We’ve all heard of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It’s an iconic story with two very popular movies, and it’s almost impossible to avoid. People perceive Romeo and Juliet as a story of romance and love, two young lovers who died for the sake of love.
We see in pop culture, songs like “Love Story” by Taylor Swift, using “Romeo” and “Juliet” as symbols of romance. “Love Story” is an iconic song and Taylor Swift is a very talented and influential singer and songwriter, though, in my opinion, Romeo and Juliet is far from a love story.
Yes I know, it’s heartbreaking to hear as we’ve all known Romeo and Juliet as a love story, but it’s simply not the case. What is this story then? I believe Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of death and rebellion and Shakespeare would shake his head at hearing people today call his writing a love story.
Language and Literature teacher Gina O’Neill believes Romeo and Juliet is a love story but not one that should be followed as an example. She said that Romeo was infatuated with Juliet and vice versa.
In her opinion, Shakespeare’s intentions on writing Romeo and Juliet were, “To portray social class issues… and the negative impact of young women being preyed upon.”
In my opinion, Romeo and Juliet being an example not to be followed after, shows it’s not a love story. Shakespeare wrote this as a tragedy and a story of death. Oftentimes there are stories and situations written to portray how awful a certain lifestyle or mindset is.
There are examples of stories written to show the ugliness of a situation. Examples of this are 1984 by George Orwell or Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Orwell and Nabokov wrote these books to show a dystopia or tragedy. I believe Shakespeare’s intentions on writing Romeo and Juliet were the same.
Language and Literature teacher Thomas Shriner’s definition of a love story is where two characters fall in love and there must be a conflict in order to be considered a “story.”
He believes Romeo and Juliet is perceived as a love story because the story feels familiar to people. The average person can relate to a story of being in a state toward lust or love towards another person.
In my opinion, what Romeo felt towards Juliet and vice versa wasn’t love, but infatuation and lust. I believe that they were too young and ignorant to know what love is. I believe love and lust are two different concepts and what is seen in Romeo and Juliet was lust. In my opinion, their motivations also came out of teenage rebellion.
Language and Literature teacher Rachel Nalley agreed with me that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. Nalley stated, “They were trying to find love, but never got it, thus causing death.” In her opinion, the “love” in Romeo and Juliet was more so an “emotional love” than real love.
In her opinion, they were in love with the idea of love rather than each other because they didn’t know much about each other.
I believe that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy and far from a love story. In my opinion, Shakespeare wrote the story to show an example of the dangers of being naive.
I believe Romeo was not in love, but simply infatuated with Juliet and vice versa. In my opinion, it’s a story of two very young, rebellious, and naive kids chasing after something they don’t truly know about which results in the tragedy of their death.
