Analysis
By roshooo on 10/06/2010
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 1 of 3 pages: 1 2 3
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ there are various types of love, all of which are shown through the relationships different characters have with each other. The strongest kind of love throughout the play is the romantic relationship between Romeo and Juliet. We see a love-at-first-sight situation when Romeo goes to the Capulet’s masquerade party and sees Juliet for the first time. This romance becomes much more serious when they began talking. A very significant part of the play is when, during this first encounter, Romeo and Juliet begin speaking in rhyme to each other and eventually intertwine their rhymes with each other, creating a sonnet,
“Juliet: Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.
Romeo: Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take”.
This sonnet shows us Romeo and Juliet’s strong, immediate connection and bond. Their love is true, spiritual, romantic love.
There is a strong contrast between this amazing bond between two people and another form of love in this play, lust. We see lustfulness from Mercutio, the Nurse and at the beginning of the play from Sampson and Gregory (Capulet’s servants). These characters find it humorous to make bawdy comments and vulgar jokes such as the Nurse’s favourite joke, made by her husband, about Juliet falling from a tress, “Dost though fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit.” These coarse comments allow us to appreciate the spiritual level of Romeo and Juliet’s love as opposed to this physical kind of love.
Also very different from the strong connection we see with Romeo and Juliet is arranged and contracted love. This kind of love is simply to satisfy financial security and keep social hierarchy stable. We see arranged love through Capulet and Lady Capulet’s marriage, there is no bona fide love in their relationship. Contracted love is easier for us to see in a negative light when we use Juliet and Paris as the example. Juliet constantly snubs Paris in the play as she has no feelings for him, the only reason she agrees to look at Paris is because her mother begs her to do so due to his status on society.
We also see love in the form of friendship in the play between Benvolio and Mercutio. Although the two characters are obviously not romantically involved, they have a strong connection and look out for one another.
Another kind of love is the
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