romeo and juliet love essay conclusion

Romeo And Juliet Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on romeo and juliet.

Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love tragedy written by William Shakespeare. This is a story of love and fate. Furthermore, the basis of this tragic love story is the Old Italian tale translated into English in the sixteenth century. The story is about two young star-crossed lovers whose death results in reconcile between their feuding families. Moreover, Romeo and Juliet is among the most frequently performed plays by Shakespeare .

Lessons of Love from Romeo and Juliet

First of all, Romeo and Juliet teach us that love is blind. Romeo and Juliet belonged to two influential families. Furthermore, these two families were engaged in a big feud among themselves. However, against all odds, Romeo and Juliet find each other and fall in love. Most noteworthy, they are blind to the fact that they are from rival families. They strive to be together in spite of the threat of hate between their families.

Another important lesson is that love brings out the best in us. Most noteworthy, Romeo and Juliet were very different characters by the end of the story than in the beginning. Romeo was suffering from depression before he met Juliet. Furthermore, Juliet was an innocent timid girl. Juliet was forced into marriage against her will by her parents. After falling in love, the personalities of these characters changed in positive ways. Romeo becomes a deeply passionate lover and Juliet becomes a confident woman.

Life without love is certainly not worth living. Later in the story, Romeo learns that his beloved Juliet is dead. At this moment Romeo felt a heart-shattering moment. Romeo then gets extremely sad and drinks poison. However, Juliet was alive and wakes up to see Romeo dead. Juliet then immediately decides to kill herself due to this massive heartbreak. Hence, both lovers believed that life without love is not worth living.

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Legacy of Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays. Furthermore, the play was very popular even in Shakespeare’s lifetime. Scholar Gary Taylor believes it as the sixth most popular of Shakespeare’s plays. Moreover, Sir William Davenant of the Duke’s Company staged Romeo and Juliet in 1662. The earliest production of Romeo and Juliet was in North America on 23 March 1730.

There were professional performances of Romeo and Juliet in the mid-19th century. In 19th century America, probably the most elaborate productions of Romeo and Juliet took place. The first professional performance of the play in Japan seems to be George Crichton Miln’s company’s production in 1890. In the 20th century, Romeo and Juliet became the second most popular play behind Hamlet.

There have been at least 24 operas based on Romeo and Juliet. The best-known ballet version of this play is Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Most noteworthy, Romeo and Juliet have a huge impact on literature. Romeo and Juliet made romance as a worthy topic for tragedy. Before Romeo and Juliet, romantic tragedy was certainly unthinkable.

Romeo and Juliet are probably the most popular romantic fictional characters. They have been an inspiration for lovers around the world for centuries. Most noteworthy, the story depicts the struggle of the couple against a patriarchal society. People will always consider Romeo and Juliet as archetypal young lovers.

Q1 State any one lesson of love from Romeo and Juliet?

A1 One lesson of love from Romeo and Juliet is that love brings out the best in us.

Q2 What makes Romeo and Juliet unique in literature?

A2 Romeo and Juliet made romance as a worthy topic for tragedy. This is what makes it unique.

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A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Although it was first performed in the 1590s, the first  documented  performance of Romeo and Juliet is from 1662. The diarist Samuel Pepys was in the audience, and recorded that he ‘saw “Romeo and Juliet,” the first time it was ever acted; but it is a play of itself the worst that ever I heard in my life, and the worst acted that ever I saw these people do.’

Despite Pepys’ dislike, the play is one of Shakespeare’s best-loved and most famous, and the story of Romeo and Juliet is well known. However, the play has become so embedded in the popular psyche that Shakespeare’s considerably more complex play has been reduced to a few key aspects: ‘star-cross’d lovers’, a teenage love story, and the suicide of the two protagonists.

In the summary and analysis that follow, we realise that Romeo and Juliet is much more than a tragic love story.

Romeo and Juliet : brief summary

After the Prologue has set the scene – we have two feuding households, Montagues and Capulets, in the city-state of Verona; and young Romeo is a Montague while Juliet, with whom Romeo is destined to fall in love, is from the Capulet family, sworn enemies of the Montagues – the play proper begins with servants of the two feuding households taunting each other in the street.

When Benvolio, a member of house Montague, arrives and clashes with Tybalt of house Capulet, a scuffle breaks out, and it is only when Capulet himself and his wife, Lady Capulet, appear that the fighting stops. Old Montague and his wife then show up, and the Prince of Verona, Escalus, arrives and chastises the people for fighting. Everyone leaves except Old Montague, his wife, and Benvolio, Montague’s nephew. Benvolio tells them that Romeo has locked himself away, but he doesn’t know why.

