Courtly Love in Romeo and juliet
How does Shakespeare show that Romeo’s love for Juliet is real? How do his words and actions differ from when he said he loved Rosaline?
In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, the introduction of Romeo to the audience is haunted by a melancholic mood. The scene is set in Verona where Romeo’s family is worried about him due to his rejection in love from a woman, Rosaline. However throughout the scenes studied, it seems that love is the primary driving force behind most of Romeo’s actions and words. In general, the theme of love and the course of it intertwine with the fate of the violent peacefulness of this tragedy. His determined desolation from his family stirs unease in his cousin, Benvolio. During the course of this tale, Romeo blooms to become a mature man, who has experienced the double edged blade of love itself.
The characterisation of Romeo in the beginning of the play illustrates him as dejected and depressed boy due to his infatuation with Rosaline being rejected. In spite of this, his spoken words of ‘love’ for her, for example: ‘Alas, that Love, whose view is muffled still…’ demonstrates the conventional manner of love that this is. Romeo’s words clarify how he sprouts courtly love poetry, which is machinated and processed. A modern example would be the phrase: ‘roses are red, violets are blue…’ a common phrase which is predictable and an inferior imitation to real love. Courtly love poetry was often used in those days by men with social status to court woman; the purpose behind this courting was to flaunt their skills. Would it be fair to say that Romeo courts for Rosaline’s love because it is the fashion of the season? In Romeo’s first scene, Shakespeare litters the dialogue with negatives, as well as exaggerated words, such as: ‘sad hours seem long…Not having…short…Out of her favour…’ which displays the deep shallowness of his love for Rosaline. Not only Romeo’s word can suggest this, but on the contrary, so do his actions. For example in Act 1
In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, the introduction of Romeo to the audience is haunted by a melancholic mood. The scene is set in Verona where Romeo’s family is worried about him due to his rejection in love from a woman, Rosaline. However throughout the scenes studied, it seems that love is the primary driving force behind most of Romeo’s actions and words. In general, the theme of love and the course of it intertwine with the fate of the violent peacefulness of this tragedy. His determined desolation from his family stirs unease in his cousin, Benvolio. During the course of this tale, Romeo blooms to become a mature man, who has experienced the double edged blade of love itself.
The characterisation of Romeo in the beginning of the play illustrates him as dejected and depressed boy due to his infatuation with Rosaline being rejected. In spite of this, his spoken words of ‘love’ for her, for example: ‘Alas, that Love, whose view is muffled still…’ demonstrates the conventional manner of love that this is. Romeo’s words clarify how he sprouts courtly love poetry, which is machinated and processed. A modern example would be the phrase: ‘roses are red, violets are blue…’ a common phrase which is predictable and an inferior imitation to real love. Courtly love poetry was often used in those days by men with social status to court woman; the purpose behind this courting was to flaunt their skills. Would it be fair to say that Romeo courts for Rosaline’s love because it is the fashion of the season? In Romeo’s first scene, Shakespeare litters the dialogue with negatives, as well as exaggerated words, such as: ‘sad hours seem long…Not having…short…Out of her favour…’ which displays the deep shallowness of his love for Rosaline. Not only Romeo’s word can suggest this, but on the contrary, so do his actions. For example in Act 1