Term Paper on "Romeo and Juliet"

Term Paper 8 pages (2541 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Romeo and Juliet

If I were to imagine pure love as a geometrical form, I would imagine it as a circle with the line interrupted. I have chosen the round figure, as it is the symbol of perfection, and the interrupted circle because love is not closed; it is opened for feelings and torments, for happiness and tears, for lust and desire. The circle cannot possibly be closed, thus, love can never be perfect in itself. While the feeling of love may be torn by the human touch, it is the lust, the thirst of love that reaches perfection. Therefore, it is not love which bears the supreme value of human feelings, it is the search for love, and the sacrifice one is able to commit in order to find it.

Love is like an empty glass. Look through it and you'll see melted tones and shadows instead of vivid colors. Love melts everything around in hot breaths and warm heart beatings. Through the steamed glass of love, the universe becomes an infinite blade of mingled colors, perfumes and lights. Try to fill the glass of love with reasoning and clear thoughts and you will see nothing of the color spectacle around.

Shakespeare's view of love makes the ideas above very clear. In his play, "Romeo and Juliet," not only does he give the coordinates of the pure, indestructible feeling of love, but also place its roots in the immortal. The true feeling of love transcends the earthly feeling, going beyond it, to eternity.

The play "Romeo and Juliet" shows the value of love, through its power to convince the audience that not even death can stop Love to be living. In Shakespeare's play, two beings seem to be created for each other. They feel love from the first moment they see each other and a powerful bond is created among them from the first glance.

The story of the two lovers, Juliet and Romeo is simple, yet full of significance and subtleties; two young teenagers from rival families, the Capulets and the Montagues, see each other at a ball and fall in love. Given the fact that their families had been enemies for decades, their relationship may not possibly be accepted. Because they choose to marry secretly, relying simply on the protection of an invisible power and continue their relation, they suffer, and ultimately die together, committing suicide, united in the tomb to meet again in the other world.

Shakespeare prevents the reader even from the beginning about the play subject. He introduces a special character, the chorus, which tells the audience that the story is about two noble families of Verona, the Capulets and the Montagues, that have been fighting for decades. The prologue also explains that the lovers eventually commit suicide as a consequence of their familiies'hate.

The love of Romeo and Juliet is a feeling, it is not a passion. It is born out of their purity, not out of their lust and physical desire. Their love is not mysterious or melancholic; it is clear, pure, and strong. The two lovers promise to be one for each other in indestructible love bondage. Their vows are instinctual; they are nothing but the mere touch of their souls.

Romeo and Juliet's love proves to embrace all the contrasts of the human soul: the tender sweetness of embraces and the self destroying, the fullness of life and the horror of death. All these are so close to each other that one can no longer distinguish between them. In the end, their love story seems to prove that love bears the touch of death from the moment it emerges in one's soul.

The two main characters have very clearly traced features. Romeo, the only child of the Montagues, appears to be quiet and mourning about his love for Rosaline in the beginning. After meeting Juliet, he becomes more passionate, eager to sacrifice for his love. He would do anything, without having second thoughts, for Juliet and for their love. Romeo has impulsive reactions, willing to get married immediately and not thinking about the consequences. "The love of Romeo was unrequited love. It was a sentiment rather than a passion, a love that solaced itself in antithetical conceits upon its own misery, and would draw consolation from melancholy associations. It was love without the true Promethean fire, but it was a preparation for what was to follow. (Cole, Douglas. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Romeo and Juliet. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1970.)

Like Romeo, Juliet is innocent and pure. She is a thirteen-year-old girl, the only daughter of the Capulets. Juliet knows nothing about love when she meets the young Romeo. Nevertheless, this love matures her deeply when she is about to lose everything. Thus, in the end, she is no longer hot-tempered and confused. As the play, develops, she turns into strong willing young woman.

Even though the action in the play develops during only several weeks, the events are very emotionally charged. That is why this period of time changes Juliet from a child into a woman in less than a month. In the end, Juliet is willing to die for her loved one. Nevertheless, her attitude is not based on impulses and anger. It is rather born out of her clear thoughts and decisions. "JULIET: Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband? / Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name / When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it? "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare." http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/

The language Shakespeare uses for his characters is a poetic one. The writer uses the poetic form of sonnet to open the first and second acts. The sonnet is the perfect form of poetry used to express the deep feelings of a lover. "The sonnet struggles to cover up the disorder and chaos which is immediately apparent in the first act. (...) the sonnet is also used by Romeo and Juliet in their first love scene, again in an unusual manner. It is spoken by both characters rather than only one of them. This strange form of sonnet is, however, successful, and even ends with a kiss." (Spurgeon, Caroline. Shakespeare's Imagery and What it Tells Us. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1935)

Characters' transformation along the play is shown by the words they use. If in the beginning, Romeo has a normal way of expressing his thoughts and feelings, after meeting Juliet, his language becomes infinitely richer and more colorful. In reaction to his words, Juliet's soul vibrates and her heart beating rhythm accelerates. Juliet's words are also full of passion. Her words are full of significances. Every single sound of her speech is a poem in itself, in the full book of love, which is her heart.

The balcony scene remains the most known fragment of the entire play, and stays as a symbol of all the love declarations in the world literature. Juliet stays lonely wondering why her lover had to be from a rival family. Her words are not whispers, they are far from being shy uttering of an in love girl. Even they are spoken in silence, they echo her love sentence and announce its verdict. This peculiar situation of two lovers from rival families, places this feeling on an obscure universe. Juliet's words in the scene of balcony are nothing but the death penance understood before happening. Her well-known question and "

Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore art thou Romeo..." means in fact her regret of Romeo being from the rival family! Even from the beginning she is aware of the difficult situation both of them were forced to confront with.

Even though their love stays under the shadow of death, they promise to be one for the other for eternity, beyond death. They choose to get married in order for their love to be unbroken. On their wedding day, arranged secretly with the Friar, Juliet impresses the Romeo and the audience with her beauty, far above light. "Here comes the lady. Oh, so light of foot / Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint: / a lover may bestride the gossamer, / That idles in the wanton summer air, / and yet not fall, so light is vanity." "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare." http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/

Juliet is the lady in the middle of nature. She cannot breathe but in the open space of nature and in the sunny summer because she is all that nature has created to be beautiful, tender and glorious.

In much part of the play, Juliet is perceived by the audience through Romeo's eyes. Nevertheless, she is not only a mirror character, reflecting other characters' opinions. She is a complete character in its own, with strong traits and clear evolution along the play.

The tragic part of this feminine character stays in her heroic way of being, in her decision to choose death instead of the compromise without it. Instead to accept marrying young Paris, the one who their parents… READ MORE

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