Romeo appears and Benvolio asks his cousin what is wrong, and Romeo starts speaking in paradoxes, a sure sign that he’s in love. He claims he loves Rosaline, but will not return any man’s love. A servant appears with a note, and Romeo and Benvolio learn that the Capulets are holding a masked ball.

Benvolio tells Romeo he should attend, even though he is a Montague, as he will find more beautiful women than Rosaline to fall in love with. Meanwhile, Lady Capulet asks her daughter Juliet whether she has given any thought to marriage, and tells Juliet that a man named Paris would make an excellent husband for her.

Romeo attends the Capulets’ masked ball, with his friend Mercutio. Mercutio tells Romeo about a fairy named Queen Mab who enters young men’s minds as they dream, and makes them dream of love and romance. At the masked ball, Romeo spies Juliet and instantly falls in love with her; she also falls for him.

They kiss, but then Tybalt, Juliet’s kinsman, spots Romeo and recognising him as a Montague, plans to confront him. Old Capulet tells him not to do so, and Tybalt reluctantly agrees. When Juliet enquires after who Romeo is, she is distraught to learn that he is a Montague and thus a member of the family that is her family’s sworn enemies.

Romeo breaks into the gardens of Juliet’s parents’ house and speaks to her at her bedroom window. The two of them pledge their love for each other, and arrange to be secretly married the following night. Romeo goes to see a churchman, Friar Laurence, who agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet.

After the wedding, the feud between the two families becomes violent again: Tybalt kills Mercutio in a fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt in retaliation. The Prince banishes Romeo from Verona for his crime.

Juliet is told by her father that she will marry Paris, so Juliet goes to seek Friar Laurence’s help in getting out of it. He tells her to take a sleeping potion which will make her appear to be dead for two nights; she will be laid to rest in the family vault, and Romeo (who will be informed of the plan) can secretly come to her there.

However, although that part of the plan goes fine, the message to Romeo doesn’t arrive; instead, he hears that Juliet has actually died. He secretly visits her at the family vault, but his grieving is interrupted by the arrival of Paris, who is there to lay flowers. The two of them fight, and Romeo kills him.

Convinced that Juliet is really dead, Romeo drinks poison in order to join Juliet in death. Juliet wakes from her slumber induced by the sleeping draught to find Romeo dead at her side. She stabs herself.

The play ends with Friar Laurence telling the story to the two feuding families. The Prince tells them to put their rivalry behind them and live in peace.

Romeo and Juliet : analysis

How should we analyse Romeo and Juliet , one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frequently studied, performed, and adapted plays? Is Romeo and Juliet the great love story that it’s often interpreted as, and what does it say about the play – if it is a celebration of young love – that it ends with the deaths of both romantic leads?

It’s worth bearing in mind that Romeo and Juliet do not kill themselves specifically because they are forbidden to be together, but rather because a chain of events (of which their families’ ongoing feud with each other is but one) and a message that never arrives lead to a misunderstanding which results in their suicides.

Romeo and Juliet is often read as both a tragedy and a great celebration of romantic love, but it clearly throws out some difficult questions about the nature of love, questions which are rendered even more pressing when we consider the headlong nature of the play’s action and the fact that Romeo and Juliet meet, marry, and die all within the space of a few days.

Below, we offer some notes towards an analysis of this classic Shakespeare play and explore some of the play’s most salient themes.

It’s worth starting with a consideration of just what Shakespeare did with his source material. Interestingly, two families known as the Montagues and Capulets appear to have actually existed in medieval Italy: the first reference to ‘Montagues and Capulets’ is, curiously, in the poetry of Dante (1265-1321), not Shakespeare.

In Dante’s early fourteenth-century epic poem, the  Divine Comedy , he makes reference to two warring Italian families: ‘Come and see, you who are negligent, / Montagues and Capulets, Monaldi and Filippeschi / One lot already grieving, the other in fear’ ( Purgatorio , canto VI). Precisely why the families are in a feud with one another is never revealed in Shakespeare’s play, so we are encouraged to take this at face value.

The play’s most famous line references the feud between the two families, which means Romeo and Juliet cannot be together. And the line, when we stop and consider it, is more than a little baffling. The line is spoken by Juliet: ‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’ Of course, ‘wherefore’ doesn’t mean ‘where’ – it means ‘why’.

