Romeo And Juliet - Themes

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Love

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Perhaps the most obvious subject or theme in Romeo and Juliet is love. However, Shakespeare presents love in different ways. There is Romeo's early love for Rosaline. This is like a puppy love, which the Friar calls 'doting' and not 'loving', because it was only really Romeo who believed he was in love.

Paris' love for Juliet is quite similar. He wants to marry her, but approaches her father rather than Juliet (as was the tradition). He does not really show any deep feelings for her, and even says he has 'little talked of love". This seems to indicate he wants a good marriage and has chosen her, rather than the two of them falling in love.

There is another view of love - as something spiritual and between friends. This is shown with the love Juliet shares with her Nurse, the Friar and Romeo, and the friendships between Mercutio, Benvolio and Romeo. Each of these shows a close understanding. They might make fun of each other and criticise one another's choices, but they respect and care for each other. They will also take great risks for one another: Mercutio dies to protect Romeo's honour.

The love between Romeo and Juliet is our classic idea of romantic love - they will do anything for each other and their language and behaviour reflect this.

Finally, Shakespeare deals with yet another view of love - as something purely sexual. A number of characters, especially Mercutio and the Nurse, make repeated references to sex. This is very different to the idealistic love shown by Romeo and Juliet.

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Fate

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Another major topic of Romeo and Juliet is fate: the belief that an individual's life has been decided for them and there is nothing they can do to change it. This is used right from the start. Romeo and Juliet's ill-fated lives are described as 'death-marked', and they are a 'pair of star-crossed lovers'. The idea of fate works on several levels. Shakespeare sets the two families against each other, and there is nothing Romeo and Juliet can do about this.

The couple have a feeling that things will go badly for them. Romeo thinks something is 'hanging in the stars', while Juliet says a 'faint cold fear thrills through my veins'. This is far more mysterious for us. In Shakespeare's time, fate was taken very seriously. An audience would have appreciated what he meant by all these references.

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Death

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Death is also mentioned a lot, in lots of different ways, such as 'we were born to die' or 'cold death', and 'death-darting eye'. Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Romeo and Juliet all die during the play. Death even becomes a person, one who has married Juliet (with 'Death is my son-in-law'). In Shakespeare's time people generally died much younger than they do now. The subject of death was familiar to everyone. Nowadays, we often shy away from talking about it - but it's a major topic of Romeo and Juliet.

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Time

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Time is another major topic. Even the Chorus at the start tells us the play will last for two hours. There are many other references to time, too, such as in Act 3, Scene 2 with Juliet is waiting for the night and the arrival of Romeo. Plus, the whole play covers just a few days, and the pace changes frequently.

Time is also crucial to the plot: the plans for Juliet's marriage are brought forward, the sleeping potion only lasts a certain time, and Romeo kills himself just before Juliet wakes up. Even her death is related to time - she says she will 'be brief'. The audience might well feel the two lovers are racing to their deaths and there is nothing anyone can do to stop this.

There may be other topics you can spot - for instance, the play deals with families and the subjects of loyalty and hatred. It is good to include something about the basic ideas in Romeo and Juliet in your work. This will help you to understand what the play is about, how it all fits together, and how Shakespeare used ideas to amuse, entertain and interest his audience.