Attitudes to Love in Romeo and Juliet: An Analysis of Character Language

With close reference to the text, discuss the different attitudes to love revealed in Romeo and Juliet. Examine the language used by the characters to discuss love. Are there any messages about love revealed in the play? Why does Shakespeare portray different types/aspects of love?

The words " Romeo and Juliet" conjure up images associated with true love; but the play explores many different views of love. Each character in the play has a different personality and view on life, therefore they perceive love in their own distinct way, adding a clear contrast to Romeo and Juliet's first love, which is true and pure.

The first reference to an aspect of love is after the prologue and it refers to rape and therefore lust not love. The first two characters that the audience is introduced to are Sampson and Gregory. They are vulgar and crude making sexual references and innuendos. They do not see love as involving emotions or desires, but as a purely physical thing, sexual not emotional.

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Sampson refers to women as "weaker vessels" and tells of how he will rape the maids of the Montague household.

" Women being the weaker vessels are ever trust to the wall, I will push Montague's men from the wall, and Thrust his maid to the wall".

Both Sampson and Gregory have petty and narrow perceptions of love; neither of them appears to have ever experienced true love. They talk in a crude and coarse manner, brag about their own "attributes" and see women as objects not people.

Like Sampson and Gregory, Mercutio considers love only in sexual terms rather than emotions. Mercutio is volatile and lively with an amazing imagination. He loves life and this is shown in his love for words and puns in his speech about Queen Mab. The speech starts by Mercutio portraying love as a very idealistic and dreamy thing:

" She gallops night by night

Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love"

However as the speech continues he talks about the torment, violence and suffering inflicted on men by queen Mab and her love dreams as they sleep.

" Sometime she driveth o' er a soldiers neck

And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats"

Mercutio believes that Romeo is wasting his time with Rosaline, and mocks him. In general Mercutio has a very clouded vision of love, and believes like the other young men of the time, that love is all about sex. When he teases Romeo he seizes every opportunity to make sexual puns: " O Romeo, that she were, O that she were

An open-arse, thou a pop'rin pear!"

In addition to the sexual love that characterises Mercutio, the great friendship he has with Romeo is pure love. Mercutio risks his life for the true sake and love of his friend Romeo and not like the others, for an foolish ongoing feud. Mercutio not only helps Romeo fight Tybalt, but he gives him advice and cheered him up when he was down about his love for Rosaline. Romeo wants to honour Mercutio's life, and so he slays Tybalt to achieve revenge for Mercutio's death. Romeo and Mercutio are like brothers they look out for each other and there friendship is solid.

The Nurse is similar to Mercutio in her use of vulgar language when it comes to love. The Nurse

is the equivalent of Juliet's mother, she raised and looked after her and is very close to Juliet;

Juliet is in fact a lot closer to the nurse than her own mother. The Nurse is the only character in

the play that Juliet tells about her love for Romeo and she does aid Juliet's love to Romeo,

but, in the end she tries to persuade Juliet to marry Paris. He Nurse has a blunt attitude towards

love and sex, but is an affectionate and loving woman who wants Juliet to be happy. She

tells a story about Juliet falling on her face, the story is vulgar and she repeats it several times,

finding it very funny. She often refers to sex and love as jokes, and she has a very bawdy sense of

humour.

"And yet I warrant it had upon it brow

A bump as big as a young cock'rel's stone,

A perilous knock, and it cried bitterly.

`Yea', quoth my husband, `fall'st upon thy face?

Thou wilt fall backward when thou comest to age,

Wilt thou not, Jule? It stinted and say `Ay'."

The Nurse is often crude and vulgar, but she truly cares for Juliet. The Nurse aids Juliet's love for Romeo but in the end she tries to persuade Juliet to marry Paris. She has a big heart but clearly has no understanding of the depth of Juliet's love for Romeo nor does she consider the sanctity of her marriage. The love between Juliet and her nurse is pure motherly love, even though the nurse is not even Juliet's real mother, the nurse is like a best friend to Juliet.

For Juliet the nurse is like her best friend. Romeo has the friar to confide in. Friar Lawrence marries the couple and helps them wherever possible. The friar believes that sex is a sacrament, and ensures Romeo and Juliet are married before they sleep together. He is well intentioned and has the good of the young lovers at heart, but misuses the sacrament of marriage for political reasons.

" In one respect I'll thy assist be:

For this may so happy prove

To turn your households' rancour to pure love."

The friar tells Romeo not to rush things with Juliet, but when Romeo asks him to marry them, he agrees. The friar approves of their true love, and in a way believes it to be sacred, he truly cares what happens to Romeo and Juliet. At the end of the play, we see him trying to persuade Juliet not to kill herself and then when she has, he explains to everyone why he married the desperately in love young couple. The friar, like the nurse has true sympathy for the young lovers who have nowhere to turn to, he is the other character in the play that does caring love for the desperately in love couple.

