Explore the nature of love and friendship In Shakespeare Essay Example

So I am going to find out what kind of love there is shared between the characters of Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. Let us set the scene in the fictional city of Verona where the two well known families 'the Capulets' and 'the Montagues' lived .

These two families were at war with each other 'in fair Verona'. The rivalry got so bad that they were brawls in the streets and they were warned that if the two households disturbed the peace once more, the participants would pay what was thought of as the ultimate sacrifice; death. Romeo of the Montague household is madly in love with a girl called Rosaline who we do not see in the play. Romeo is very quiet at the beginning of the play as he is longing for his one true love, his parents Lord and Lady Montague do not understand his weird behaviour and in a conversation with Benvolio (Romeo's cousin) they express their concern.

Benvolio says to them ' an hour before the worshipped sun peered forth the golden window of the east, a troubled mind drive me to walk abroad, where underneath the grove of sycamore.... did I see your son. ' This shows us how obsessed Romeo is with Rosaline as he is waking up before the sun and just sitting under the trees in melancholy. Lord Montague replies 'Many a morning hath he there been seen with tears augmenting the fresh mornings dew'. Romeo has been seen crying many times adding his tears to the dew.

They see Romeo approaching in a solemn mood so Benvolio speaks to and tries to persuade him to reveal what the

base of his nhappiness is ' what sadness lengthens Romeo's hours? ' we find out that his love for a girl is unrequited when he says to Benvolio 'This love feel I, that feel no love in this' and ' she'll not be hit by Cupid's arrow' . Romeo believes that he will not find anther girl that he loves as much as Rosaline. He is hopeful when they meet a servant of the Capulets with a guest list for a masquerade ball. The servant asks him to read the list to him as he doesn't understand it.

He does this only to get halfway down the list to find Rosaline written on the list. After, the servant ays 'if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come' Benvolio persuades Romeo to go to the ball with 'unattained eye' (unbiased) and 'compare her face with some that I shall show, and I will make thee think thy swan a crow. ' Benvolio plans to show Romeo that there are plenty of girls much more beautiful than Rosaline that will make her seem mediocre. Romeo agrees to go but does not believe Benvolio will find him a women that he loves more than Rosaline. I'll go along, no such sight to be shown, but to rejoice in splendour of mine own.

After the ball we do not hear of Rosaline again. We hear not of Rosaline because as Benvolio promised, Romeo met a young lady that he loves more than her. This girl comes in the form of Juliet, only daughter and heir to Lord Capulet. Romeo sees Juliet for the first time in the

Capulets hall. He says to a servant 'What lady's that which doth enrich the hand on yonder knight' (we understand the 'yonder knight' to be Paris whom is arranged by her father to be her husband. He immediately shows an interest in Juliet and there is a brief moment of monologue where he convinces himself of Juliet's beauty. 'she doth teach the torches to burn bright! , 'As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear', 'So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows'.

These are all quotes from one monologue where it appears that Romeo has fallen into a trance and is overwhelmed by Juliet's beauty. After all the longing for Rosaline and all the heart ache, he says 'Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night. Here he is saying that he has never witnessed true beauty before that night and that he swears his heart has never loved like this before. This moment of love is interrupted when Romeo is spotted by Tybalt who orders his page 'Fetch me my rapier boy. (a light sword used for fencing).

On route to kill Romeo he is intercepted by Lord Capulet who tells Tybalt 'He shall be endured'. Romeo approaches Juliet and takes her hand and says 'If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. This means that if his hand makes her hand dirty, his lips will erase the rough touch with a kiss. She replies to him 'Good pilgrim, you do wrong

your hand too much,' which means that his hand is not as rough as he says therefore he does not have to smooth her had with a kiss. The flirtation carries on, Juliet says 'For saints have hands that pilgrims hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers kiss.

' Palmers would not kiss a holy statues hand, they would touch it with their hands (palmers are pilgrims who returned from Jerusalem with a palm leaf). Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too? ', 'Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. ', 'O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do: They pray, "Grant thou, lest faith turn to despair". ', 'Saints do not move, though for prayers sake', 'Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged. ' Romeo kisses her and Juliet say's 'Then have my lips the sin that they have took' he replies 'Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again. ' They kiss again. Juliet: ' you kiss by the book. '.

This dialogue is full of religious overtones. What is said between them both mainly relates to the body. The formal use of language is courteous and expresses the purity and sincerity of their love for each other. The nurse interrupts and informs Juliet that her mother wants her.

Romeo inquires about Juliet and asks 'What is her mother? it is to his astonishment as she replies 'Marry, bachelor, her mother is the lady of the house, and a good lady, and a wise and virtuous. ' Juliet is discovered to

be a Capulet 'Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe's debt. (what a terrible price to pay! My life is now owed to my family's enemy. ) Juliet is away and is watching the guests leave. She asks the nurse who all the gentlemen are and the nurse tells her the names. The nurse returns bearing the bad news 'His name is Romeo, and a Montague, The only son of your great enemy. ', Juliet then says to herself ' My only love sprang from my only hate!

Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me that I must love a loathi?? d enemy. ' She says that she saw him before she knew who he was and that it is too late as she is already in love. She also says that it is a very ill-omened start to their love as she has fallen in love with a hated enemy. Romeo walks away from the house but cannot bring himself to leave his while his heart is still with Juliet. He hides in the garden where he hears the line that makes the play famous 'O Romeo, Romeo!

Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name: or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet. ' Up until now the text on Romeo and Juliet has been revolving around their personal feelings towards one another; most of which has been based on appearance. Now lets explore into the relationship and see how the actual prospect of love between them starts and

develops throughout the play. From the first moment when Romeo saw Juliet he was magnatised by her astounding beauty.

This added more structure to the play in the form of personal and affectionate monologue where each character can reveal their true feelings. We can confidently say that the many quotes in the essay so far from the viewpoint of Romeo and Juliet all add up to construct their 'love at first sight' feelings. These feelings develop throughout the masquerade (particularly when the initial flirtation and kissing takes place) and before long we have witnessed a huge metamorphosis. This is the change from 'love at first sight' (with the enemy and stranger) to a potential and eventual 'husband and wife' relationship.