But that doesn’t exactly clear up the whys and the wherefores. The question still doesn’t appear to make any sense: Romeo’s problem isn’t his first name, but his family name, Montague. Surely, since she fancies him, Juliet is quite pleased with ‘Romeo’ as he is – it’s his family that are the problem. Solutions  have been proposed to this conundrum , but none is completely satisfying.

There are a number of notable things Shakespeare did with his source material. The Italian story ‘Mariotto and Gianozza’, printed in 1476, contained many of the plot elements of Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet . Shakespeare’s source for the play’s story was Arthur Brooke’s  The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet  (1562), an English verse translation of this Italian tale.

The moral of Brooke’s tale is that young love ends in disaster for their elders, and is best reined in; Shakespeare changed that. In Romeo and Juliet , the headlong passion and excitement of young love is celebrated, even though confusion leads to the deaths of the young lovers. But through their deaths, and the example their love set for their parents, the two families vow to be reconciled to each other.

Shakespeare also makes Juliet a thirteen-year-old girl in his play, which is odd for a number of reasons. We know that  Romeo and Juliet  is about young love – the ‘pair of star-cross’d lovers’, who belong to rival families in Verona – but what is odd about Shakespeare’s play is how young he makes Juliet.

In Brooke’s verse rendition of the story, Juliet is sixteen. But when Shakespeare dramatised the story, he made Juliet several years younger, with Romeo’s age unspecified. As Lady Capulet reveals, Juliet is ‘not [yet] fourteen’, and this point is made to us several times, as if Shakespeare wishes to draw attention to it and make sure we don’t forget it.

This makes sense in so far as Juliet represents young love, but what makes it unsettling – particularly for modern audiences – is the fact that this makes Juliet a girl of thirteen when she enjoys her night of wedded bliss with Romeo. As John Sutherland puts it in his (and Cedric Watts’) engaging  Oxford World’s Classics: Henry V, War Criminal?: and Other Shakespeare Puzzles , ‘In a contemporary court of law [Romeo] would receive a longer sentence for what he does to Juliet than for what he does to Tybalt.’

There appears to be no satisfactory answer to this question, but one possible explanation lies in one of the play’s recurring themes: bawdiness and sexual familiarity. Perhaps surprisingly given the youthfulness of its tragic heroine, Romeo and Juliet is shot through with bawdy jokes, double entendres, and allusions to sex, made by a number of the characters.

These references to physical love serve to make Juliet’s innocence, and subsequent passionate romance with Romeo, even more noticeable: the journey both Romeo and Juliet undertake is one from innocence (Romeo pointlessly and naively pursuing Rosaline; Juliet unversed in the ways of love) to experience.

In the last analysis, Romeo and Juliet is a classic depiction of forbidden love, but it is also far more sexually aware, more ‘adult’, than many people realise.

4 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet”

Modern reading of the play’s opening dialogue among the brawlers fails to parse the ribaldry. Sex scares the bejeepers out of us. Why? Confer “R&J.”

It’s all that damn padre’s fault!

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114 Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles & Examples

Looking for Romeo and Juliet essay titles? The world’s most tragic story is worth writing about!

🥀 Best Romeo and Juliet Essay Titles

🖤 romeo and juliet essay prompts.

• 🏆 Best Romeo and Juliet Essay Examples

📌 Interesting Romeo and Juliet Essay Topics

🎭 easy titles for romeo and juliet essays, 👍 exciting romeo and juliet title ideas, ❓ romeo and juliet essay questions.

Romeo and Juliet is probably the most famous tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is a story of two young lovers whose deaths reconcile their feuding families. Whether you are assigned an argumentative, persuasive, or analytical essay on this piece of literature, this article will answer all your questions. Below you’ll find Romeo and Juliet essay examples, thesis ideas, and paper topics.

• “Romeo and Juliet”: character analysis
• What role does the setting play in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• “Romeo and Juliet” and antique tradition of tragic love stories
• Theme of love in “Romeo and Juliet”
• What role does the theme of fate play in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• “Romeo and Juliet”: dramatic structure analysis
• Analyze the balcony scene in “Romeo and Juliet”
• “Romeo and Juliet”: feminist criticism
• The most famous adaptations of “Romeo and Juliet”
• “Romeo and Juliet” in the world culture

Keep reading to learn the key points you can use to write a successful paper.

