Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare portraying the story of Romeo, a young man who falls in love with Juliet, only for their love to get killed by Romeo’s family. The action takes place in Verona, Italy. The imagery used throughout the play mainly revolves around dreams, stars, blood and death. All these things bring a very Romeo and Juliet feel to it. In Act I, Romeo says “But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? / It is the East, and Juliet is the sun. “
Romeo and Juliet is a play about love. Many forms of love are expressed in the play, but the most prevalent form of love is romantic love. Romeo and Juliet’s relationship has many similarities to true romantic relationships, but Romeo and Juliet’s relationship also contains some very important differences that make Romeo and Juliet not only different from the average Romeo and Juliet , but also different from most contemporary couples . One difference between Romeo and Juliet and most other modern Romeo and Juliets is their family situation. Very few of today’s teenagers have parental approval needed to marry their lover.
It was not uncommon for couples during Shakespeare’s time to be married simply by eloping without telling anyone so long as were both above the age of consent. Romeo is fortunate enough to have family that approves of his marriage with Juliet, but Romeo’s parents are dead. Romeo lives with his cousin, Lord Montague. While Romeo does not mention having a mother very often in the play, he typically speaks respectfully about her when he does make reference to her. Romeo also mentions how kind and loving his father was several times throughout the play, almost always when speaking of his fondest memories of him .
It would be reasonable to assume that Romeo feels some resentment toward Lady Montague for being named after her husband instead of being given a traditional feminine name like most women during Shakespeare’s time were given. This assumption seems unreasonable upon further examination though because Romeo never says anything negative about his cousin or any woman in general. Romeo’s appreciation for the women in his life is expressed through Romeo’s often mention of Juliet and occasionally by Romeo speaking about Lady Montague with great respect and mentioning her kindness toward Romeo when he speaks about his father .
It is possible that Romeo may feel resentment toward Lord Montague because he feels like Romeo must continue living with him even though Romeo no longer has a mother or a father to live for. Romeo does seem to have mixed feelings about remaining at Lord Montague’s side, but never does Romeo say anything negative about staying there or speak of disliking being around his cousin . Instead, Romeo speaks highly of how much fun their family dinners are which could be an indication that Shakespeare intended for it to be understood that Romeo would rather be with his now fatherless family than Romeo’s biological one .
Romeo also speaks fondly of Romeo and Juliet spending time together with Romeo’s cousin, which is a very important detail that proves that even if Romeo resents having to stay at Lord Montague’s side, Romeo still loves Lord Montague as a part of Romeo’s family. Romeo only mentions his mother twice throughout the play, but both times Romeo speaks affectionately about how wonderful she was. This is an indication that Romeo did not hold any resentment toward Lady Montague for naming her son after her husband instead of herself or, more specifically, for refusing to name him after Romeo’s Father.
The first instance in which Romeo mentions his mother is when he describes Romeo and Juliet’s wedding in Romeo’s description of the scene when Romeo is imagining Romeo and Romeo together alone in a very private Romeo and Juliet . Romeo says, “When that this Romeo and this Juliet/Felt love for the first time, and each one saw/That the others’ perfection level was reached” (Romeo 1. 4. 49-51). The second instance is later on at Romeo and Juliet ‘s balcony scene when Romeo speaks of his mother again.
In this quote Romeo compares Juliet as being as bright as the sun. Romeo also calls Juliet his “sun” in Act II when he sees her after she drank the sleeping potion given by Friar Lawrence. This comparison of Romeo referring to Juliet as a star/sun/light makes Romeo seem obsessed with beauty and can even be seen as him viewing her like an object rather than a person. Another example of imagery used throughout Romeo and Juliet was blood. Blood was used particularly in relation to Romeo family or anyone associated with them.
Romeo says “I climb the Romeo tree” and continues on to say “My cousin Juliet’s laid in grave. I must weep Romeo: / O, that she knew she were. Romeo then changes his tone and begins to laugh after saying this about Juliet being dead. He is so overwhelmed with happiness he briefly laughs at her death before instantly regretting it. Romeo family spoke of blood quite a bit such as Lady Montague speaking of her son Romeo and how he died with having too much blood or saying “With drinking pupils blood, And lukewarm breath yielding eternal sighs. ” These phrases are very significant because they show us just how important family is to Romeo, which later leads to him marrying Juliet even though he is already married at the time.
Romeo’s relationship with his family has a lot to do with Romeo’s decisions and involvement in some very important events of Romeo and Juliet. In conclusion imagery used throughout Romeo and Juliet give it a Romeo and Juliet feel instead of just being an average play. This makes Romeo and Juliet as “Romeo and Juliet” as possible because adding imagery that relates to Romeo, his family or anyone that comes into contact with them gives it a Romeo feeling which is what William Shakespeare was going for based on the fact Romeo is the main character.
