Love In The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet

Love. Passion. Emotion. Within the story of Romeo and Juliet, love is persistently conspicuous. Guided by calamity and anguish, Romeo and Juliet encounter hardships from the beginning of their relationship. Nevertheless, love is prominent, overpowering misfortune. Although despair is apparent in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the tale of two star crossed lovers is a romance story rather than a tragedy.
To start, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a story displaying a timeline of Romeo and Juliet’s love. For instance, the story begins with the background information of both Romeo and Juliet prior to the party held at the house of the Capulet’s. Proceeding, the story introduces Romeo and Juliet, moments after Romeo first spots Juliet in the ballroom. “What lady’s that, which doth enrich the hand of the yonder night?” (Shakespeare 1013). In this part of the
story, Romeo has laid eyes on Juliet, instantly taken back by her beauty. Throughout the story, Romeo and Juliet’s story of love is presented by trials of love, portraying their timeline. The timeline starts at love at first sight, continues with their love deepening, and ends with the two being together at last.
In addition to the timeline of their love, Romeo and Juliet follow the stages of a romance. According to author, teacher, and editor Leigh Michaels, there are four crucial basics of a romance. “1. A Hero and a Heroine fall in love. 2. A problem that creates conflict and tension between them and threatens to keep them apart. 3. A developing love that is so special that it comes about only once in a lifetime. 4. A resolution in which the problem is solved and the couple is united” (Michaels). Romeo and Juliet’s story strictly follows these steps, beginning with the two falling in love at the Capulet’s. The second step occurs when Romeo is banned from Verona, challenging their love. Third, their love deepens as Romeo believes Juliet is dead, and realizes that he cannot live without her. Finally, the resolution in which the problem is resolved is when Romeo and Juliet both take their lives for each other, so they are together,which also mends family feuds. These parts of a romance are all presented in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, meaning that Romeo and Juliet is, in fact, a romance story rather than a tragedy.
Opposing, some may argue that Romeo and Juliet’s death is a misfortune, resulting in the story to be classified as a tragedy.
However, their love had a romantic ending, where Romeo and Juliet both take their lives for each other, because of their profound love for eachother. Romeo asks whether death, who he speaks of as a monster or a living, thinking creature, has kept Juliet looking beautiful in order to keep her as his romantic lover. “Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe that unsubstantial Death is amorous, and that the lean abhorred monster keeps Thee here in the dark to be his paramour?” (Shakespeare 1094). When he sees Juliet’s limp body, Romeo can't comprehend how beautiful Juliet still looks. “O, here will I set up my everlasting rest and shake the yoke of inauspicious stars” (Shakespeare 1094). Romeo is saying, “Here I will cause my death and rid myself of the burden of an unhappy fate.” Romeo’s love for Juliet was the motive for his action of death. Romeo knew that he could not live without Juliet, because their love was exceptionally strong, so he took his life to be with her for
eternity.
As presented in the story, it can be concluded that the tale of two star crossed lovers is a romance story rather than a tragedy, although despair is apparent in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The story portrays a timeline of Romeo and Juliet’s love story, along with presenting the stages of a romance. Finally, the story ends with the death of the two, who are able to spend eternity together, without fear of complications.