• Original Italian Tale vs. Shakespeare’s Tragedy

The story described in Shakespeare’s tragedy is based on the Italian tale that was translated into English in the sixteenth century. Original version represents situations and lines from Romeo and Juliet lives.

Shakespeare added a few more main characters: Mercutio, Paris, and Tybalt. Numerous researches state that Shakespeare used three sources to write his tragedy: a novella Giulietta e Romeo by Matteo Bandello, written in 1554; a story Il Novellio, by Masuccio Salernitano; and the Historia Novellamente Ritrovata di Due Nobili Amanti, written by Luigi Da Porto.

You can learn more about these novels to find out similarities and differences between primary sources and Shakespeare’s work

• Love and Fate in Romeo and Juliet

If you’re going to write Romeo and Juliet essay on fate, read this paragraph. Fate is the fundamental concept of the plot. It makes us look at Romeo and Juliet affair as a single tragedy.

At the same time, another core element of the story is love. From the very beginning of the drama, you will clearly understand that the story will end in tragedy.

Shakespeare shows us the value of fate events.

However, love remains a crucial thematic element. The roles of Nurse, Paris, and Romeo show us a physical attraction, sympathy, and romantic affection while being the embodiment of love. Analyze what type of love is represented by each character in your essay. Explain, what do you think real love is.

• Value and Duality in Romeo and Juliet

Among the central idea to consider for your Romeo and Juliet essay titles is an issue of value and duality. Shakespeare actively uses duality in his tragedy by representing the deaths of Romeo and Juliet as reasons of tragedy in Verona, which brought new order to the city.

Friar Laurence also reveals ambiguity when he helped Romeo and thus forced young lovers to suffer in the end. The decision to marry couple had a reason to end the conflict between Montague and Capulets.

Romeo and Juliet’s example discloses happiness and blame brought by key episodes and change in society. In your writing, you may analyze how the effect of adoration had influenced Romeo, Juliet, and other people lives.

• Masculinity in Romeo and Juliet

A lot of Romeo and Juliet essay examples analyze the role of gender and masculinity in the tragedy. Mercutio is shown as a classic example of a real man: active, brave citizen.

He is a person of action. On the other hand, Romeo is described as a boy who seeks for love. Romeo and Juliet love thrown into quarreling world.

You can analyze the reasons why Romeo fights and kills Paris when finding him near Juliet body.

Covering all of the points mentioned above will help you to produce an outstanding Romeo and Juliet essay. Check the samples below to get inspiration and more ideas that you can use in your own paper.

