Romeo and Juliet Essay

  Romeo and Juliet believed their  relationship in the play was love. Being that young, was it actually love or was it lust? Is there such thing as a definition for real love? Those are the big questions, but there is no real answer, only opinions on what people think the actual answers are. In Romeo and Juliet evidence proves that the love they had wasn't love at all, it was lust.

  Romeo and Juliet said that they were so in love, but were they actually? For many, it was believed to be love and others believed it to be lust. They may have told each other that it was love and they may have convinced themselves, but others weren't quite as convinced. The lines that Romeo said in act one-scene 5, lines 51-52, when he first saw Juliet, is proof that he based his love off of looks when he first laid eyes on her. "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight. For I never saw true beauty till this night."  If he could all of a sudden forget all about the fact that he was "in love" with Rosaline as soon as he sees Juliet, then he must not have actually been in love with either of them. Juliet fell for Romeo almost right away as well, but at first she seemed unsure about him. After a few minutes though, she caved and gave up fighting herself to not have interest in Romeo. The answer about their love is that they really weren't in love it was more lust with moments of admiration of the others beauty that laid within.

  There's no way to define love, but there are many different views that people believe to be the definition of true love. The kind of love in fairy tales is unrealistic because not everything is happy and things don't always go perfectly to have that storybook ending. In Romeo and Juliet not everything went right with their "love" because their love is a more realistic, but elaborated, view of real love, if there is such a criteria. Everybody has their own definition of love, for some it might be that there is such thing as love at first sight and it's all sunshine and rainbows. For others, it might be that it's a pain in the ass because loving another person like you love yourself and accepting all the little flaws and making it through the rough times isn't as easy as the storybooks make it sound. Each person has their own criteria for true love, Romeo and Juliet believed theirs to be love at first sight, even though the way that Romeo speaks to Juliet was more like love with her appearance at first sight.

  The ages of Romeo and Juliet had a huge affect on the way the play and their love could have been viewed. Juliet, being only thirteen made her look more innocent than she was and Romeo, also being a teenager, made him look like the average confused, over dramatic, rebellious and unpredictable teenage boy. On page 125, John Quincy Adams' view of how Juliet's age affects people's views of her character is true, "The age of Juliet seems to be the key to her character throughout the play," because it's true that "There is childishness in the discourse of Juliet, and the poet has shown us why; because she scarcely ceased to be a child." With the immaturity of the two of them put together, it makes the ending of their love more tragic, but it also makes them both seem like idiots. J.B. Henneman was right in the quote on page 123 about how, "Character is destiny," because it's true that, "The tragedy comes from the qualities of Romeo's character." Romeo was the one that got himself into trouble so he had to leave the city, then Juliet was stupid to take the poison without having confirmation that the letter that the friar sent made it to Romeo and Romeo said all of the signs that Juliet was waking up out loud and didn't think to put together the clues because he was too enthralled in the beauty of his lover. What comes with being young and being "in love," is stupidity that lead to a tragedy that could have been avoided. 

  Romeo and Juliet had a relationship based off of lust that they believed to be love. Being as young as they were, they were immature and obsessed with the idea of love that turned into the over dramatic tragedy that was said to be, "One of the greatest love stories of all time." Their idea of love at first sight like in fairy tales didn't have the perfect storybook ending and the question if actual love, wether it's love at first sight or a special connection or bond, even exists or can be defined still remains.