Romeo And Juliet - Themes

Theme 1 - Love

Love plays an important role in Romeo and Juliet. First, there is lustful love. This is basically love for the purpose of sexual pleasure. First shown in the conversation between Sampson and Gregory, this type of love is also illustrated by the Nurse and her comments to Juliet. The second type of love is infatuation. Romeo thinks he's in love and moans over Rosaline. Much of teenage love is simply in the head, you think that you have found the "only one," when you've really only found an obsession. The third type of love is the one illustrated with Paris. In the play, this has to do with the fact that marriages were arranged. Paris is the guy that Juliet's parents think is fit for her. In today's society, Paris can be seen as the stereotypical guy (or girl). He/She seems perfect and your parents love him/her, but that isn't love. Love is not an image; it's a commitment. Then there is true love as we see between Romeo and Juliet. Love changes people. Romeo became a more passionate, eager person and Juliet became more independent.

Theme 2 - Hate

The role of hatred also plays an important role in Romeo and Juliet. The hatred between the Montagues and Capulets ends up killing their only two children. This hate was just an ancient feud that no one bothered ending. If the two families had just stopped feuding earlier, the lives of the two lovers could have been saved. Hatred never leads up to any good.

Theme 3 - Fate

Romeo and Juliet were "star-crossed lovers. They had fate against them. In that time, people were very wary of what the stars said. If two people's stars were crossed in the sky, they would never remain together. Obviously, Romeo and Juliet didn't live happily ever after, as their death in the end showed. But there were many unfortunate happenings