When considering how Shakespeare presents the love between Romeo and Juliet, it is important to consider whether it was true love he was presenting, or not. Is their love real? The only people that could really know are the characters themselves. In this play Shakespeare could be showing love to be a weakness, that in this case the love was not real and yet they died for it. Some indications of this are that Juliet is very young, only 14 and had not been previously exposed to love in any passionate way. Romeo takes his emotions very seriously and is inclined to be swept away by them. Ear

Although the aforementioned aspects are extremely important when considering the presentation of love in Romeo and Juliet, the fact that it is a play and the dramatic presentations cannot be overlooked. When the couple first meet at the Capulet ball, before they even realise they are enemies, they have to be wary of their actions. Juliet is meant to be accompanying Paris and Romeo would be killed if discovered. This element of forbidden attraction and concealed talking adds a great amount of playful excitement to the scene, especially on stage. The audience will be aware of this and immediately single out Romeo and Juliet’s relationship as interesting. A lot can also be conveyed to the audience through costume, light and sound, which have to be imagined when merely reading the play. An excellent example of this is in Baz Luhrmann’s film version of the play. The Capulet ball is depicted as a fancy dress party and each character is disguised, as something with an exaggerated version of their personality, for example Tybalt is a devil. Juliet is shown as an angel and Romeo as a knight in shining armour. These costumes separate them from the other guests who are all more vulgarly dressed, again it makes them seem different, special, innocent and pure.

When I think about the love between Romeo and Juliet logically, I come to the conclusion that they were not really in love, merely young and impatient. However, the way in which their love is presented in the play quickly makes me believe they were truly in love and that their deaths were a real tragedy. Shakespeare has managed to accomplish this through many devices, the most important being contrast. If there were nothing to compare Romeo and Juliet’s language, innocence and piety to then they would seem normal, average and uninteresting. It is only through comparing them to crude violence, wickedness and false love that we can be convinced that their love is genuine. Believing this is crucial to the theme of the play, because if the audience does not believe them to be in love then they will not sympathise with their misfortune, will not be touched by the tragedy of their deaths and therefore will not benefit from the play.

There is an obvious change in the language Romeo uses after he meets Juliet, when he is talking to and about her and describing his feelings. When telling Benvolio of his love for Rosaline in Act 1 scene 1, Shakespeare gives Romeo short sharp lines like ‘Out.’ ‘Of love?.’ ‘Out of her favour where I am in love.’ Everything he says about his feelings for her is a disjointed contradiction and would sound fast and confusing to the audience. This would consequently present Romeo’s love for Rosaline as confused and hasty and this idea would therefore undermine the suspicion that the love could be real. However, when he meets Juliet, his language immediately becomes soft, flowing and romantic. His first description of he

Some topics in this essay:
Romeo Juliet, Shakespeare Romeo, Romeo Juliet’s, Sampson Gregory, , Baz Luhrmann’s, Paris Romeo, act 1 scene, 1 scene, act 1, romeo juliet, love romeo, scene 5, love romeo juliet, Rosaline Act, Juliet Apart, 1 scene 5, romeo juliet’s, love rosaline, presentation love, throughout play, love juliet, 1 scene 4, romeo juliet’s love,