Main Themes in Romeo and Juliet

Main Themes in Romeo and Juliet

1. Love

   • The play's main theme is most definitely: Love.
   • Romeo initially portrays courtly love for Rosaline in Act 1 Scene 1, however this quickly changes when he meets Juliet
   • 'Deny thy father and refuse thy name' (Act 2 Scene 2)
     • Juliet says this because she knows that the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets will only worsen if she tries marry Romeo after asking her parents.
   • 'My only love sprung from my only hate!' (Act 1 Scene 5)
     • This is Juliet describing how she feels after the Nurse tells her that Romeo is a Montague.
     • 'My only love...' i.e. Romeo.
     • 'Sprung from my only hate!' i.e. the Montague family and the long running feud that no-one seems to know anything about.
   • Love causes irrational acts throughout the play.
     • Romeo abandons Mercutio and Benvolio after the Capulet party to go to Juliet's Garden.
     • Romeo returns to Verona during his banishment order to be with Juliet.
   • Romantic imagery portrayed by the love between Romeo and Juliet is very spiritual and religious.
     • And is also described as a type of magic: 'Alike bewitched by the charm of looks' - Prologue from Act 2 Scene 1.
   • The relationship and romanticism between Romeo and Juliet is linked throughout the play with the inevitability of death as the outcome.
     • For example, Tybalt is ready to kill Romeo at the Capulet feast at the same time Romeo and Juliet fall in love.

2. Fate

   • 'A pair of star cross'd lovers'
     • From the beginning of the play, the pair are destined to die.
     • Spoken by the chorus in the prologue
     • 'Star Cross'd' usually means the stars of fate were crossed for example when Romeo and Juliet met at the Capulet's Feast
   • 'Is it even so? Then I defy you, stars'
     • Romeo is adamant that he will not give in to the power of the stars, and let them take Juliet from his life.
     • This quote comes from Act 5 Scene 1, where Balthazar arrives from Verona in Mantua to tell Romeo of Juliet's 'passing'.
   • 'One writ with me in sour misfortune's book'
     • The line comes from Act 5 scene 3, where Romeo and Paris are fighting and after Paris dies, Romeo makes yet another speech before drinking the poison.
     • Romeo sees Paris as someone like himself, destined to be unfortunate.
   • 'And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars'
     • This is continued in the speech that Romeo says before committing suicide.
     • Meaning: to shake off the burden imposed by fate

3. Hate/Conflict/Death

   • The two families are constantly feuding yet we don't find out why. Are they right to continue the feud throughout generations even if they don't know the reason why?
   • Two households, both alike in dignity/ In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,/ From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,/ Where civil blood makes civil hands look unclean.
   • Death plays a big part in Romeo and Juliet not just because it is a tragedy which we know right from the beginning how it is going to end but also death reflects the end of a long lasting feud between the 2 families and how something as tragic as the children's deaths is what it takes to make the two families realise that it needs to stop.
   • Death is also represented in love where one cannot live without the others presence in their lives even just in memory.