🏆 Best Romeo and Juliet Topic Ideas & Essay Examples

• Different Types of Love Portrayed in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Term Paper In regards to this communication, the issue of romantic love between Romeo and Juliet is highlighted7. The concept of true love is no where to be seen in Romeo and Juliet’s relationship.
• William Shakespeare “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” This paper examines romantic love as the source of joy and fulfillment in “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Love is the source of pain and suffering in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
• Symbolism and Foreshadowing in “Romeo and Juliet” The love of Juliet to Romeo at the early stages is described as the “bud love, expected to grow into a beauteous flower” when the two meet later.
• The Renaissance Time During Romeo and Juliet Men and women performed different roles in the household; the man was responsible for farming while the woman took care of the poultry and dairy. In the upper-class, marriages were arranged and the parents chose […]
• Breaking the Rules: Romeo and Juliet’s Quest for Independence Finally, the death of Romeo and Juliet puts an end to their love and is powerful enough to reconcile their feuding families.
• Romeo and Juliet’s Analysis and Comparison With the Film Romeo Must Die It can be concluded that, in the case of the original Romeo and Juliet, the main heroes are dying, but their families reconcile.
• Analysis of the Play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Another interesting scene of the production that makes it real understanding of the authors work is the casting of the romantic love between Romeo and Juliet, the physical love of the nurse and the contractual […]
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• The Portrayal of Fate in “Romeo and Juliet” Thus, the play Romeo and Juliet demonstrates that fate is the invisible, unavoidable force behind the entirety of the human experience.
• Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: Act 1 Scene 4 Review In this speech alone we see Mercutio in direct opposition to all of the characters in Romeo and Juliet while at the same time we are provided an alternate point of view to the ideals […]
• William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in Baz Luhrmann’s Interpretation The fragility of love in this work is contrasted with its hardness – it can be compared in quality and beauty to a cut diamond.
• “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare: Play’s Concept In Romeo and Juliet, the development of characters eventually led to the tragedy of the main characters. The love of Romeo and Juliet is a remarkable love as they have to undergo many obstacles to […]
• Forbidden Love in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare From Freud’s perspective, the characters’ problems can be perceived as the result of a conflict between their superego, id and ego.
• Romeo and Juliet: Analysis of Play Being a tragedy, the story narrates the challenges two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, go through due to the enmity between their respective families. For example, the story of Juliet and Romeo presents a romantic and […]
• Love and Sadness in the First Act of “Romeo and Juliet” The love story of Romeo and Juliet is well known to most people, but one might forget that Romeo was initially not in love with Juliet; he met her later.
• Carlo Carlea’s Film “Romeo and Juliet” The new adaptation of my play generally made a controversial impression: the actors look suitable for their roles, but the internal theme of the play seems to be not so profoundly got.
• Analysis of “Romeo and Juliet” Directed by Simon Godwin The actors played in the theater without an audience, and the shooting itself took two and a half weeks, but also due to the director’s attempt to combine the action on the theater stage and […]
• “Romeo and Juliet” Staged in Greek Style According to the analysis, it is evident that even though the story, plot, and characters stay the same, the change in the style of “Romeo and Juliet” will have a significant difference from the original […]
• Personality and Maturity in the Romeo and Juliet Play by W. Shakespeare While this idea is not always true in specific cases, it can be assumed to be true in the case of Romeo and Juliet because of the ways in which they act.
• Oh Tae-Suk’s Romeo and Juliet Oh Tae-suk is a South-Korean playwright and director, well-known for his masterful portrayal of modern Korean life and the use of the elements of the traditional Korean theater in his plays.
• What Shapes More Lovers’ “Story of Romeo and Juliet?” In Romeo and Juliet, love is the central theme of the tragedy, and the images of the protagonists are mostly shaped by the relationships and challenges they had to face.
• Friar Lawrence in “Romeo and Juliet” by Shakespeare The strengths of such friendships can be seen in the way Friar Laurence accepts and anticipates Romeo’s actions, showing that he is ready to hear him as a friend not as a priest, “Doth couch […]
• Nurse and Friar Laurence in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” The way Friar Laurence supported Romeo and Juliet to get Married, The way the Nurse is opposing in her regards of Romeo and Paris, When Friar Laurence clandestinely married them, the way the Nurse is […]
• Character Analysis of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” The Renaissance in Italy was a time in which historians and writers were most active, sparking a new wave of literacy in the Italian world, said to be the father of Renaissance Europe.
• “Analysis of Causes of Tragic Fate in Romeo and Juliet Based on Shakespeare’s View of Fate” by Jie Li The article is easy to read and makes a compelling case for the reasons that precipitated the tragedy in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
• “Romeo and Juliet”: Play and Film Preminger et al.claim that poetry is to be educative and pleasurable and both versions of “Romeo and Juliet” meet this criterion regardless of the fact that they had to appeal to the audience of a […]
• “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Winter’s Tale” Comparison Because of the importance of the role of plants and trees in the two abovementioned plays, it would be reasonable to consider each of the plays in detail.
• Romeo and Juliet: The Twentieth Century This is the first scene of the play. In the mean time, Capulet learns that Juliet has fallen in love with Romeo, and he is infuriated with the behavior of her daughter.
• Relationships Among Individuals in Shakespeare’s Plays The events that take place in Athens are symbolic in the sense that they represent the sequence of events during the day whereas the events in the forest represent the dream like circumstances.
• The Saga as Old as Time: Romeo and Juliet, Vampire Style Basing partially on the plot of Romeo and Juliet story and partially on the problems that modern teenagers face, The Twilight Saga offers a number of issues that are quite topical nowadays, such as the […]
• The Interpretation of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” by Baz Luhrmann and Franco Zeffirelli
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• The Perceptions of Love and the Use of Language and Structure in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
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• The Theme of People Being in Unusual Circumstances in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Responsible for the Deaths of the Lovers in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Role of Fate and Coincidence in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• Comparing the Characters of Tybalt and Mercutio in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Role and Representation of the Nurse in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Significance of Mercutio in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Tragic Ending of a Pair of Star Crossed Lovers in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Underlying Theme and Message in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Unselfish Character of Benvolio in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• True Love in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
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• The Volatile Mixture of Love and Hate in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Use of Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic Irony in William Shakespeare’s Play “Romeo and Juliet”
• Shakespeare’s Reflections on Love in the Play “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Importance of Act Three Scene One in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• The Use of Sonnets in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• William Shakespeare’s Use of Death to Create Tension in “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Themes of Love and Madness in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and “Romeo and Juliet”
• The Use of Imagery in the Play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
• How Does Shakespeare Create a Sense of Tragedy in the Final Scene of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Are Romeo and Juliet Responsible for Their Deaths?
• How Does Shakespeare Create Drama and Tension in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Why Does Shakespeare Create Sympathy for “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Is “Romeo and Juliet” Relevant to Modern Life?
• How Does Shakespeare Create a Dramatic Conclusion in Act Five Scene Three of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Are Adults Presented in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Are the Main Themes Presented in the Opening Sequence of Baz Luhrman’s Film “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Does “Romeo and Juliet” Deserve to Be Considered Pop Culture in the Elizabethan Era?
• Why Does “Romeo and Juliet” Attract Teenagers?
• How Did Shakespeare Introduce the Characters of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Act One Scene One Provide an Effective Opening to “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Did Hate Cause Major Events in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Bas Luhrman’s Staging of Key Scenes “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Did Baz Luhrmann Manage to Gain Sympathy for “Romeo and Juliet” and Interest a Modern Audience?
• How Does Baz Lurhmann Make “Romeo and Juliet” More Accessible to a Modern Audience?
• How Does Conflict Manifest Itself in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Fate Affect “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Why Did Fate Lead to the Tragic Conclusion of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Lord Capulet Change Through the Course of the Play “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Why Does Love Change Romeo and Juliet’s Life?
• How Do Shakespeare Introduce Romeo and Juliet’s Relationship?
• Did Romeo and Juliet Ever Have Control Over What Happened to Them or Was It All Fate?
• How Does Shakespeare Make Romeo and Juliet Dramatically Effective?
• How Do Juliet’s Decisions Affect Her Growth and Her Relationships in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Shakespeare Portray Ambiguity in the Play “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Are the Relationships in “Romeo and Juliet” Represented and Developed?
• Does the Film “Romeo and Juliet” Have the Same Dramatic Impact on the Audience as the Original Play?
• How Does Shakespeare Portray Love in “Romeo and Juliet”?
• How Does Shakespeare Present Conflict at the Start of “Romeo and Juliet”?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Love in Print in the Sixteenth Century pp 183–186 Cite as

