Love and punishment (Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Book Review)

In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare conveys the theme that true love is a strong feeling that causes you to do anything for the other person, it is complicated, emotional, and sometimes violent.

True love can be complicated which causes the characters to do things that don’t make sense. In this scene the boys arrive at the party, Romeo sees Juliet from across the room. Romeo’s thoughts of Rosaline leave his mind as he approaches Juliet, “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”(Act 1, Scene 5, lines 105-108). Romeo has quickly changed his mind about who he is interested in. He drops all thoughts of Rosaline and begins to care about Juliet instead, even to the point of kissing Juliet right after they meet. Juliet does not want to marry Paris because she is already married to Romeo so she lies and says she is still trying to grieve from the loss of Tybalt and she says, “Is there no pity sitting in the clouds that sees into the bottom of my grief?- O my sweet mother, cast me not away. Delay this marriage for a month,a week, Or if you do not, make the bridal bed In that dull monument where Tybalt lies” (Act 3, scene 5, lines 208-213). The love she shares with Romeo complicates her life and the plans her parents have for her future. She uses the event of Tybalt's death as a buffer for her problematic relationship with Romeo. This creates more time for her to figure out what to do next. These lines represent how complicated Romeo and Juliets relationship is.

True love causes the characters to express strong emotions in their actions and words. Juliet is excited because she is getting married to Romeo and patiently waited till her nurse arrived to tell her the place they would be getting married, “Hie to high fortune! Honest nurse, farewell.”  (act 2, scene 5, lines 83). This shows the highs of Juliet’s emotions as she anxiously waits for news from the nurse. In this part of the play Romeo finds Juliet “dead”.  He does not know that her sleeping state is temporary and does not want to live without her, so he says his final goodbyes,“Eyes, look at your last. Arms take your last embrace. And, lips, O, you The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death.” (act 5, scene 3, lines 112-115). Romeo uses strong language to express how distraught he is at this point in the story. Romeo is extremely sad and does not know how he will continue to live life without Juliet. These lines express the passion that Romeo and Juliet felt for each other and how when your emotions are heightened you can make dumb choices.

The love that Romeo and Juliet have for each other takes a violent turn at the end of the play.  At this point in the play Romeo has taken the poison and says his final words, “Here's to my love. Drinking. O true apothecary, Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (Act 5, Scene 3, lines 119-120). Romeo is willing to poison himself and suffer a violent death rather than live without Juliet.  After Romeo finds Juliet and “dead” and kills himself, Juliet’s sleeping potion wears off.  She sees Romeo dead beside her, and says, “Then I’ll be brief. O, happy dagger, This is thy sheath. They rust, and let me die.” (Act 5, Scene 3, lines 174-175). This also shows the violent nature of Juliet’s love for Romeo.  She is willing to commit a rather violent method of suicide rather than live a life without Romeo. The manner in which Juliet went about handling the situation was considerably immature - but she did it for love. These passages symbolize how far some people will go when they think they have found their true love, despite the fact that it might be extremely brutal.