Explore how passion is presented in Romeo and Juliet
Passion is shown in many ways throughout the story and Shakespeare in many ways has
gone to the extremes of finding the different passions to write about and at the same time
making it obvious to the audience what the characters are trying to do for example the story
is mostly based on love and this is the general theme that goes on but if you look further
than the surface there is rivalry, Hatred, loyalty, brotherhood and a sexual passion is shown
throughout the story.
The first passion that I am going to focus on is love, as the most dominant theme in the play
there is romantic love shown by Romeo and Juliet as the story progresses their love thrives.
The most important love shown in the story in my eyes is their meeting, it is an example of
love at first sight and how intense this first meeting can be. As soon as Romeo sees Juliet
without even knowing her name he says, ‘Did my heart love till now’ this shows how intense
of a lover he is and that at this moment he knew that Juliet was “the one” for him. As this
first meeting progresses they share a sonnet this being their first vocalised contact.
Shakespeare has done this as it shows how love at first sight is so powerful that it takes over
the mind and everything disappears around them. In the performance of the play
Shakespeare would have wanted to focus on these two people and so everything would
have possibly gone quiet or slowed down except these two people. This technique of
performance enhances the passionate love that is shown in this scene where the two lovers
meet.
However, before Romeo meets Juliet he is in love with another woman (Rosaline) this love is
unrequited, this is when the love is not returned by the person who is receiving it. Romeo is
presented as a Petrarchan lover in the beginning he puts the one he ‘loves’ on a pedestal
but you find that he does not necessarily love the one he says he does but instead loves the
idea of being in love. He moves from person to person so to put his words into context ‘did
my heart love till now’ other than showing passionate romantic love towards Juliet it also
shows that he has never actually been in love until he met Juliet. This says that he is also
indecisive and in some moments confused. The Passionate love shown in this first part of
the story is used as a way of describing Romeo as a typical Petrarchan lover who doesn’t
know what he wants out of love. Passion is presented through the different types of love
and Shakespeare putting it right at the beginning of the play helps to foreshadow what
comes next in the story.
The next type of passion is sexual passion. In a way, sexual passion links in with love it is
shown in two ways in the story the first being again romantic sexual passion between
Romeo and Juliet. In the story after Romeo and Juliet have met and are preparing to get
married Juliet talks about her wedding night ‘come, gentle night, come longing black-
browed night’ this is a part of what Juliet says about her wedding night with Romeo and
how she yearns for it. In the story Juliet is very young so at this point it is more of a playful
approach to what she thinks will happen. The way passion is presented through sexual
passion is Juliet’s strong desire and her being impatient for what’s to come which also
reflects on how young she is at the time of the play and where it is being set so as well as
showing passion it is also relevant to the time it was written.
Passion is shown in many ways throughout the story and Shakespeare in many ways has
gone to the extremes of finding the different passions to write about and at the same time
making it obvious to the audience what the characters are trying to do for example the story
is mostly based on love and this is the general theme that goes on but if you look further
than the surface there is rivalry, Hatred, loyalty, brotherhood and a sexual passion is shown
throughout the story.
The first passion that I am going to focus on is love, as the most dominant theme in the play
there is romantic love shown by Romeo and Juliet as the story progresses their love thrives.
The most important love shown in the story in my eyes is their meeting, it is an example of
love at first sight and how intense this first meeting can be. As soon as Romeo sees Juliet
without even knowing her name he says, ‘Did my heart love till now’ this shows how intense
of a lover he is and that at this moment he knew that Juliet was “the one” for him. As this
first meeting progresses they share a sonnet this being their first vocalised contact.
Shakespeare has done this as it shows how love at first sight is so powerful that it takes over
the mind and everything disappears around them. In the performance of the play
Shakespeare would have wanted to focus on these two people and so everything would
have possibly gone quiet or slowed down except these two people. This technique of
performance enhances the passionate love that is shown in this scene where the two lovers
meet.
However, before Romeo meets Juliet he is in love with another woman (Rosaline) this love is
unrequited, this is when the love is not returned by the person who is receiving it. Romeo is
presented as a Petrarchan lover in the beginning he puts the one he ‘loves’ on a pedestal
but you find that he does not necessarily love the one he says he does but instead loves the
idea of being in love. He moves from person to person so to put his words into context ‘did
my heart love till now’ other than showing passionate romantic love towards Juliet it also
shows that he has never actually been in love until he met Juliet. This says that he is also
indecisive and in some moments confused. The Passionate love shown in this first part of
the story is used as a way of describing Romeo as a typical Petrarchan lover who doesn’t
know what he wants out of love. Passion is presented through the different types of love
and Shakespeare putting it right at the beginning of the play helps to foreshadow what
comes next in the story.
The next type of passion is sexual passion. In a way, sexual passion links in with love it is
shown in two ways in the story the first being again romantic sexual passion between
Romeo and Juliet. In the story after Romeo and Juliet have met and are preparing to get
married Juliet talks about her wedding night ‘come, gentle night, come longing black-
browed night’ this is a part of what Juliet says about her wedding night with Romeo and
how she yearns for it. In the story Juliet is very young so at this point it is more of a playful
approach to what she thinks will happen. The way passion is presented through sexual
passion is Juliet’s strong desire and her being impatient for what’s to come which also
reflects on how young she is at the time of the play and where it is being set so as well as
showing passion it is also relevant to the time it was written.
