In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, there
are several different themes that are involved throughout the play. Most importantly there are three main themes
that occur and re-occur many times in the play.
The three themes are young love, which is portrayed in Romeo and
Juliet’s relationship. Determination,
which is represented in the sacrifice that Romeo and Juliet make to try to keep
their relationship in tact. And finally
grief, which is depicted in the play when both Romeo and Juliet grieve each
other’s deaths.
Determination was the theme that drove Romeo and Juliet’s
relationship. For example, Romeo and
Juliet always said that if they die they die together. After that was said, Romeo got news later on
that Juliet was dead, and was buried in the Capulet’s tomb. After that, Romeo buys poison and goes to the
tomb, and he then found Juliet dead and said “If thou be merciful, open the
tomb, lay me with Juliet.” (Act 5, Scene 3, Lines 72 – 73). Not only were Romeo and Juliet determined to
live and die together, they were also determined for their love to be
successful. Romeo and Juliet had to be
determined because if they weren’t their love wouldn’t be successful due to
their families being enemies. This
causes Romeo and Juliet to learn that they have fallen in love with “the
enemy.” But to save their love, they are
trying to extend an olive branch to one and the other. Besides Romeo and
Juliet’s team determination to get Romeo to marry her. In the text, Juliet’s determination to get
Romeo to marry her was portrayed when she said “If that thy bent of love be
honourable/thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow.” (Act 2, Scene 2, Line
17). As a result of all these points,
determination is definitely an important theme in Romeo and Juliet.
The second theme that was strongly portrayed in Romeo and
Juliet is young love. Romeo and Juliet
experienced young love throughout the whole play, but you could distinguish it
in the beginning of the story. When
Romeo and Juliet first met their love for each other appeared
instantaneously. Romeo’s love for Juliet
was depicted in the text when Romeo said, “She hath, and in that sparing makes
huge waste; for beauty, starved with her severity, cuts beauty off from all
prosperity. She too fair, to merit bliss
by making me despair. She hath for sworn
to love, and in that vow do I live dead, that live to tell it now.” (Act 1, Scene 1, Line 226 – 232). Not only have Romeo and Juliet just
experienced typical young love, but they have also fell into their young love
extremely quick. As a result of Romeo
and Juliet falling into love extremely quick, the experiences they have
together that follow their relationship are expected to happen just as
fast. This was evident in the text when
Juliet said, “Gallop apace your fiery footed steeds, toward Phoebus
lodging. Such a wagoner as Phaeton would
whip you to the west and bring in cloudy night immediately,” (Act 3, Scene 2, Line 1 – 3). This was the topic that was portrayed the
most out of the whole play compared to any other theme.
The final theme that was clear in Romeo and Juliet was the
theme of grief. Towards the “Tragedy of
Roeo and Juliet,” Romeo found out that Juliet was dead and Romeo found out that
Juliet was dead and Romeo was going to see her in Capulet’s tomb he said “Thou
detestable maw, thou womb of death, gorged with the dearest morsel of the
earth, thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open and in despite I’ll cram thee
with more food.” (Act 5, Scene 3, Lines
45 – 48). Also in the text when Romeo
saw Juliet in the tomb, Romeo showed more grievance by not only committing
suicide, but by saying, “For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes this vault
a feasting presence full of light.” (Act
5, Scene 3, Line 85 – 87).
All in all, the young love of Romeo and Juliet led to their
grievance of when they died. But their
determination made them die relatively close together. And those three themes basically lead the
story of Romeo and Juliet.