Romeo and Juliet-Love?- Feature Article

"LOVE IS A Certain Inborn Suffering derived from the sight of and excessive Meditation upon the beauty of the opposite sex, which causes each one to wish above all things the embraces of the other, and by common desires carry out all of love's precepts in the other's Embrace" is definition of medieval love. But Really, How much does Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet comes to terms of traditional " love"? Think about Romeo in the very beginning of the play, when he talks about Rosaline. He describes, rather about her looks as he says: " O, she is rich in beauty, only poor". Romeo talks of his unattainable love to the beautiful Rosaline. He sees Rosaline as strong, for she would never be hit by cupid's arrow. This is an example of courtly love. He mourns that she would never be with him. In Elizabethan time, Courtly Love was accepted in every day life, and it was not suppose to lead to marriage. Poor Romeo was not able to receive love back from Rosaline and he uses oxymoron's to show is his confusion" O Brawling loves, o loving hate". He also adds a little sexual element" Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold". Now we ask, Does Romeo only like Rosaline for her body and appearance?Words like " the precious treasure of his eyesight lost" and imagery of blindness and darkness all relate to the fact that Romeo sees loves as a bad thing. Yet Courtly Love is much like the tradition of " Arranged Marriage". Today, we see this as destruction to our freedom and our right to chose, we most rather chose our partners in life. But, in Shakespeare's time, obeying your parents was much like a rule because children " Ha Banishment? Be merciful, say death". Already, he displays the fact that he would die for Juliet. Juliet too does the same. She risks her life taking the potion and kills herself when she finds Romeo at death. She goes against her culture and her parents for loving the enemy. Forgiving is also done when Juliet learns that Romeo killed her