The iconic play of Romeo and Juliet is thought to be one of the greatest love stories of all time. However, when deeply considering the themes of loyalty and love, there are some inconsistencies to these interpretations. Love and loyalty in the play of Romeo and Juliet are often related, and at times also sacrificed. As the play progresses, themes of love are displayed more and more, which ultimately leads to the rise of unloyal actions of both Romeo and Juliet towards their families. The family's feud is a big barrier to Romeo and Juliet's relationship, always pushing them to choose between love and loyalty. Throughout the play Romeo continues to choose his love for Juliet over his loyalty to his family, betraying his own blood. A very similar situation occurs for Juliet as her love for Romeo guides most of her decisions and actions, disregarding the values of her family. However, when considering the themes of love from the beginning of the play to the end of the play, there is some progression in the protagonists, more specifically Romeo. This progression of loyalty to love is perhaps why the Shakespearean audience classifies this play as one of the greatest love stories of all time.
Throughout the play, Romeo on many occasions displays unloyal actions to his family, the Montagues. His constant need and search for love over the play makes his character reckless and unreliable. An example of this can be seen when Romeo says “Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth I never will be Romeo” (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 50). At this moment Romeo is promising Juliet that as long as she says she loves him that he will take a new name and never be Romeo again. This is a perfect example of how obsessed he is with Juliet, and how he disregards any loyalty to his family. Specifically the line “Henceforth I never will be Romeo'' is a very key moment in the play as his love has caused him to betray his family and disown his own name for someone he has only met a day ago. The use of exaggeration in this key phrase is just another indicator of the love he has for Juliet because of course, Romeo will always be Romeo. There is no way to wipe away the past, this phrase is simply a way for him to reassure Juliet of his love. The dialogue between Tybalt and Romeo right before they fight is also another important scene in the play. Romeo states “But love thee better than thou canst devise, Till thou shalt know the reason of my love” (Act 3, Scene 1, Line 65) essentially revealing his new love for his enemy, Tybalt, as a way to prove his love for Juliet and the acceptance of her family. A perfect essay to support this idea of changing identities is Coming of Age in Verona, written by Coppélia Kahn and published by Modern Language Studies. Modern Language Studies is a part of The Northeast Modern Language Association, an organization for professionals in today's languages. Modern Language Studies has published several essays reviewing Shakespeare’s work so their work can be considered credible. In Coming of Age in Verona, Khan states “In the course of action, Romeo and Juliet create and try to preserve new identities as adults apart from the feud, but it blocks their every attempt. (Kahn, Coming of Age in Verona, 6). This is the perfect explanation of how Romeo tried to change his name and separate himself from his family name out of love for Juliet, but it ultimately ended in tragedy because of the conflicts of the families. This idea links back to the sacrificing of themes and only one being able to shine through. Although Romeo is trying to make a romantic gesture to display his love, he is just betraying his own family.
Juliet displays very similar behaviours to Romeo. She struggles to maintain a loyal and honest relationship with her family, the Capulets, and also have a relationship with a member of the Montague family. As Juliet's character develops throughout the play she starts to set priorities on the relationship with Romeo over relationships with her own family. When speaking with Romeo on the balcony, Juliet says “Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, it thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet.” (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 34). Juliet, just like Romeo, is saying that she will no longer be a Capulet if Romeo declares his love for her. Another example is after Romeo has been banished for killing Tybalt, and Juliet says, “That ‘banished’, that one word ‘banished’ Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts” (Act 3, Scene 2, Line 114). The fact that Juliet is more concerned about Romeo's banishing displays her loyalty to her family perfectly. She is too caught up in love because she is willing to leave her family and fake the mourning of her cousin Tybalt, to be with Romeo. The use of exaggeration when Juliet says “Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts” is crucial and sticks out, as it is a very amplified response to her cousin's death that shows how Juliet is truly feeling about Romeo compared to her own family. Even after knowing Romeo was the one to kill Tybalt, Juliet is still head over heels for Romeo and willing to disobey her family values of being with an enemy. In the same scene when Juliet finds out Tybalt has been killed and Romeo had been banished the use of repetition is used in Juliet’s dialogue. She says “That ‘banished,’ that one word ‘banished’...” (Act 3, Scene 2, line 113), which shows how she is trying to process what is happening and what the next steps may be for her and Romeo's relationship. An essay written by Paul Kottman, Defying the Stars: Tragic Love as the Struggle for Freedom in ‘Romeo and Juliet', which was published by Shakespeare Quarterly, is a great reliable piece that relates to the idea of struggling to display both love and loyalty. Shakespeare Quarterly is the leading journal in Shakespeare studies and is associated with Oxford University Press and nonetheless a very reliable publisher. The essay states
Because the lovers’ desires cannot be reconciled to the life of the family or society from which they spring, they must extinguish themselves. (Kottman, Defying the Stars: Tragic Love as the Struggle for Freedom in “Romeo and Juliet”, 2).
