Romeo and Juliet: Love Flashcards
sonnet
Shakespeare arguably celebrates Romantic love, through his use of the sonnet form in the dialogue between Romeo and Juliet in their first meeting
insincere
However, despite the fact the play can be read as celebrating romantic love, Shakespeare arguably presents Romeo as an insincere, foolish young lover, satirising young love and presenting their impulsiveness as causing the hamartia of the eponymous characters.
other characters
Finally, Shakespeare presents secondary characters such as Mercutio or the nurse as character foils to Romeo, as a way of offering an alternative, more physical view of love. Romeo’s meeting with Juliet is framed by their depictions of worldly love, and their love and language stands out as more elevated because of this.
‘if rough be love with you, be rough with love’
‘prick love for pricking’
Romeo’s ornate language in which he describes Juliet as ‘the sun’, using imagery of light and brightness to describe her cheek. The verb ‘pricking’ has sexual connotations, reflecting Mercutio’s desire to reduce love to its most physical form.
‘thrusting’ the Montague maids against the wall’
Even in his soliloquy when he compares Juliet to ‘the moon’ and alludes to Diana, the goddess of virginity in classical mythology, he advocates ‘casting off her vestal livery’, which itself is sexually suggestive in the sense that he wants Juliet to disrobe.