However the friar also shows a religious love and view to the situation. All the way through the play, people meet, take cover and hide in the church; it is a holy place of love. Both the families love the church very much and their religion means a lot to them. For the young lovers, the only way they can show they really love each other, is by getting married. The love for religion in the play is shown by the use of religious language when love is referred to,

" This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this,

My lip, two blushing pilgrims"

The love that Romeo and Juliet have for each other is often referred to as "holly". The Friar believes it is a true love brought from heaven to save the ongoing feud. Religion is a main theme in the play but it is in reality love of religion that is important in the play.

Courtly love characterises Romeo's love at the start of the play as he mopes over the unattainable Rosaline. This love is common only for upper class and is not necessarily about love. It is really a series of expectations, aristocratic societies expected their young men to idolise about a woman "out of their league". Romeo presents Rosaline as having wit and being strong, as she will not be hit by cupid's arrow, she lives unharmed and she is rich in beauty. All of these characteristics show a woman out of Romeo's league. This unrequited courtly love is a feature of aristocratic life in Shakespeare's time. It is less to do with love and more about wealth and family status. Women were like commodities to be traded. Virginity was important as it made a woman more valuable. The marriage of Capulet and his wife is arranged, and it is apparent that no love is present in their

relationship. Lord Capulet refers to her as a "Ho" and does not treat her with respect: "what noise is this? Give me my long sword, ho!" Capulet is considered the head of the family and he is considered all-powerful. In these arranged marriages the man has all the power and the wife is expected to be dutiful and obedient.

Juliet and her mother, Lady Capulet, do not seem to have a close relationship. In the first act, Juliet feels that she must please her mother by obeying her every wish. However, as Lady Capulet has praise only for Paris the little daughterly love that Juliet has for her mother soon disappears. She sings the praises of Paris when she is informing Juliet of his desires. Lady Capulet describes Paris as "valiant" and tells Juliet that all his love needs is a cover, and the cover will be her.

"Find written in the margent of his eyes

This precious book of love, this unbound lover,

To beautify him, only lacks a cover".

She seems less interested about whether the couple love each other, and more concerned about how suitable he is. This was the attitude of the time and real love had nothing to do with marriage.

Paris explains his feelings for Juliet to Capulet. It seems that Paris does love Juliet because when Romeo kills him he asks to be put in Juliet's tomb.

"If thou tomb be merciful

Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet."

He has genuine emotions for Juliet and sis devastated when she dies. Paris is a good man who would be kind to Juliet, but she does not love him.

Juliet's father however does seem to think that she would be happy with Paris. Capulet cares for Juliet, and she is a very special and precious possession to him.

" Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she;

She's the hopeful lady of my earth"

Capulet wants the best for his daughter when Paris first explains his proposal:

"But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart,

And she agreed, within her scope of choice

Lies my consent and fair according voice"

Capulet then starts to push Juliet into the marriage instead of letting her choose. He says that he will only let his daughter marry Paris if she consents, but then turns against her when she declines

the marriage later on in the play. Capulet believes that marriage to Paris will be in Juliet's best interests and he therefore pressurises her into it; this is why she fells she has to fake her own death. Capulet loves Juliet with an extremely strong paternal love, but this love is so strong that is spells out her downfall. There are many hints that Capulet has an unhappy marriage, so the main demonstration of love that we see on his part is towards his daughter.

The Focus of Capulet's attention is his daughter, Juliet. She is only a child when she falls deeply in love with Romeo. Her love for Romeo is pure and true, and he is her first love, she loves him more than anything in the world:

" My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

My love as deep; the more I give to thee

The more I have, for both are infinite."

Juliet's love for Romeo is love that people crave. She loves him infinitely and will do anything for him, even die. Her devastation is immense when her love, Romeo, is banished from Verona. Juliet tells her family that she is distraught by the death of her cousin, Tybalt, but her grief is caused by her undying love. Romeo and Juliet share a bond, which makes their love even more unique. When they meet for the first time, they both use biblical and religious words to express their sacred love for each other, and they express themselves in the form of a sonnet:

"Romeo: 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.

Juliet: Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows in this,

For saints have hands that pilgrims hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."

The first time that they meet, it is obvious that there is something special between them.

Because of love, Juliet's character evolves through the play. She becomes less obedient towards her parents and more mature and independent as the play unfolds. She defies and deceives her father about Romeo and Paris. We realise how much true and passionate love has changed her, when she talks herself round to supporting Romeo while he is banished.

