LOVE AS AN INVENTION OF SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet is a story of two star-crossed lovers. Though Romeo and Juliet is a triumph of dramatic lyricism, its tragic ending usurps most other aspects of the play and abandons us to unhappy estimates of whether, and to what degree, its young lovers are responsible for their own catastrophe (Bloom 87). The idealistic way that love is portrayed in this play is apparent and although it makes for a good story it has had a hand in shaping the modern idea of love. Only a great mind could have thought up a masterpiece such as Romeo and Juliet, a great mind that without a doubt was not lacking in the least, inspiration or creativity. In fact Shakespeare was compared to Homer and recognized as one of the classic English poets in 1598 by Francis Meres of Palladis, Tamia (Brooke 25). As the person who is behind the modern idea of love, Shakespeare passed on a life full of idealism through the generations with the use of his masterpieces. !

Being constantly repeated by several different sources, the idea of love, as being blind and somewhat rushed into, Shakespeare’s idea of love lives on and on penetrating our every day conception of what love should be. It is stated best by Harold Bloom, “

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ROMEO O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?

JULIET What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?

(Shakespeare II, ii, 124-125)

Here we see Romeo pushing Juliet to swear her love to him and it is but yet the first night the two lovers had met. Romeo shows this lust in a memorable way by proclaiming his love to Rosiline:

“He that is strucken blind cannot forget

The precious treasure of his eyesight lost. We see lust when the two lovers steal a moment after the murder of Maria’s brother. Shakespeare’s extremely classic works would not have become realized had it not been for his high social class and the readiness for those in the upper hierarchy to accept his works do to his social status. Young love is the often notorious, ever-changing emotion that enthralls adolescents. Shakespeare, more than any other author, has instructed the west in the catastrophes of sexuality, and has invented the formula that the sexual becomes erotic when crossed with the shadow of death” (Bloom 89). (Shakespeare II, ii, 173-175)

Also in these few lines the audience is alerted if not already to the eagerness that almost feels like necessity to the two young lovers who are unfamiliar with these feelings. Ever since the time of Shakespeare there has been many works that have followed the plot of Romeo and Juliet. Lust is what we are most likely seeing between the two characters Romeo and Juliet. It is no wonder that the idea of young love has been thought of as beautiful and not naive. Romeo and Juliet show that they too have lust in their hearts therefor they instill it in the audience’s hearts. Two years later in the year of 1598 Romeo and Juliet appeared, although Shakespeare’s name was not on the title pages.

Show me a mistress that is passing fair;

What doth her beauty serve but as a note

Where I may read who passed the passing fair?

Farewell. Shakespeare’s works have instilled belief in our hearts about many things and yet there seem to be but one that seems most important love.

Approximate Word count = 2481
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

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