Conclusion: Romeo + Juliet

• Ian Frederick Moulton  

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Part of the book series: Early Modern Cultural Studies ((EMCSS))

T he four books that form the focus of this study all demonstrate the extent to which culturally elite ideas about romantic love were spreading to a broader reading public throughout the sixteenth century. Conduct books, philosophical treatises, letter-writing manuals, and medical texts were all appearing in the vernacular, and their specialized knowledge was being made even more accessible through editorial apparatus such as indices, detailed tables of contents, and printed marginal annotations.

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On the play’s popularity on stage see William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet , The Oxford Shakespeare, ed. Jill. L. Levenson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 69–70.

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The Capulets are one of the only households Shakespeare stages in which a child has both parents living. And Juliet’s mother and father are not necessarily a model of wedded bliss. See Sasha Roberts, William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (Plymouth, UK: Northcote House, 1998), 28–31.

Matteo Bandello, Novelle , ed. Luigi Russo and Ettore Mazzali (Milan: Rizzoli, 1990), 315: “… con particolar dolore dei Montecchi e Capelletti e general di tutta la città, furono fatte l’essequie con pompa gradissima; e volle il signore che in quello stesso avello gli amanti restarono sepolti. Il che fu cagione che tra i Montecchi e I Capelletti si fece la pace, ben che non molto dopo durassi.”

Plato, Symposium , ed. Kenneth Dover, Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980), 204c.

Unless otherwise indicated, all references to the works of Plato are to The Collected Dialogues of Plato , ed. Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1961).

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© 2014 Ian Frederick Moulton

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Moulton, I.F. (2014). Conclusion: Romeo + Juliet. In: Love in Print in the Sixteenth Century. Early Modern Cultural Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137405050_6

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Romeo and juliet (grades 9–1) york notes, william shakespeare, examiner's notes, you assessed this answer as grade 7 . hover over the highlighted text to read the examiner’s comments., question: read from act i scene 3 ‘ marry, that “marry” is the very theme/i came to talk of ’ (line 44) to ‘ go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days ’ (line 85). at this point in the play, lady capulet talks with her daughter about the prospect of marriage..

