Similarities Between Romeo And Juliet And The Poems

How do the playwright and the poets you have studied explore the negative aspects of love?
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and the poems ‘To His Coy Mistress’, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, ‘Cousin Kate’ and ‘They Did Not Expect This’, the relationships between the protagonists are arguably presented in a highly negative way, revealing the pain rather than the pleasure of love. A comparison of these texts will reveal the links between them and the ways in which the various writers portray the more damaging aspect of love.
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, the way in which Romeo objectives Juliet is a clear aspect within their relationship. ‘Juliet is the sun’ and a ‘bright angel’ rather than a real life women with feelings and opinions. Romeo views Juliet as an unearthly, angelic creature with no other purpose than to use her ‘beauty’ to please himself, questioning the sincerity of his feelings. This
objectification of women is mimicked in ‘Cousin Kate’ as the narrator is merely the Lords ‘plaything’ and is not a women but just a toy that can be manipulated and used at his will, much like the way in which Romeo just wants Rosaline so she can ‘ope her lap’ to him.
The way in which the Lord wore her ‘like a silken knot’ and changed her ‘like a glove’ shows his lack of interest for her as a person and that his only interest is in using her for sexual intentions and then to ‘change’ her when he sees fit. This attitude that women’s purpose is merely to be used as an object by men is also demonstrated in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’. The narrator of the monologue refers to his lover Porphyria as an ethereal women with ‘yellow hair’ and ‘pale skin’ who ‘glided’ rather than walked. This is much like the ‘bright angel’ that Romeo described and once again shows how men objectify women and view them as unearthly and inhuman creatures rather than real
life women. She also has hair like ‘string’ and a ‘rosy little head’, suggesting that she is more of a puppet than a women, who can be used and manipulated at his will. Romeo and the males in these poems’ use of objectification is significant because it shows how they do not view the women they love as real women with emotions and opinions. Instead they view them not as equals or individuals but as objects that can be used and manipulated at their will, bringing into question the sincerity of their feelings.
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Romeo is clearly basing his attraction to both Rosaline and Juliet on how attractive he finds them as opposed to love. Romeo is far too focused on the appearance of the two women rather than their personalities, questioning the sincerity of his feelings. Rosaline is ‘rich in beauty’ however Romeo ‘ne’er saw true beauty’ until the night he met Juliet. Romeo bases his feelings on what aesthetically pleases him and it suggests that he is not really in love but just in love with what he sees. ‘Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts but in their eyes’ is what Friar Lawrence thinks of Romeos behaviour. As Friar Lawrence is a knowledgeable character throughout the play he suggests once again that Romeo bases his ‘love’ on what he sees with his ‘eyes’ rather than what’s in his ‘heart’. This idea that men base there feeling on what they find attractive is parallel to the poem ‘To His Coy Mistress’. The narrator of the erotic monologue wanted to ‘praise’ his lovers ‘beauty’ if he had all the time in the world, showing his clear physical attraction to her. Her lover is obsessive over her looks and says that he would spend ‘an hundred years’ to ‘praise [her] eyes’ and ‘two hundred [years] to adore each breast’. He is only admiring physical parts of her once again showing how he is basing his ‘love’ for her on her on how attractive he finds her, questioning the genuineness of his feelings. The narrator finally goes on to say that he will look at her heart ‘and the last age should show your heart’ but as it is the last thing he decides to admire it implies that this is the least important part of her to admire. This shows how he thinks that the ‘beauty’ of his lover are more important than what is inside of her like her heart and her personality. He tells his lover that her ‘beauty’ will no longer be with her when she is old and dead implying that once her ‘beauty’ has gone he will no longer have feelings for her, suggesting he only ever had feelings for her because of her good looks. This is much like when Romeo says ‘that when she dies, with her beauty dies her store’ as he too is implying that once her beauty has faded he will no longer feel anything for her. This attitude that men only love what they see is echoed in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ as the narrator says she has ‘yellow hair’ and ‘white’ skin. These are very angelic qualities and it shows how he thinks she is beautiful as angels are associated with beauty as they are believed to be created by God. He only mentions her physical appearance throughout the poem and this shows that his ‘love’ is mostly based on her appearance. Finally in ‘Cousin Kate’ the narrator suggests that the relationship between the two protagonists is purely based on aesthetics, ‘wearing only the beauty of youth’s season’. This shows how they only think that they are in love because they are attracted to each other physically however as their looks will fade when they get older they will no longer love each other. Romeo and the other protagonists in the poems are basing their love for their lover on how physically attractive they are is significant because it brings into question if their love is sincere or not. It also suggests how it is possible to fall out of love as once their lover’s beauty fades they will no longer have feelings for them showing how their love was not in fact love but lust.
Throughout this essay the ways in which the various playwrights and poets have explored the negative aspects of love has been discussed. One negative aspect of love is the way in which men objective women. The poets and the playwright implied that men use women as their ‘plaything’ and that they view them not as equals or individuals but as unearthly creatures or objects with no real purpose other than to be used and manipulated at their will. Another negative aspect of love is how love is based on aesthetics rather than personality. This shows how easily it can be to fall out of love as beauty fades when you age and this would mean they would no longer have feelings for their lover. Both these negative aspects of love bring into question the sincerity of their feelings and it is debatable whether or not it is actually love that is being felt or in fact desire or lust.