Nov 20, 2008

Romeo and Juliet | Evolution of Love in Romeo and Juliet

Essay examing the progression of love as seen in Romeo's infatuation with Rosaline, and then in his love for Juliet. Also discusses love from the perspective of Juliet.

There is a great deal written about the nature of the love relationships involving Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. In analyzing the relationship which opens the play, namely, Romeo and Rosaline, with the one which quickly replaces it, Romeo and Juliet, we see a progression in the characters from innocence to maturity, from love-sickness to the authentic experience of love.

The change from one relationship to another is a forced change from childhood innocence to adult awareness. Hence, Northrop Frye refers to Romeo and Juliet as a play whose theme is love, bound up with and...