I know all of these posts have been about love, but I can't help it. I guess that's what you get when you're teaching the world's most well-known love story. Which is actually kind of funny, because I don't think they were in love at all. And that's kind of my question for this post.
Everyone talks like Romeo and Juliet had the greatest love of all time because they died for each other. A love suicide if you will. But I think a lot of people forget some of the facts of the story.
Here are some in a nutshell:
#1: At the beginning of the play, Romeo was in heartbroken over another girl. She didn't love him back and he was pining for her. Big time.
#2: That same day, his cousin convinced him to go to a party to see if he could find another lovely lady. He at first refused because there could be no one else, but eventually gave in and went to the masquerade.
#3: He met Juliet briefly at the party. Just long enough to say hello, whisper sweet-nothings in her ear, use cheesy lines to get her to kiss him, kiss her twice, and then Juliet is whisked away. She leaves and they don't even know each others' names. Let alone that their families have been feuding for years. But alas, it's too late, they're already in love.
#4: The famous balcony scene. He sees her on her balcony. He calls to her telling her how beautiful she is. They exchange vows of love. How romantic. However, I bet your English teacher skipped over the other things they were doing that night. And they could because who really understands what Shakespeare is saying anyway? :)
#5: Please remember, this is the same night that Romeo got over Rosaline, he met Juliet, kissed her, fell in "love" with her, met her on the balcony, slept with her, and then what?
#6: Oh yeah, they decide to get married. Secretly. They've known each other less than ten hours. And we can't forget that Juliet is already supposed to be marrying another dude.
#7: And she's 14. I know it was a different time, but her father had just said she needed to wait two years. Because married at 16 is so much better than married at 14.
I just don't think any of that would equal love. Sure, I guess it's possible to meet someone, think they're cute, and suddenly want to be with them forever. But that's not love. That's a crush. And sure it could grow into love. But in this case, I'm saying no. Especially since it was less than a week's time before they died. And they weren't even together during it. Romeo had been banished.
So no, I don't believe that Romeo and Juliet is a love story. It's technically classified as one of Shakespeare's tragedy plays, and I do think it's tragic. Tragic that no one was able to stop this mess before it was too late. Stupid Friar.
Now, this has me thinking, what does make love real? If it's not the classic Romeo and Juliet, then how do we describe it?