Starting with this conversation, explore how Shakespeare presents parents and children.

Write about:

• how Shakespeare presents Lady Capulet and Juliet’s relationship in this conversation
• how Shakespeare presents parents and children in the play as a whole.

Act I Scene 3 helps us to contextualise the relationship that Juliet has with her parents. As a fourteen-year-old girl, she is visited in her chamber by her mother, to be presented with the opportunity for marriage. Her mother, distant and somewhat calculating, presents this as an opportunity for increased wealth and to ensure her daughter becomes one of the ‘ladies of esteem’ who are ‘made already mothers’ among the Veronese elite.

Juliet’s mother's language, with its blunt interrogatives such as: ‘Tell me . . . How stands your disposition to be married?’ and ‘What say you, can you love the gentleman?’, is presented by Shakespeare in stark contrast to the warm effusiveness of the Nurse, whose enthusiasm is shown when she exclaims: ‘A man, young lady! Lady, such a man!’ Likewise, Lady Capulet’s impatience with the Nurse is evident when she says, ‘I pray thee hold thy peace.' This seems to stem from the fact that the Nurse is full of anecdotes about her beloved Juliet and her childhood, something Lady Capulet clearly does not share.

We are therefore encouraged to see that in wealthy Veronese society, the notion of parenting is one of a more distant relationship. Though both Capulet and Lady Capulet declare their love for Juliet when she is supposed dead in Act IV, their actions and attitudes at other times in the play lead us to question its strength.

In the extract, Lady Capulet uses elaborate language to describe Paris. She employs the metaphor of a ‘precious book’, suggesting Juliet will be the ‘cover’ that this ‘unbound lover’ lacks. Though seemingly romantic, this is far from the reality of marrying a virtual stranger, selected by Juliet’s father. Lady Capulet emphasises two positive features about Paris: his looks and his wealth. She suggests he has been drawn with, ‘beauty’s pen’ and that Juliet might ‘share all that he doth possess’. Again, this helps us to see the values that shaped elite Veronese society, and raises questions about Lady Capulet’s idea of what real love might be.

Capulet initially speaks of Juliet in gentle terms as ‘the hopeful lady of my earth’, and insists it will be another two years before Juliet should be wed. However, the violent actions of Act II seem to galvanise him, Tybalt’s death a clear catalyst which encourages him to hastily arrange Juliet’s marriage to Paris. Perhaps he fears for his family’s reputation within the context of these violent outbursts? Moreover, his position as the family patriarch leads him to believe Juliet will consider this arrangement as ‘a sudden day of joy.’ His fury at her refusal leads to him addressing her in disparaging terms as ‘a wretched puling fool’, and ‘a whining mammet’. Rather than as a daughter, he views Juliet as a possession, declaring ‘I’ll give you to my friend.’ This is compounded by Lady Capulet’s curt, monosyllabic rejection, ‘I have done with thee.’

Shakespeare seems to contrast the Capulets with the more rarely seen Montagues, whose concern for their son and his sensitive moods, suggests their more genuine love for him. Indeed, we are told even before Montague learns of his son’s death at the end of the play that Lady Montague has died of grief, so distressed was she by Romeo’s banishment. Much earlier, Montague has engaged Benvolio’s help to ‘learn from whence his sorrows grow’. Yet we are led to question why Romeo did not seek the advice of these concerned parents, rather than that of Friar Laurence, when he discovered his love for Juliet.

Though the play presents us with a picture of parenting in wealthy Veronese society, Shakespeare also conveys the idea that young adults may see their parents as a potential hurdle to their happiness and, equally, how some parents feel that they must exert complete control over their children. The backdrop of the feud and the conventions of the society itself create the conditions in which mistrust and tragedy come to dominate these family relationships.

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The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet: a Figure of Complexity and Comfort

This essay about the Nurse in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” explores her complex character as Juliet’s caretaker and confidante. It examines her loyalty and maternal love, alongside the contradictions that arise from her pragmatic approach to Juliet’s secret marriage and subsequent entanglement in familial conflicts. Highlighting her role in adding humor and realism to the narrative, the essay discusses how the Nurse navigates societal constraints, revealing the depth of her character through her actions and relationships within the play. The Nurse is portrayed as a multi-dimensional figure whose presence enriches the narrative, making her a subject of great interest in Shakespeare’s tragedy. Through this analysis, the essay sheds light on the enduring relevance and humanity of Shakespeare’s characters, particularly the Nurse’s impact on the themes of love, loyalty, and societal limitation.

