Love Story by Taylor Swift Song Analysis

Taylor Swift's song "Love Story" is about two lovers who need to conceal their love for each other that is disapproved of by others, but, because of their endurance, their love stands strong. This reveals the theme that love can surmount all oppositions, even in the face of misfortunes, because love gives people the vigor to strive for contentment. Taylor Swift refers to her lover in this musical composition as "Romeo": an allusion to William Shakespeare's tragedy “Romeo and Juliet,” which stars two young, star-crossed lovers whose verboten love leads to their deaths.  Taylor Swift portrays how she perceives this man she adores as a Romeo in the verse where she sings “See you make your way through the crowd...Little did I know That you were Romeo…”. Taylor Swift explicates to listeners that the man she has romantic feelings for is her "Romeo"—a charming and courteous character who murdered himself to be reunited with his Juliet even in death. Later on, in the same verse, she further sings “And my daddy said, ‘Stay away from Juliet’” implying that her family deprecates her and her lover's relationship, just as Romeo and Juliet's families opposed their relationship. With all these references, it is shown that Taylor Swift utilized the allusion of the play“Romeo and Juliet” to reveal the hardships she faces as she endeavors to pursue a relationship with the man she admires despite her father's disdain but, just like Romeo and Juliet, they both fight for their love proving that sincerely, true love conquers all. 

Taylor wants listeners to be able to understand how she feels about her lover and she does this through the use of vivid imagery. When she adds “summer air” to the atmosphere, listeners are left lighthearted as they can visualize the “lights...party…[and] ball gowns” Taylor describes. After establishing the setting, Taylor illustrates to listeners that she and her beloved are unable to be together due to the hardships she faced as someone marked with a “scarlet letter”—a metaphor Taylor uses to compare herself to Hester Prynne, a woman who was branded for committing the disgraceful sin of adultery. The Scarlet Letter reference is also an allusion used to reveal the shame she has to bear for the sake of her love. But towards the end of the song, Taylor recounts how her lover said "Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone. I love you and that's all I really know...It's a love story...just say, 'Yes." His words reveal a jubilant ending despite all the hardships they faced,  a conclusion unlike the bittersweet ending of “Romeo and Juliet,” which shows listeners that though one may face adversities in a romantic relationship as Romeo and Juliet did, perseverance will allow them to overcome any obstacle, even one as challenging as the tragic downfall of Romeo and Juliet.