i love the book but i cant tell what he realy thinks of juliet
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i love the book but i cant tell what he realy thinks of juliet
Hi there. I'm new to this forum so forgive me if I step on any toes, but I think you have a very simplistic and cynical view of the play. What people forget when they read or see R&J is that it was written a very long time ago. The society in which these characters lived was filled with hate, not just people not liking each other, but passionate, 'I want to kill you if you walk past me' kind of hate. Relationships were not what they are now. People didn't have 8 long term partners before settling down and having babies. Girls husbands were chosen for them and that's the way it was. Romeo has a simplistic infatuation with Rosaline, he writes her bad poetry and loves her from afar, he never makes the effort to put himself on the line and risk death to be near her, even though he thinks he has been infatuated with her for so long. When Romeo meets Juliet, they do speak words, they in fact speak sonnets to each other, which, at the time was a famous form of love poetry. Why would Shakespeare go to the trouble of writing their frist lines to each other in this way, if he didn't want us to believe that they were in love?
Then even when Romeo knows that there is no way they can be together, he climbs the fence, risking his life, as they will kill him if they see him, just to maybe catch a glimpse of her. We can't assume that he knows exactly where she's going to be, and maybe he won't see her at all, but he WILL die if he is caught. I don't recall ever seeing anything about him doing the same thing for Rosaline. It is by pure chance that he sees Juliet, as much as we may like to take the simple view that he just rocked up to her bedroom and threw a few stones, that is not what happened. You have to remember also that Juliet doesn't believe she will ever see Romeo again when she does her whole balcony monologue, so who is it for if not to tell us how much she has been affected by their meeting?
Also look at the way everyone else talks about love and marriage and sex, its totally filthy, bawdy, disrespectful, smut. Romeo and Juliet speak to one another as if they had known each other forever. They pick up on each others images and rhythms, they see each other as a pure bright sensation of hope within a world cloaked in hate and fighting. I don't know about anyone else, but I think given their environment, there is no other option but that they are in love, whatever that means to them. These kids are young, that's true, but given that they are young, they don't have the life experience that we have, or that they would have if they were older. They only have access to the experiences they have had up to the time of the play. We are blessed with hindsight, we know what happens in the end and we know that if they had gone about things differently, they might have had a more successful ending. They don't. There seems to be this common myth, especially among young people and those that don't believe in love at first sight, that its so obvious that it isn't going to work. I ask you, have you ever been in love? I for one know that when you fall in love with someone, they are all you see, they become the only thing you need. Of course after a time things settle and the love changes, but Romeo and Juliet don't have that luxury. They see in each other a sense of hope that is not offered by anyone else, nor is it understood by anyone else in their lives. You can believe what you want, but remember the context that the play was written in, the lives that these people led, remember that they are human, and look at what Shakespeare wrote. Why is it "the greatest love story ever written" if they aren't in love? Shakespeare, I believe, clearly shows us that they are in fact, in love. WE as a society, place our own cynicism onto this story because of our own negative experiences and our own closed mindedness. We don't want to believe that these things are possible because they haven't happened to us and it irritates us. When you read this play, take note of what is at stake for the characters. They are willing to die for each other. Think like a human being, would you do that for someone you just had a crush on? Love is what it is. It is not the same for everyone. It affects people in different ways, that doesn't mean it isn't real.
Shakespeare tells us everything we need to know. He explains everything for us, all we have to do is read it and read it well and in detail. Most arguments about any of his texts can be solved by going back to the play, reading it intricately with an OPEN MIND, and accepting what the playwright gives us. By all means develop your own opinions after this, but know what it is that you are discussing before condemning the belief of a huge percent of the literary world. Think like an actor, its our job not to judge, and to actively look for all the information. I hope you are inspired to look deeper now, it would be a shame to maintain such a simple view of such a beautiful story without being fully aware of the choices that are available to you if you read the play in more detail.
Best wishes
Aimee
SyNOPsis, my apologies. Just lost a lot of sleep over working on Othello (ironic, no?), so I'll get back to this later.
'Scuse me, I'll just take this quote from the play to possibly explain something.
So, if he didn't love her, Juliet's apparently a liar. And William Shakespeare is a liar too, for in the narration he said, "The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love," did he not? Romeo did love Juliet.Quote:
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
romeo and juliet does not neccesarily send a bad message. they were young, lustful creatures. what teenagers dont get obsessive and mistaken physical attraction as love? in a way it sends a message to young people about being careful about that sort of thing. dont get too caught up in "love" or else it might "kill" you, physically or emotionaly....we can always take shakespeare as
satire, i mean, what proves to us he writes about their fatal attraction seriosuly? i think hes making fun of how youth goes about spinning superficial compliments and lusting over eachother, forgetting all about their scruples and reality. but good point to bring up anyway.
