Discuss two themes in Romeo and Juliet
Uploaded by imogigi on Jun 02, 2002
Has there ever been such a tragedy as Romeo and Juliet, two young lovers who eventually take their own lives due to their family’s inability to over come long-standing conflicts. The themes used in Romeo and Juliet are as follows love, conflict, life and death, power, time, fate and two worlds. The two that will be discussed in this essay are love and fate.
Love plays an important role in Romeo and Juliet. Throughout the play, one can analyse the different types of love that Shakespeare explores. First, there is lustful love. This is basically love for the purpose of sexual pleasure. First shown in the conversation between Sampson and Gregory, this type of love is also illustrated by the Nurse and her comments to Juliet. The second type of love is infatuation. Romeo thinks he is in love and moans over Rosaline. How many people can relate to that? Much of teenage love is simply in the head--- you think that you have found the "only one," when you have really only found an obsession. The third type of love is the one illustrated with Paris. In the play, this has to do with the fact that marriages were arranged. Paris is the guy that Juliet’s parents think is fit for her. In today’s society, Paris can be seen as the stereotypical guy (or girl). He/She seems perfect and your parents love him/her, but that is not love. Love is not an image; it is a commitment.
Finally, we come to true, 100% pure love. When Romeo meets Juliet, he knows that she is different. Love changes people. Romeo became a more passionate, eager person and Juliet became more independent. Most importantly, love lasts through hardships. Love is not just a feeling; it is something that a person is willing to do something for. In the extreme case of Romeo and Juliet, they were each willing to die for each other--- that is love. Their love was so strong that they were willing to go against years of hatred between their families and try to make things work.
FATE
Romeo and Juliet were "star-crossed lovers," as the prologue at the start of the play indicated. They had fate against them. In that time, people were very wary of what the stars said. If two people’s stars were crossed in the sky, they would never remain together. Obviously, Romeo and Juliet...