Emotionally Sensible

Olivia Hussey as Juliet

In Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, there are many complex characters with complex conflicts. I think that Juliet is by far my favorite, with her mostly rational behavior and relatable problems (even though she's a girl and I'm a boy). Throughout the story, she is cautious of her relationships but very kind, and she trusts few with her problems, which reminded me of Shakespeare's quote "Love all, trust a few, and do harm to none." I feel like Shakespeare may have modeled some of Juliet after himself, especially her philosophies.

Juliet is a very rational character, seeming to give some structure to Romeo's contrasting wildness. For instance, when she is confronted by her mother with marriage, she speaks cautiously and says that she will consider whoever they choose out of respect for them. She also says that she doesn't believe she is ready to be married, showing that she thinks thirteen is too young an age to be wedded (I think this to be true). She obviously admires her parents and doesn't want to let them down with fury. This seems very honorable, especially coming from a teenager. Shakespeare is probably trying to say that being sensible is important to maintaining relationships.

When she and Romeo fall in love, she also acts logically, worrying that they are moving too fast. When Romeo says: "O, Wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?" she replies with: "What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?" This shows that she is feeling rushed, like she is stumbling on what is supposed to be a smooth road. She can feel Romeo's haste and doesn't like it. I agree with that; I think that taking things slowly is a good thing. It allows more time to think deeply about what's happening and whether you want to continue in it or not. 

However, not everyone can be rational all the time-- it's impossible! Juliet has her emotional moments, but I admire her for having real-seeming emotions that are unlike Romeo's rash thinking. When she finds out that Tybalt is dead and that on top of that it was Romeo who killed him, she has a very complex monologue full of fury and weakness. She feels extremely mixed up inside (represented by oxymorons in the text), as I'm sure anyone would if they were in that situation. I think that with this monologue, Shakespeare is also pointing out that it's important to have emotions and show them. Showing our emotions is also an important part in a relationship, so that two people can relate and help each other. 

I think that Shakespeare is sending a very powerful message with Juliet. He's trying to tell his readers (or audience) how important it is to show your emotions in a rational, real way. When people are easier to relate to, the ability to create and maintain friendships with them is made much easier. Deep down, we all depend on other people for our happiness, and without friends that is a very complicated task. Many of our problems can be solved by talking to others. Having people to trust will help you get through hard moments, and to trust people you need to be on friendly terms with them. 

The Idea of Love

Life is love, and love is life– but both are very contradictory and complex, and hard to get into. This is what Shakespeare is trying to say in his famous tragedy, Romeo & Juliet. In the play, Romeo seems to be enchanted with the idea of love instead of being in love himself– though he comes up with some thought-provoking insights on it. Perhaps he subconsciously finds love too complicated and contradictory to involve himself in. This made many ideas about young love arise in my mind, and whether it is possible or not.

1870 painting by Ford M. Brown

Romeo & Juliet is the tragic love story of two kids from enemy families (Montague and Capulet), Romeo and Juliet. Though they have been taught to hate each other for their entire lives, the pair inevitably fall in love and become star-crossed lovers (so we know that nothing good will happen in the end). At the beginning of the story, however, they have no idea the other exists. Romeo is obsessed with his love, Rosaline, who doesn't love him back. At the same time, Juliet's parents are arranging for the wealthy Count Paris to marry her. When the two meet at a masquerade (Romeo and his friends crash the party) at Capulet's mansion, they instantly fall in love and meet later on that night. Just before Romeo leaves, they vow to get married the next day (their love escalates rather quickly). We haven't read any further in class, but due to a viewing of Baz    Luhrmann's film adaptation, Romeo + Juliet, and the prologue to the play, we know that they end up dying in each other's arms after a disastrous misunderstanding. 

Romeo has a long speech about love in which he presents over 10 oxymorons. I took his use of the oxymoron to mean that love (and even life) itself is an oxymoron– a contradictory and volatile state of being. Here's an excerpt from the aforementioned speech:

Act I, Scene I: Oxymorons highlighted in red. 

ROMEO

[...] 

Here's much to do with hate, but more with love.

Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate, 

O anything of nothing first create!

O heavy lightness, O serious vanity, 

Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms,

Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, 

Still-waking sleep that is not what it is!

This love feel I, that feel no love in this.

Dost thou not laugh?

All of these oxymorons together seem to say that love is fickle and unstable, but some specific ones have second meanings after that general one. For example, serious vanity, which according to No Fear Shakespeare means "serious foolishness", could mean that love is fun but also an important undertaking. Bright smoke could mean that love has a bad side and a good side that it switches between. Feather of lead means that although love lifts you up and makes you giddy, it is still a serious thing that should be thought about with caution. 

I think that all of these oxymorons exist in real life as well– no matter how long ago Romeo & Juliet was written, it still relates to people today. Shakespeare chose a truly timeless topic! Now, let's get to how the oxymorons relate to our life today. I'll focus mainly on the three contradictions I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Serious vanity~ I definitely think that "serious foolishness" exists. For instance, say you're having fun with your friends and you go too far with something. Suddenly, the hilarious joke you were sharing is a serious, tense conversation. I feel like this is what happens with love sometimes: you are having fun one moment and the next something has gone wrong. This also relates to feather of lead– ups make you feel happy, while downs weigh you down and make you depressed. Love, like everything, has a bad side and a good side– it has ups and downs, romance and anger. 

Doesn't that seem complicated? This is why young love seems so hard to believe– would we ever be able to endure such tempestuous emotions and situations? We think we're quite knowledgeable, but we're really very inexperienced in life– so are teenagers ready to love? I don't really think so. We are simply attracted to the idea of it, like Romeo. Maybe it's because it seems like a mature thing, and we want to seem like adults, or maybe it's hormones and chemicals are taking over our mind. Either way, I believe that young love isn't real. This enchanting idea is lovely but it's risky: we could become so withdrawn from our world that our grades drop, our friends become distant, or even our families become estranged (I've known people like this). Therefore, I restate my claim: young love is merely an idea that teenagers like and subconsciously parade as real love. 

What do you think about young love? Do you think it's a real thing or just an idea? Please comment!

~Adrian

I think this is the longest essay I've ever written!