Romeo is different in many ways to Juliet, but he still loves her as much as she does, and sometimes it seems even more. The first time he thought he was in love was with Rosaline. When he "loved" her he was not happy. The love was unrequited and was not genuine. Romeo became depressed when he realised that this superficial love he had for Rosaline was not being returned. He was moody, withdrawn and used oxymorons in his speech,

"O brawling love, O loving hate,

O any thing of nothing first create!

O heavy lightness, serious vanity,

Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms,

Still- waking sleep, that is not what it is!"

Romeo does not talk to his parents about his feelings. He confides in Mercutio, Benvolio and the friar.

As he falls deeper in love with Juliet he grows happier and more sociable, whereas when he loved Rosaline he locked himself up alone for hours, he also risks his life to see Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet share a physical, passionate love as well as emotional love. The first night that they meet they do not want to leave each other. This is the famous balcony scene, where Romeo risks his life to see Juliet by climbing the walls of the Capulet estate. In this scene, which is probably the most romantic and love based, Romeo stands beneath Juliet's window waiting to see his love, he describes her using astrological language, in such an adoring way, that it is almost unreal.

" Two of the fairest stars in all of heaven,

Having some business, do entreat her eyes

To twinkle in their spheres till they return."

The couple share a night together when they are married, and cannot bare to leave each other; scared that misfortune will pass the path of the one they love.

"Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day;

It was the nightingale, and not the lark,

That pierced the fearful; hollow of thine ear;

Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree.

Believe me, love, it was the nightingale."

These two young lovers defy their parents by marrying behind their backs, proving their love for one another. However the most definite affirmation of their love is when the lovers make the ultimate sacrifice, their own lives. This pair of "star crossed" lovers experiences the most remarkable form of love imaginable, true love.

Now I am going to speak of language. Shakespeare uses a wide range of language; each character, atmosphere and place has its own language. The language of love takes many different forms, and many different languages are used to describe it, the language of astrology, the language of religion, the language of fantasy and sex.

The language of astrology is used all through, mainly by Romeo, and sometimes Juliet, it is used in the famous balcony scene,

" The brightness of her cheek should shame those stars,

As daylight doth lamp; her eyes in heaven".

Religious language is used when the lovers meet for the first time:

"Have not saints lips and holy palmers too?

Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer."

The language of fantasy is used mainly by Mercutio when he describes Queen Mab:

"And in this state she gallops night by night

Through lover's brains, and then they dream of love."

Many characters use sexual language as they refer to love as being purely about sex. Mercutio uses many puns in a sexual nature: "spirit": ghost or semen, "stand": ghost rising or sexual erection, "medlar": apple-like fruit or female sexual organ.

In every sonnet in the play, a certain language is used. In the prologue, which is a sonnet, most of the languages used throughout the play are present. This is because this prologues gives an overview of the whole play and therefore shows all its aspects through the different sorts of language.

Romeo uses oxymorons to express his love for Rosaline, " brawling love", "loving hate", "heavy lightness", "serious vanity", "feather of lead", "bright smoke", "cold fire" and "misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms". Shakespeare uses oxymorons here to express the confused love and torment Romeo is suffering at the hand of Rosaline.

Juliet also uses oxymorons, "beautiful tyrant", " and fiend angelical", " wolvish-ravening lamb". Shakespeare uses oxymorons with Juliet to express her feelings towards her love for her family's enemy.

Many metaphors and similes are used through imagery. To show the extent and variety of love in the play, Shakespeare uses emotionally charged words and phrases that conjure up vivid pictures of love and hate in the imagination of the reader.

Lady Capulet uses metaphor to describe Paris in hope that her daughter will fall for him: "Verona's summer hath not such a flower."

There is also a lot of repetition, this is to intensify and dramatise the love in the play,

Lady Capulet: "the county Paris, at saint Peter's church

Shall happily make thee there a joyful wife.

Juliet: "Now by saint Peter's church and Peter too,

He shall not make me there a joyful bride."

Shakespeare portrays different types of love to satisfy the wide range of different social classes that came to see his plays. All sorts of people came to see Shakespeare's plays, and he had to keep them all happy, bawdiness was for the lower classes. In the play I believe that family and marital love and of course true love are the most important types of love portrayed

The play gives us the message that there is a great variety of love in society, as Shakespeare presentation of love varies from character to character. Some characters think only of sex, others demonstrate a form of love with their children, but the one true, pure love is that of Romeo and Juliet. Each character in the play provides a frame to their love, their attitudes contrasting with the real love of the young lovers. Romeo and Juliet share a special bond together that will never be lost. They make the greatest sacrifice for each other and this proves their love.

" Romeo: Thus with a kiss I die"

It is only because there are so many aspects of love in this play, and they are portrayed so beautifully through language, that it has become "the greatest love story ever told".