Rome and Juliet as a Rebuke of Youth and Passion - Essay Example

Prof’s Rome and Juliet as a Rebuke of Youth and Passion “Romeo and Juliet” is often described as one of the most poignant and powerful love stories ever written in the English language. Its longstanding popularity, even four hundred years after it was written, demonstrate the power of the characters and the plot to move people emotionally; there are few works of literature that have demonstrated that kind of power over such a long period of time. The classic interpretation of this is as a defense of love – the demonstration of a love so pure and powerful that it cannot but be admired, and a loved that ended up being constructive, patching a longstanding feud between of the greatest houses in Verona, Italy. Though there is certainly merit to this construction of the play, there are also many other interpretations. The theme of love and its consequences in this play are not isolated to romantic relationships – in fact, a close inspection of the text reveals that love functions in the same manner, and leads to many of the same results, as a wide variety of other powerful emotions, such as despair, anger or a desire for revenge. Upon carefully examining “Romeo and Juliet” it becomes apparent that love is not actually set on such a high stage after all. It, and all other powerful emotions are treated as powers beyond control of humanity, yet usually destructive: something that should be fought against rather than embraced. Shakespeare, through his construction of the character of Romeo, dialogue surrounding the nature of love, and construction of the consequences of love and other powerful emotions, actually creates a critique of powerful youthful emotions, which he portrays as almost entirely a destructive force. One thing that is immediately apparent in “Romeo and Juliet” is that love is an overwhelming force, something that can completely overtake a person and cause them to act in a way they usually would not. Shakespeare constructs the overwhelming, irresistible power of love through three devices, all contained in dialogue: the characterization of love as a force of nature, the construction of love as a supernatural or spiritual (but-areligious) force such as witchcraft, the idea that love is essentially religious in nature. The insight into these ideas comes universally from the dialogue of lovers themselves – this is how they characterize the force of love they are feeling, but sometimes also by the knowledgeable narrator. Romeo, for instance, calls Juliet “the sun,” (Shakespeare, 2.1.45), able to give light to the world, to “kill the moon” (2.1.46), and also declares that the sun is “all seeing” (1.2.92). Clearly Romeo finds Juliet, and his attraction to Juliet, like a force of nature; one could hardly resist the sun’s rays, and Romeo has no more chance of doing that than of being able to stop his attraction to Romeo. But love is not simply a force of nature – it is also something that is indeed supernatural, that operates in the world of spirits and mystery. Love at one point is referred to as “a charm” that that “bewitch[es]” the people who are involved in it (2.0.6). This connection to witchcraft elevates the power of love yet again, and coming as it does from the chorus (acting as a narrator), who can be trusted to speak more reasonably than the characters themselves, is even more believable. Finally, love is construed as a religious experience – which is an incredibly powerful way to put something in a time as religious as Shakespeare’s. Romeo’s insistence that wherever Juliet is becomes heaven (3.3) elevates romance to a religious experience – to the power of god. Love is thus the most overwhelming of powers, bringing together the force of nature, the force of supernatural, and the force of the divine into one truly irresistible package. Yet with all of this force, love is not actually shown to be a be a positive force, but rather a negative and almost entirely destructive one. Firstly, it is associated with a whole gamut of other irresistible, yet undeniably negative emotions, which are connected through their association with the character Romeo. Romeo’s main characteristic in the play might be his vulnerability to the power of emotions – he seems singularly unable to act in a rational matter. Self-evidently, his love for Juliet is one of the driving forces of the play; he does many things such as secretly marrying based on the emotions that he feels. But many of his other emotions serve as major plot points that drive the conflict of the play. His exile, for instance, is based on his intense for desire for revenge and uncontrollable rage when his friend, Mercutio, is stabbed by Tybalt. Rather than realize that his revenge will get him exiled, outlawed, put to death, and will probably hurt Juliet immeasurably (because the Tybalt was her kinsman), Romeo succumbs to his powerful emotion yet again, further encouraging a chain of events that will lead to his and his lover’s eventual demise. Likewise, his powerful despair upon seeing his lover dead also causes him to create a great deal of harm, killing his lover eventually. Every turning point of the story of Romeo and Juliet that leads to it being a tragedy rather than a comedy stems from Romeo’s inability to manage his own emotions, with disastrous, destructive consequences. His inability to break his infatuation with Juliet, his inability to control his anger with Tybalt, and his inability to manage his despair with Juliet all cause the eventual tragedy. The only benefit of this tragedy is the eventual reconciliation of the two warring families, which is brought about through calculation, solace, and an aged wisdom – they go “wisely and slow” for “they stumble that run fast” (2.3.94). Shakespeare, through his construction of Romeo, clearly shows that powerful, youthful and uncontrollable emotions are a destructive force, whereas older and more mature and controlled emotions can in fact be a constructive force in the world. Shakespeare also uses his construction of the character of Romeo to criticize these youthful and powerful emotions in another way – not only are they destructive, but they are short lived and fickle. When the play opens, Romeo is infatuated with the lady Rosaline, and it is his infatuation with her that drives all of his actions; he even only goes to the party where he meets Juliet because he knows Rosaline will be attending. The whole course of the play happens over such a short period of time, that the audience is given very little indication whether his infatuation with Juliet will be of a more lasting variety than his with Rosaline was. Certainly, the Friar Laurence approves of his love of Juliet, as demonstrated by his willingness to marry them, while he disapproved of his infatuation with Juliet, calling it “doting, not love” (2.3.81), but the Friar’s judgment is questionable at best, as demonstrated by his concoction of the plan that would eventually lead the couple to commit suicide. Likewise, Romeo immediately regrets his other decisions powered by powerful emotions, like the killing of Tybalt, and, though he was not alive to regret it, he certainly would have regretted his rash suicide upon finding his love killed herself as a result. So Romeo’s decisions that are based on intense emotions of one sort of another do not carry any weight in terms of what he wants to do or accomplish, but they carry great weight in their consequences. Passionate, powerful emotions thus are not only destructive, causing heart ache, death and so on, but also fleeting and ephemeral: a truly poor cause of action compared to a more channeled, controlled emotion with a more deliberate form of action accompanying it. “Romeo and Juliet” is truly a lovely love story, and it carries with it a passion of emotion that people find in some way comforting. Everyone wishes they were loved to the extent that Romeo and Juliet are – one would always like to be the object of that kind of affection. Furthermore, the power of love, and its association with immensely powerful forces such as nature, the supernatural and the divine all make it seem like a pure force, a force that should be followed through with action. But upon establishing the power of love, Shakespeare goes on to critique it and other powerful emotions as the cause for action, showing them being destructive rather than constructive, leading to rash and tragic, decisions, including needless death. The only constructive thing that comes from an emotion in the entire play is the mending of the two houses by their patriarchs at the close, which shows a much more controlled, channeled and deliberate sort of emotion. Youthful, powerful emotion is destructive; only when it matures into a different kind of emotion with the advent of age will it actually cause good in the world. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. New York: Amulet, 2007. Print. Read More