Why Do Shakespeare and Blake Show Love and Conflict in Romeo and Juliet and the Sick Rose. Why?

Two Williams. One concept. Love. The two texts are based on love and conflict which relates to the audience. How? The emotions effected by such a delicate topic are felt strongly through the use of linguistic devices such as the sequences of events, dramatic irony, puns, characters themselves as well as the fervour in the language and the sentiment that they instil onto the audience which brings out pivotal sections. The exploration of such artistic measures will reveal the representation and interpretation of love and conflict in the minds of both writers as expressed in the text.
I believe that Blake is very similar to Romeo. How? Easily moved by and consumed with emotion, the first line drips with so much vehemence towards the rose. ‘O Rose, thou art sick!’ Here, I believe that Blake is talking about his love why? And he tries to create a sense of Distress and sorrow by using the word ‘sick’. Expand. He achieves this by using the vocative of the noun and also adding the exclamation mark to the end of the line. The depth of his emotion is clearly conveyed and it has an element of resonance to it that keeps it echoing through the heads of the audience
But why does he use the word rose? Research. This rose who is the embodiment of femininity due to its bittersweet nature is in love with another who is the worm. And this unrequited love is the thorn on the rose that pricks when one tries to hold on. It is the puncture in the vein that cripples the heart when one tries to hold on to love too tightly.L
The audience perceives a hint of sexuality in Blake's poem. This is shown in his references to male genitalia, the ‘worm’ and also female genitalia, her ‘bed of crimson joy’ which I think refers to the hymen. The effect of this image of passion created is the support of the notion that love is the driving force behind everything which was a popular belief during romanticism which was the period in which Blake lived. This brought in the perspective of love as a living fantasy. It is heroic in the way that the rose may have viewed the worm as a caterpillar soon becoming a butterfly or even as a silk worm that creates precious articles so delicate – love, and therefore her hero. But it is also a deadly gothic fantasy. The worm ‘flies in the night’ and it is ‘invisible’ with the disguise of the ‘howling storm’ which I believe could be perceived to be villainous. The villain then infects the rose with its ‘dark secret love’ that ruins her life. This contrasts with the ‘holy’ love in act1 sc5
In this way, I come to think of Blake’s view of love as destructive ‘does thy life destroy’. He, views the worm as a scoundrel who is taking away his beloved and consequently, a pest. With Juliet playing the part of the rose, Romeo’s ‘dark secret love’ could be the house of which he comes from i.e. the Montague’s as it actually does destroy Juliet’s life and she eventually dies because of this. His dark secret love could also be his emotion and passion.Effects
What they view love as ---just slip it in there
Two Williams. One concept. Love – and conflict. Complex word structures, linguistic devices and the like are evident in both pieces of literature as well as different perspectives of love. But what unites them and what distinguishes them? This question can only be answered by exploring both texts and contemplating the motives behind each motif. And by dissecting each piece, a bridge can be built across the sea of ideas they both share but also, the sands of time on both sides can be conflicted and contrasted giving us a deeper idea of the influences on both of the writers ultimately aiding the recognition of the twists both writers put on the constants in life we call love and conflict.
Love is an experience. It is an instinctive journey that we are set to make from conception.
It’s a call and a response. “O Rose, thou art sick!” I believe that the use of the vocative is not only for emphasis but also to show that he is distressed about the situation. I believe this Rose who is the embodiment of femininity due to its bitter-sweet nature is in love with another who is the worm. Also, I believe that Blake views love from sexual aspect which was very common in the romantic era.
Another driving force in his view of love is rebellion. The romantic era was full of revolutions and rebellions against them. This obviously influenced him as the rose rebelled against him, and chose her worm who she may view in terms of a caterpillar soon becoming a butterfly or even a silk worm that makes precious items, a hero. I believe she is madly in love with the worm so much that she does not even care about its ‘dark secret love’. Or maybe she is simply in too deep to be able to do anything about it.
"Two households, both alike in dignity... From forth the fatal loins of these two star-crossed lovers take their life." When Rosaline is first introduced to the audience, one may have though that Rosaline would be the second star-crossed lover. But she didn’t love Romeo and wanted to remain chaste. Personally, I thought that at the party Rosaline would see Romeo and eventually come around but instead Romeo moved on quickly. This sudden change caused a shift in thought and, in my opinion, the plot. I believe Romeo’s love for Rosaline was superficial much like beauty without intelligence which can be linked to the sick rose. Romeo, as the worm was only attracted to the colour of the rose (Rosaline) but when the rose became sick i.e. when Rosaline became sick of Romeo and refused him, he backed off. Thus making his feelings for Juliet seem even stronger
I believe that Shakespeare believes love is that which is light when present but heavy when absent as long as the fire has been ignited which is similar to Blake’s general view of suffering due to unrequited love. I also think that Shakespeare had rebellion as a motif to add to his picture as Romeo and Juliet rebelled against the systems of hatred put in place by their parents
Connecting both texts, after being heartbroken by Rosaline, his view changes. The rose is now Juliet and she is lovesick. After being closed off from love, when Romeo sees Juliet, something happened for the very first time with her. His heart melted and felt something true. ‘Did I ever love till now forswear its sight for I ne’er saw true beauty till this night’ his words burn with intensity He sees her as a light within his world ‘o she doth teach the torches to burn brightly’. This contrasts to the ‘dark secret love’. Shakespeare sees love as light while Blake sees elements of darkness to it.
