Violent delights, violent ends: is "romeo and juliet" a love story?

One of the most popular plays ever written, Romeo and Juliet signifies for many the greatest love story ever told. Increasingly, however, the play is perceived more cynically, with many people dismissing it as a tale of reckless teenaged passion, even going so far as to label it a satire. Juliet’s young age, the brief time the pair know each other, and the double suicide all stack up against modern perceptions of love, and many people refuse to consider the tale of the star-crossed lovers as anything but satirical. It is my belief, however, that Shakespeare does in fact intend to depict a love story. Many arguments that people have against this notion are quickly alleviated by a consideration of the historical context of the play- Verona, 14th century.

One of the details that shock modern audiences is that Juliet is only 13 at the time of the play. To us, she would still be a child, too young to even contemplate serious romance, let alone marriage. However Lady Capulet’s lines to her daughter:” by my count, I was your mother much upon these yearsThat you are now a maid.” reveal that Juliet’s own mother was already married with a child at thirteen. This, coupled with Paris’s line,” younger than she are happy mothers made,” indicates a cultural normalcy to young marriage.

” Their relationship would have been considered wholly romantic by Elizabethan standards. Examining some of the many couples found in Shakespeare’s comedies also shows that Romeo and Juliet’s “ love at first sight” would have been entirely plausible to Shakespearean audiences. Rosalind & Orlando, Viola & Orsino, Claudio & Hero, Celia &. Oliver, all the couples in Love’s Labour’s Lost- all these couples fell in love at first sight, all these couples were married- betrothed in the case of Love’s Labour’s Lost- by the end of their comedies, epitomising happy endings. To Elizabethan audiences, therefore, there was no reason to decide that Romeo and Juliet’s falling in love at first sight and getting married displayed anything but love.

Also consider that Romeo and Juliet take their marriage seriously after it occurs. Upon being banished from Verona, Romeo’s first reaction is: “‘ Tis torture, and not mercy: heaven is here, Where Juliet lives; and every cat and dog And little mouse, every unworthy thing, Live here in heaven and may look on her; But Romeo may not” He is scarcely more than a boy, yet his first reaction is not of fear for himself, but of near-madness at the notion of being parted from his wife. Juliet also proves steadfast in the marriage- despite her grief and anger at Tybalt’s death, she remains supportive of Romeo, crying: “ Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?” She is furious when her Nurse suggests that Juliet take the easy way out and enter a bigamous marriage with Paris, declaring” Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn? Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongueWhich she had praised him with above compare?” For a 13 year-old-girl to exhibit such unwavering fidelity to a dangerous marriage under threatening circumstances would certainly require motivations more profound than foolish passion. Whilst their decisions and behaviors may not be the wisest, there can be no doubt that both Romeo and Juliet act out of love. There is yet another manner in which comparing R+J to a Shakespearean comedy helps convince me that Shakespeare depicts a genuine love story.

Firstly, that Romeo and Juliet communicate mostly in verse. Typically, Shakespeare uses verse to convey emotional and impassioned ideas, and by having Romeo and Juliet communicate in verse, he demonstrates their strong emotional bond. Evidence of this emotional bond is further supplied by the second detail- Romeo and Juliet complete each other’s iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter follows the rhythm of a human heartbeat- for Shakespeare to have two characters complete each other’s iambic pentameter is for him to indicate the deepest of emotional and spiritual bonds, the literal connection of two hearts into one. That is certainly not something to dismiss as a satirical mockery of adolescent lust.

Additionally, it is often said that Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is fueled only by a desire for rebellion against their parents. In any case, I believe it is a mistake to attribute a Romeo and Juliet’s primary motivation to rebellion. They are attracted to each other from their first meeting, and only afterwards does. Juliet find out that Romeo is a. Montage, exclaiming: “ My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown and known too late.

I don’t pretend to claim that Romeo and Juliet is a perfect love story- the small matter of a double suicide and some ridiculously convoluted schemes make it clear that it isn’t. They aren’t a couple to aspire to, and a at times their relationship is messy, reckless and immature. Shakespeare might well be warning us about the perils of teen romance and forbidden love, or the dangerous ways of fate. He’s also telling us a love story. The point is, Romeo and Juliet is a complex play, and to try to define it as just one thing would be reductionist and wrong. Rather I think it ought to be approached as a beautiful tragedy woven of many strands, one of which happens to be a real and heartbreaking love story.