This piece of evidence confirms that for both Romeo and Juliet to love one another, they must isolate themselves from their family and choose between love or loyalty. Again this links back to the main idea of sacrificing themes and only one taking place at a time. Juliet continues to choose Romeo over her own family and shows inconsistent amounts of loyalty throughout the play, which greatly represents Shakespeare's correlation of the two themes, as well as his incorporation of dramatic tragedy.
In the majority of the Romeo and Juliet play there is a lack of scenes with both love and loyalty. However, when considering the growth of Romeo's relationships throughout the play there is some progress and signs of real love and loyalty within his relationship with Juliet. In the beginning of the play Romeo is heartbroken by Rosaline, a woman he loves, but who doesn't love him in return. Romeo struggles all through the first act and is emotional at the thought of not being with Rosaline. He wasn't there to support his family in a fray with the Capulets and he could barely get out of bed as he was filled with sadness and heartbreak until he spotted Juliet at the Capulet party. After many hours of tears and sadness all of a sudden Romeo spotted the new love of his life and forgot all about Rosaline. A little later in the play, Romeo turns to Friar Lawrance for help with his relationship with Juliet, when just the day before Romeo was so devastated about Rosaline. Romeo says “With Rosaline, my ghostly father? No. I have forgotten that name and that names woe’s” (Act 2, Scene 3, Line 45). Romeo is explaining how he is already over her and has forgotten all about his sadness, all he cares about is marrying Juliet. This action alone shows that Romeo isn’t very loyal and wasn’t truly in love with Rosaline like he said he was. His ‘love’ with Rosaline could be interpreted specifically as lust or more desire for a physical relationship rather than true love. However, later in the play as Romeo and Juliet's relationship grows, there are many more indicators that this could have been true love. As Juliet and Romeo spot one another from the balcony, Romeo says “But soft! What light in the window over there? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun” (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 103). The use of a metaphor, comparing Juliet to the sun, referring to her beauty and his affection for her shows some growth in the use of language and behaviours from Romeo. Another example of Romeo’s loyalty and love to his relationship can be displayed just after his banishment from Verona. Just before leaving town, Romeo makes one last visit to Juliet with the risk of getting caught by the Capulet family but he states “Let me be ta’en. let me be put to death. I am content, so thou wilt have it so” (Act 3, Scene 5, Line 16). Romeo has entered Capulet territory after killing one of their family members, risking his life to be with his love Juilet. He says he is content if Juliet is content which shows loyalty to their love but also recklessness because there could be massive consequences. Romeo, Rosaline, and Juliet is a great essay written by Henry Gray and published by the Johns Hopkins University Press that supports the changes in the behaviour of Romeo. The John Hopkins University Press is one of the biggest publishers in the United States and has plenty of experience reviewing classic literature. The essay says as follows
Such an affected way of speaking not unaptly shows the state of Romeo’s mind; his love is rather self generated than inspired by any object. As compared with his style of speech after meeting with Juliet, it serves to mark the difference between being love-sick and being in love (Gray, Romeo, Rosaline and Juliet, 209).
Romeo is on a journey throughout the play to find someone he loves. Plenty of occasions displayed growth in his character and a much deeper love by the end of the play compared to the opening act.
After evaluating the themes of love and loyalty throughout the infamous love story of Romeo and Juliet, there are some inconsistencies and correlations that typical Shakespeare viewers may not have picked up on. Love and loyalty is the key focus but must be sacrificed to live the life Romeo and Juliet are searching for. With a long history of family feuds, Romeo and Juliet must choose between loving each other or staying loyal to their families and letting one another go. Both characters struggle to find a balance, always letting down one of their people. The themes of love and loyalty were never meant to coincide and were destined to fail the second the enemies' world collided. This, however, was a crucial piece to Shakespeare's masterpiece of a tragedy.
Work Cited
Gray, Henry David. “Romeo, Rosaline, and Juliet.” Modern Language Notes, vol. 29, no. 7, 1914, pp. 209–12. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2916173. Accessed 5 June 2023.
Kahn, Coppélia. “Coming of Age in Verona.” Modern Language Studies, vol. 8, no. 1, 1977, pp. 5–22. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3194631. Accessed 2 June 2023.
Kottman, Paul A. “Defying the Stars: Tragic Love as the Struggle for Freedom in ‘Romeo and Juliet.’” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 63, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1–38. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41350167. Accessed 5 June 2023.
SparkNotes. Romeo and Juliet: No Fear Shakespeare: Deluxe Student Edition. SPARKNOTES, 2020.
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