Romeo and Juliet Grade 9 Notes on Love
Romeo and Juliet’s love
- Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight and their love is supposed to be true. Juliet
is only 13 and although it may be true love, it is young love, which is traditionally
seen as head-strong and passionate instead of being wise or realistic. Shakespeare
deliberately made Juliet this young as it could show that their relationship was both
immature and reckless. Perhaps this makes the lovers’ actions seem even braver as
their young age makes the relationship seem unconventional and striking, both to
the modern and the Shakespearean audience.
- When they first meet, they share a 14-line sonnet with iambic pentameter. This
suggests that they are perfect for one another and complete each other as sonnets
are idealised poetic forms which are used to write about love and the fact that their
first meeting was a shared sonnet foreshadows their passionate love. The use of the
sonnet could also be used to remind the audience of the prologue, which was also a
sonnet, therefore it could be used to represent a link between love and fate,
reinforcing the idea that Romeo and Juliet’s love was destined and genuine. It is also
used to solidify the romantic notion of their first meeting
With the first meeting, Shakespeare may have been questioning the orthodox beliefs
on the conformity and confinement of love in general as conventionally, any
expression of love, outside of marriage, was frowned upon in society. He could have
been encouraging youthful love as he presents is as superseding all other loyalties
and emotions
- Juliet also echoes some of Romeo’s words in the endings of the sonnet and
Shakespeare uses this repetition to imply that they were in sync right from the
beginning and that Juliet was submissive to Romeo, being influenced and guided by
him as the younger lover.
- There is an extended metaphor of religion which portrays Romeo and Juliet’s love as
pure, sacred, unique and different to the love Romeo had for Rosaline.
“She doth teach the torches to burn bright” – This is a positive image of Juliet as she is
compared to light. This paired with the simile and contrasting image in “like a rich jewel in
an Ethiop’s ear” portrays Juliet as something which stands out in the dark, subtly reminding
the audience of conflict with the contrasting theme of light and dark. This theme is
omnipresent in the play as the lovers’ relationship flourishes at night, whereas in the day
there is conflict. This reminder of conflict reinforces the idea of how much the lovers are
fighting against in order to remain together, showing the extent of the power of their love.
“This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this my lips, two blushing pilgrims”- This religious imagery
insinuates that the love between Romeo and Juliet can only be described through religious
vocabulary and an association with God, hinting how their love is pure and passionate and
the imagery also shows a more divine side to their love as Romeo moves away from the
cliched, artificial and exaggerated descriptions for Rosaline. The link to God and religion
means that Romeo and Juliet are being blasphemous as Romeo compares Juliet to an image
of a saint. The Anglican church of the Elizabethan times saw this as blasphemy, a kind of idol
worship, and therefore these comparisons border unorthodox and their relationship faces
religious conflict, once again highlighting the power of their love as it is merely the two of
Romeo and Juliet’s love
- Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight and their love is supposed to be true. Juliet
is only 13 and although it may be true love, it is young love, which is traditionally
seen as head-strong and passionate instead of being wise or realistic. Shakespeare
deliberately made Juliet this young as it could show that their relationship was both
immature and reckless. Perhaps this makes the lovers’ actions seem even braver as
their young age makes the relationship seem unconventional and striking, both to
the modern and the Shakespearean audience.
- When they first meet, they share a 14-line sonnet with iambic pentameter. This
suggests that they are perfect for one another and complete each other as sonnets
are idealised poetic forms which are used to write about love and the fact that their
first meeting was a shared sonnet foreshadows their passionate love. The use of the
sonnet could also be used to remind the audience of the prologue, which was also a
sonnet, therefore it could be used to represent a link between love and fate,
reinforcing the idea that Romeo and Juliet’s love was destined and genuine. It is also
used to solidify the romantic notion of their first meeting
With the first meeting, Shakespeare may have been questioning the orthodox beliefs
on the conformity and confinement of love in general as conventionally, any
expression of love, outside of marriage, was frowned upon in society. He could have
been encouraging youthful love as he presents is as superseding all other loyalties
and emotions
- Juliet also echoes some of Romeo’s words in the endings of the sonnet and
Shakespeare uses this repetition to imply that they were in sync right from the
beginning and that Juliet was submissive to Romeo, being influenced and guided by
him as the younger lover.
- There is an extended metaphor of religion which portrays Romeo and Juliet’s love as
pure, sacred, unique and different to the love Romeo had for Rosaline.
“She doth teach the torches to burn bright” – This is a positive image of Juliet as she is
compared to light. This paired with the simile and contrasting image in “like a rich jewel in
an Ethiop’s ear” portrays Juliet as something which stands out in the dark, subtly reminding
the audience of conflict with the contrasting theme of light and dark. This theme is
omnipresent in the play as the lovers’ relationship flourishes at night, whereas in the day
there is conflict. This reminder of conflict reinforces the idea of how much the lovers are
fighting against in order to remain together, showing the extent of the power of their love.
“This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this my lips, two blushing pilgrims”- This religious imagery
insinuates that the love between Romeo and Juliet can only be described through religious
vocabulary and an association with God, hinting how their love is pure and passionate and
the imagery also shows a more divine side to their love as Romeo moves away from the
cliched, artificial and exaggerated descriptions for Rosaline. The link to God and religion
means that Romeo and Juliet are being blasphemous as Romeo compares Juliet to an image
of a saint. The Anglican church of the Elizabethan times saw this as blasphemy, a kind of idol
worship, and therefore these comparisons border unorthodox and their relationship faces
religious conflict, once again highlighting the power of their love as it is merely the two of