Engulfed in loves sweet fume, Romeo and Juliet obsess over each other. Drinking in each other’s words which flow like honey only to choke them at the end. This cloud of passion ‘howling storm’ overrides the foreboding that plagued Romeo on the way to the part. The chemistry, first developed from Romeo’s tender language and in hindsight, fuelled by Mercutio’s vulgarity is maintained and influenced by a series of mannerisms consummated by the different characters.
I believe that in Romeo and Juliet, the premonition ‘I fear tonight for my mind misgives, some consequence yet hanging in the stars’ created the aura of impending doom but in the sick rose, the word sick does this and it does this effectively. From the title, we already know that there is something wrong.
Blake views love as a good thing as shown in the clod and the pebble ‘But for another gives its ease, and builds a Heaven in Hells despair’ but also a bad thing ‘Joys in another’s loss of ease, and builds a Hell in Heavens despite’ in the same poem. A lot of his poems talk about unrequited love and I believe that he sees love as a double edged sword. A bitter-sweet experience.
I’ve never been in love. But I am a ‘lover’ as quoted by Mercutio. Love is that which stirs emotions. It overwhelms and I believe it is a tree of emotion with many branches. It means that you are not alone. God is love. God is omniscient and also omnipotent. So is love. Love is supernatural and True love is eternal, infinite and always like its self an ‘ever fixed mark’. Some people say love changes but I disagree. Love doesn’t change, you do. I heard that love is the rose that grows through the concrete. The rose. Beauty, pain, that which arises from conflict. I believe that to love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer.
Death is inevitable but we are still never prepared for it. The destruction and events leading up to in both texts are obvious but different twists are put on the same story line. Two Williams, one concept. One love.
Introduction
Romeo only goes to this Capulet party in Act 1 Scene 5 to get his mind off of the fair Rosaline. Rosaline has rejected him and he is heartbroken. Despite all of this, Romeo quickly forgets about Rosaline when he sees Juliet. He first asks about her before deciding to go up to her which i believe shows that he is love struck but also wary due to the fact that Rosaline had only recently broken his heart.
Juliet also asks about Romeo when she is taken away by the nurse. Looking to act 2, Juliet asks her famous question which reinforces the fact that she is madly in love.
Romeo meets Juliet at a Capulet party he crashed. I believe that this shows that their love was written in the stars.
Viewpoint: the play is written in an omniscient point of view which i believe is used to enable the audience develop an opinion of their own, Shakespeare ises this to ensure we feel the emotions of r&j clearly instead of moving through their point of views
Responding to the imagery of the text, i can identify a ‘solar love’ that is idealizing and which reaches beyond time. ‘o she doth teaches the torches to burn bright’ but trapped in time the love also takes refuge in the darkness
Love between the children of enemies is paradoxical; even more so is a love that finds marriage in only death.
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would still smell as sweet. What about a sick rose?
It is on seeing Juliet that romeo’s language gains subtlety. He describes ‘beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear’
Featuring 3 murders and 2 suicide R&J has the potential to be both melodramatic as well as sentimental.
Romeo now means a lover,passionate admirer, a seducer and a habitual pursuer of women. Is this the kind of message shakespeare wanted to give.?
Switches between comedy and tragedy, rarefied romance and earthy bawdiness, work with the rucurring figure of the oxymoron to produce a formidable momentum entirely appropriate to the fast pace of the plot.
Elevated language
Juliet's famous question 'what's in a name? Articulates self-consciousness of Romeo and Juliet.
That which we call a rose would still smell as sweet.
What about The Sick rose?

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When we recall that use means 'employment', 'interest' and 'wear and tear' that earth means both 'mortal life' and 'the grave' , that dear can be either 'cherished' or 'costly' and that there may be a play upon beauty and booty, the lines range of meanings becomes very wide.
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Romeo's infatuation with Rosaline is a form of posturing that romeo himself already realises to be foolish
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I also find patterns of light and darkness to be the dominant pattern of Romeo and Juliet. Lying behind this imagery is a suggestion of the transformative power of love. The beauty and ardour of young love are seen by shakespeare as the irradiating glory of sunlight and starlight in a dark word. Romeos first words about juliet : o she doth...ethiops ear
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Pure love is possible because the lovers have not been corrupted by experience: they do not think to a past that teaches them about the failure of love