How it works

The character of the Nurse in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” often evokes a spectrum of reactions from readers and viewers alike. Serving as Juliet’s caretaker, confidante, and, in many ways, a surrogate mother, the Nurse’s role in the tragic narrative is pivotal, yet peppered with contradictions that make her one of Shakespeare’s most human characters. Through her, Shakespeare explores themes of loyalty, maternal love, and the societal constraints placed upon women, all while infusing the play with moments of levity and earthy humor.

At first glance, the Nurse’s devotion to Juliet is undeniable. She has been with the Capulet family since Juliet’s birth, and her affection for the young woman is palpable. Their relationship is marked by an intimacy and openness that Juliet does not share with her own mother, Lady Capulet. This bond is particularly evident in the way Juliet trusts the Nurse with her deepest secret—her love for Romeo, a member of the rival Montague family. The Nurse’s willingness to act as a messenger between the star-crossed lovers further underscores her commitment to Juliet’s happiness, suggesting a depth of loyalty that transcends her servile position within the household.

However, the Nurse’s character is not without its complexities. Her decision to encourage Juliet to marry Paris after Romeo’s banishment—a move that directly contradicts her previous support for Juliet’s marriage to Romeo—highlights the precarious nature of her position. It is a stark reminder of her vulnerability and dependence on the Capulet family for her livelihood. This shift in allegiance, while seemingly a betrayal of Juliet’s trust, can also be interpreted as a pragmatic attempt to ensure Juliet’s safety and societal standing, given the impossibility of her union with Romeo. In this light, the Nurse’s actions reflect the harsh realities faced by women of her time, who were often compelled to navigate and negotiate within a patriarchal society that afforded them little autonomy.

Moreover, the Nurse’s earthiness and penchant for bawdy humor provide a counterbalance to the elevated language and lofty ideals of the play’s titular characters. Her reminiscences about Juliet’s childhood, filled with crude jokes and playful teasing, not only humanize her but also bring a touch of realism to the high tragedy of the narrative. This duality in her character—her ability to oscillate between the roles of comic relief and emotional anchor—enriches the text, offering audiences a multifaceted view of life in Verona.

The Nurse’s ultimate legacy in “Romeo and Juliet” is one of profound ambiguity. She is both a figure of comfort and a source of betrayal, a caretaker who fails to protect and a confidante who cannot keep confidence. Yet, it is precisely this complexity that makes her character so compelling and relatable. Through the Nurse, Shakespeare presents a portrait of a woman who is deeply flawed but equally endearing, navigating the tumultuous waters of love, loyalty, and survival in a way that resonates across centuries.

In conclusion, the Nurse in “Romeo and Juliet” stands out as a testament to Shakespeare’s unparalleled ability to craft characters of enduring relevance and humanity. Her presence in the play not only adds layers of depth to the narrative but also invites reflection on the nature of maternal love, the limitations imposed by societal roles, and the intricacies of human emotion. As such, she remains a character of great interest and discussion, a mirror reflecting the timeless and universal themes at the heart of Shakespeare’s tragic masterpiece.

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The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet: A Figure of Complexity and Comfort. (2024, Mar 25). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/the-nurse-in-romeo-and-juliet-a-figure-of-complexity-and-comfort/

"The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet: A Figure of Complexity and Comfort." PapersOwl.com , 25 Mar 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/the-nurse-in-romeo-and-juliet-a-figure-of-complexity-and-comfort/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet: A Figure of Complexity and Comfort . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-nurse-in-romeo-and-juliet-a-figure-of-complexity-and-comfort/ [Accessed: 17 Apr. 2024]

"The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet: A Figure of Complexity and Comfort." PapersOwl.com, Mar 25, 2024. Accessed April 17, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/the-nurse-in-romeo-and-juliet-a-figure-of-complexity-and-comfort/

"The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet: A Figure of Complexity and Comfort," PapersOwl.com , 25-Mar-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-nurse-in-romeo-and-juliet-a-figure-of-complexity-and-comfort/. [Accessed: 17-Apr-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet: A Figure of Complexity and Comfort . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-nurse-in-romeo-and-juliet-a-figure-of-complexity-and-comfort/ [Accessed: 17-Apr-2024]

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