RoMeO & JuLiEt


feud. However, this has come at a high cost: the lives of Romeo and Juliet. PhYsIcAl LoVe Throughout the play, the Nurse and Mercutio focus on the physical aspects of love. Their comments are often sexual in nature and stress physical beauty. This is in contrast to the purity of Romeo and Juliet’s love. When the Nurse first learns that the Capulets are considering Paris as a husband for Juliet,


she draws Juliet’s attention to Paris’s good looks: ‘A man, young lady! Lady, such a man / As all the world – why, he’s a man of wax.’ Similarly, when the Nurse first meets Romeo she comments on his physical appearance. ‘Though his face be better than any man’s, yet his leg excels all men’s – and for a hand, and a foot, and a body, though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare.’ Like the Nurse, Mercutio sees love in purely physical terms. This is reflected in the sexual


nature of his language. When Romeo disappears into the Capulet orchard, Mercutio jokingly says,


‘I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes, By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, By her fine foot, straight leg and quivering thigh, And the demesnes that there adjacent lie, That in thy likeness thou appear to us!’


His emphasis on the physical side of love is readily apparent. In Act 2, Scene 4 Mercutio uses very sexual language to poke fun at Romeo. The coarseness of his language contrasts with the purity of Romeo and Juliet’s more romantic love.


LoVe As A MeAnS Of SoCiAl AdVaNcEmEnT Both Capulet and Lady Capulet see love, as expressed through marriage, as a way of cementing one’s place in society. Lady Capulet recognises Paris as a wealthy suitor and therefore suitable for Juliet. She says that by marrying Paris, Juliet can enrich herself, ‘So shall you share all that he doth possess, / By having him, making yourself no less.’ Similarly, Capulet insists that Juliet marry Paris arguing that Paris’s wealth, his ‘fair demesnes’ and ‘noble parentage’ make him a good match.


YoUnG LoVe The passion of young love is best expressed through the play’s protagonists, Romeo and Juliet. The purity of their love contrasts with the vision of love offered by the other characters. Juliet articulates the thrill and excitement of young love soon after she meets Romeo. She calls him the ‘god of my idolatry’ the night she meets him and her excitement is clear as she eagerly looks forward to sunset and for her wedding-night to begin: ‘Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, Towards Phoebus’ lodging. Such a waggoner As Phaethon would whip you to the west, And bring in cloudy night immediately.’


Juliet’s language displays how her love for Romeo is almost overwhelming; just before her wedding she says, ‘But my true love is grown to such excess / I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth.’ Romeo’s passion is just as evident as Juliet’s. The first time he sees Juliet in the Balcony


Scene he exclaims, ‘Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.’ His poetic language testifies to the romantic nature of young love as he draws comparisons between Juliet and the sun. He sees Juliet’s beauty as dazzling in its brilliance:


‘The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars As daylight doth a lamp. Her eyes in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night!’


214


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224