Their Love Is Not True

Their Love is Not True Romeo and Juliet believe that the feelings they have for each other are true love, but in reality they are not. Their love is not true because it is created by the eyes rather than the heart, it is only physical love, and Romeo is still on the rebound from Rosaline. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet’s love for each other is not true, but rather a false love that they believe to be true. Romeo’s love for Juliet only came from his eyes and what he saw rather than her personality because he had not met her before; he had only seen her. This is shown by the quotation, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (I.iv. 59-60). This shows that Romeo only loves her because she is beautiful, and he really knows nothing about her. He may have feelings for her, but that does not mean he loves her. He also may have enough feelings for it to be constituted as love, but that does not mean it is true love. Romeo and Juliet are only interested in the physical part of love such as kissing and making love as shown when Romeo says “Wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied? […] Th’ exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine” (II.ii. 132-134). This quotation proves that Romeo only cares about being physical with Juliet. Romeo is unfulfilled with just talking to Juliet and knowing that she loves him back. He quickly makes the decision to sleep with her, and it seems like he has no interest and getting to know her. Lastly, Romeo is still mooning over the fact that he loves Rosaline and she does not love him back when he sees and “falls in love” with Juliet. Romeo denies that there is anyone as pretty as Rosaline, and when Benvolio says that he will make Rosaline seem like a crow compared to most of the girls at the Capulet Ball, he doesn’t believe him and is only going to see Rosaline. The quotation, “She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair, / To merit bliss by making me despair. / She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow / Do I live dead, that live to tell it now.” (I.i. 229- 232), shows that Romeo is still in love with Rosaline and does not believe that he will ever get over her. He also believes that there is nobody prettier than her. Until he sees Juliet, that is. One could argue that Romeo and Juliet’s love is true based on their immense feelings for one another, but one could also say that it was not based on the facts that they only love each other because of how attractive they are, they are only interested in physical love, and Romeo is still in love with Rosaline when they meet. Their love cannot be true because nobody can develop true love over the course of one or two days. True love takes time and Romeo and Juliet were rushing just about as fast as you can.