Romeo and Juliet Love and Passion
One of the predominant themes in William Shakespeare's play, Romeo andJuliet, is that the passion of love can rarely exist without the pain oflove. Shakespeare has captured realistic elements of life in this play asthe young lovers experience the thrill of passion and the devastatingeffect of its loss. The characters of Romeo and Juliet reflect manycharacteristics that make them seem real to us. In their circumstance, wealso see the hand of fate heavily influenced by character, which is onereasons why the play is so popular. In the end, we realize that the painof love would not be so great if not for the passion that sparked the love. The play is real because it is not too terrible happy and too terriblysad. In fact, Henry Myers notes, "Here we see not a happy ending, as in afairy story, and not an unhappy ending, as in some grim naturalistic tale .. . but a truly tragic ending, in which joy and sorrow are inevitablyjoined together--a victory in defeat, a victory of the human spiritaccompanied by the inevitable defeat of finite human beings" (162). Inaddition, William Hazlitt asserts, "As are the desires and the hopes ofyouthful passion, such is the keenness of its disappointments, and thei
He isillustrating that love is certainly blind. When Romeo hears of Juliet's death, we are given the portrait of thecrestfallen lover. "Two of the fairest stars in heaven,/Having somebusiness, do entreat her eye/To twinkle in their spheres till they return"(II. It is also important to notethat heir passion increases as the play progresses. In conclusion, love's passion rarely exists without pain, as Shakespearedemonstrate in Romeo and Juliet. Wewitness her fear, as she wavers before drinking the potion. Immediately upon hearing of her death, Romeo declares,"I will lie with thee tonight" (V. Instead he comments on the sweetness oflove, stating that it "shadows are rich in joy!" (V. Hedoes not see this as a warning. Romeo also illustrates that he is impulsive--a characteristic thatultimately gets him banished from Verona. In Myers' opinion, Shakespeare is telling us,"Character is a deeper and more important influence in human affairs thatluck or chance" (Myers 1963).
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