Romeo and Juliet: Conception of Love
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The purpose of this paper is to compare the ways in which Romeo's and Juliet's characters are developed by their love. Romeo and Juliet is a play about fate, about love, and about the tragic consequences of poor timing. Both Romeo and Juliet are, in one sense, characters whose fates are caught up in the web of intrigue woven by their families and by a society, which condones family feuds. Their lives are not their own. Swept away by the great passion of first love, their attempts to alter their family heritage and to unite in marriage causes their tragic deaths. Shakespeare develops the characters of Romeo and Juliet in the light of the purity of their love, and contrasts these innocents to those who would control their lives, their feelings, and their actions. By using the power of love as a device of character development, Shakespeare has painted a portrait of the essence of true love, marred as it is by tragic circumstances beyond the control of the lovers. It is notable that what is memorable about the play is not only that the lovers are "star-crossed," but that their devotion to each other is unsullied and pure. The development of each character depends on the depth of feeling motivated by a pure love. Although Romeo is youthful and impetuous, and Juliet impatient and headstrong, these qualities enhance the importance of each to the other. They are uniquely committed to the love that is between them, so much so that each will choose death over a life without the oth
. . .
arth too dead! (Shakespeare I. iv. 43-47).
Juliet, for her part, immediately admits that she is beyond all hope of recovery from the passion that has been evoked. Virtuous and innocent, she is immediately devoted to this love that has been awakened, so much so that when she seeks to learn the
identity of this man, she says:
Go ask his name.--If he be married,
My grave is like to be my wedding bed
And when she discovers that he is a Montague, she immediately
cries:
My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me
That I must love a loathed enemy (Shakespeare I. v. 134-141).
The point, for our purposes here, is that both Romeo and Juliet are immediately struck by a pure devotion and a passion that goes beyond the normal bounds of infatuation or attachment. They are immediately bound together, and they both know it. Their characters are revealed through their capacity to surrender to this great love, and their ability to commit them-selves to it. Both will do whatever is required for them to be together. Thus has Shakespeare painted an idealized portrait of the energy of pure love, first love, true love. Romeo's impetuo-sity and Juliet's v
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1582
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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