Romeo and Juliet Essay

Calvin

Some good ideas here!

A structural issue I think needs resolving:

Your first point is: ‘Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet focuses on the complications of love, and
how it can later affect family and social relationships.’ In this paragraph you talk about how
love is often dark too and how love affects family relationships.

Your second point is: ‘Shakespeare shows how the relationships within families can be
affected by love.’

Your third point is: ‘Romeo and Juliet also shows how love comes with a blinding passion,
which can lead to violence and even death.’ Ie love is also dark.

Can you see that you are covering the same ground in the three points/paragraphs? In an essay you
must present separate, clearly defined points.

Romeo and Juliet offers a powerful and enduring story which raises questions about the importance
of love, and the effect it can have on a family’s relationships with each other. Shakespeare’s play
emphasises on the complications and the effects of love in the play, showing how Romeo and Juliet
act when they are in love. Shakespeare shows how love could raise lots of issues within one’s family.
Romeo and Juliet also shows how love comes with a blinding passion, which, coupled with the first
two points, can turn into death and violence.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet focuses on the complications of love, and how it can later affect
family and social relationships. Shakespeare does not portray the bright, dainty side of love, but
instead uses light/dark imagery and contrast to show the darker side of love. Shakespeare also
emphasises on the powerful nature of love, and how complicated love can be. In the play, love is
described as some sort of witchcraft or magic: ‘Alike bewitched by the charm of looks’
(2.Prologue.6). In Act 1 Scene 5, when Romeo and Juliet first meet, they describe love as a religion,
and their kiss as a sin. A few scenes later, Juliet even refuses to describe her feelings for Romeo: ‘But
my true love is grown to such excess / I cannot sum up some of half my wealth’ (3.1.33-34). In these
three extracts, Shakespeare does not settle for a single meaning or metaphor for love, but instead
portrays the complications and chaos of being in love. These complications eventually lead into
many problems, both existing and new, between the Montague and Capulet families. As you can
see, Shakespeare’s interpretation of the complications of love raises questions about love’s
importance, and how it can affect those around those in love.

Shakespeare shows how the relationships within families can be affected by love. The most obvious
and prevalent example in the play is within the Montague and Capulet families. The honour Romeo
and Juliet must bring to their respective families creates a huge barrier that they must work around
to make their love work. But instead of working around the barrier, they rebel against their families
and friends, creating destruction and chaos in Verona. There is a very strong relationship between
Juliet and her mother, with many scenes in the play devoted to deep and meaningful conversations
between the two. However, as soon as Juliet falls in love with Romeo, she has nearly no hesitation to
cut ties with her family heritage. Juliet defies her family heritage ‘Deny thy father and refuse thy

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 Romeo and Juliet Essay

name / Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet’ (2.2.34-36). In this
scene Juliet suggests she should change her name if Romeo swears his love to her. Romeo does not
have a very strong relationship with his parents. This is shown by the lack of lines Montague actually
has in the play, and also how easily Romeo is willing to give up his ”good name”. Not soon after Juliet
suggests cutting her family ties, Romeo does so himself. ‘I take thee at thy word. / Call me but love,
and I’ll be new baptized. / Henceforth I will never be Romeo.’ (2.2.49-51). Here, in the same scene,
both Romeo and Juliet suggest they should cut ties with their parents and join the others family
heritage, even despite the intense rivalry between the Capulets and Montagues. The fact that Juliet
is so willing to cut ties with her parents, despite having a very close relationship with them, shows
the extreme effects love can have on family relationships.

Romeo and Juliet also shows how love comes with a blinding passion, which can lead to violence and
even death. The idea of death is constantly linked to love, starting with Tybalt wanting to kill Romeo
at the feast, just as Romeo falls in love with Juliet. From that point forward, as Romeo and Juliet’s
love grew, so did their thoughts of violence. As they spend more time apart, they start having
thoughts of suicide, and are not afraid of expressing them. Romeo pulls out a knife in Friar
Lawrence’s cell and threatens to kill himself. Juliet does the same after Capulet decided that Juliet
should marry Paris. “If all else fail, myself have power to die” (3.5.242). Another link between love
and death is the reactions of both parties the morning after their first and only sexual experience;
they each thought the other looked dead. Though it may seem like a humorous statement they
make, making jokes about themselves, it is still an important part of the link that Shakespeare makes
between love and death. This link is prevalent throughout the whole play up until the seemingly
inevitable end; double suicide. The double suicide is the most powerful message that Shakespeare
made about the love between Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare showed that their love was so
blindingly passionate, that it was so important to them; they couldn’t even see their own deaths.

Romeo and Juliet was a story that showed the dark side of love; linking love with death and chaos,
and offering a powerful story about the effects of love on lovers and their surroundings.
Shakespeare focused on the complications of love, the blinding aspect of love, and how it sometimes
made people go out of control. Finally, Shakespeare showed how love, a seemingly amoral thing, can
turn into death, destruction, and chaos. Shakespeare effectively shows the importance of love, and
the effects it has on everyone.

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