Making love is distinct from being in love.
I think he did not love her, he died because he was a teen and got caught in the momment. He didnt know what to do so he killed himeself because he thought he loved her when it was lust. How can you love someone and marry them at first sight... it was lust. It would be nice if people didnt have to love each other for there personalitly, but you do. They were doomed from the start. Otherwise Capulet would have had a son to carry on the fighting... so it had to end with juiliet. There were born to die.
You should read "Noughts and crosses" Thats a loves story.
Everyone thinks they know romeo and juilet, yet they dont. Thye think they loved each other and were ready to die for it... but they were both looking for an escape. Juilet from her marriage to paris, and romeo from rosline. Romoe was told how once he looked at another girl, rosline would look like a crow compared to anyother girl.
its was a rebound relationship
They both wanted to get out of there lives; romeo to escape rosline and juilet to escape paris. jUilet wasnt going to marry until she saw romeo.
"death [b]mark'd[b] love"
It wasnt real love, just labled love by shakespeare
Yeah, I don't think he really loved her. He's a guy! He probably just though she was hot and wanted to sleep with her and Juliet just didn't want to get married like everyone says.
That's Shakespeare's point.
I have always considered the love between Romeo and Juliet to be the purest of all consuming and unconditional love. I do believe the initial attraction was a product of circumstance, the thrill and liberty of taking a chance on forbidden love- but the devotion was not.
Whilst "love at first sight" is an underlying theme in the play, I do believe that simultaneously, Romeo was Juliet's escape from her busybodying parents arranging a much dreaded marriage; Juliet was Romeo's liberator. After suffering the torment of unrequited love with Rosaline, the distress of a constant feud between the two families, Juliet burst into his life - completely lifting his heart.
I do believe that Romeo loved Juliet, I do. I also think that his "love" for Rosaline was an illusion, an exaduration of a strong attraction, soon distinguished by Juliets arrival. But Romeo's character is somewhat disagreeable to me... he seems quite melodramatic and childish at times (unlike Juliet, who I consider to be most brave and admirable.)
In regards to the love in general, we must consider the time span - a key theme throughout the play. The lovers attempt to preserve this imaginary world void of time and the cutting realities that encircle them; they fight time in order to make their love last forever. Only in dying, would their love prevail.
In reality, their love was condensed into a mere 5 days (if memory serves); but it was such a powerful love, an all-conquering love. Casting aside the impossible situation they were in (prior to the double suicide), I fear that this iconic and great love would have dwindled in time. Perhaps not to an extent where they fell out of love, but so the passion and commitment paled significantly. 5 days certainly isn't enough time to know a persons character fully; it is possible they would have resolved to intensely disagree with eachother. Moreover, they were young; they didn't have to concern themselves with the dull trivialities of adult life - they longed for freedom, for something extraordinary. Their death was so untimely, that their relationship never had chance to falter. (Or perhaps I am being too cynical here? "Romeo and Juliet - The Divorce;" it would make good television :) )
Perhaps we should take into consideration that this was written way before we all started watching Who Wants to Marry a Millionare...
I couldn't agree more, and I thought I was the only one. I mean it was well written but Romeo was a pathetic and Juliet and idiot.
I think their falling in love is their doom. It is their destiny to do so and die.
But it's a PLAY.. not a book.Quote:
Originally Posted by ru36
People do not die for one another out of nothing. Their sacrifice for one another represents the strength of their love. Solving their conflict of the plot by dying demonstrates the idea that they would be better off dying than not being able to love and be loved by each other.
It wasn't the same love, he was deluded. The emotion he felt for Rosaline cause him pain and distress 'Oh Brawling Love', this is conrasted with the love he feels with Juliet and he even questions whether he loved before. Yes he love for Rosaline was an obsession but his love for Juliet was true.Quote:
Originally Posted by Romiet
I believe that Shakespeare was fully conscious about the impossibility of their so-called love. It was exaggerated, justified only by flowery words and promises. However, why would he do such a thing? Why would he want to portray an imperfect love?
I think he wanted to portray as a tragedy not the desperation of a lost love but one of the family feud. It was ridiculous; if I recall accurately, no one remembered why the feud was, but it was. Tensions were high for no clear reason. Only a love as ridiculous as the feud could send the message home.