Haley Hauck
Ms. Hanna
English 9 Honors
1 June 2016
Love or Lust?
ROUGH DRAFT
Being a teenager coincides with the escapade and heartbreak of one’s first love. (add) Love is a deep, emotional affection with a intense, heartfelt connection. Such an engrossing emotion takes time to fully develop. Lust, however, is a purely physical attraction. It is not love. Love can be lustful, however this sexual desire does not always equate to love, yet it is easily and often mistaken for it. This is the case in William Shakespeare's “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.” Romeo and Juliet were not truly in love and were simply infatuated with each other. This is proven through Romeo’s shallow admiration of Juliet and their own immaturity and inexperience with …show more content…
This ignorance of what love is causes Romeo to mistake his infatuation with Juliet for true love. Romeo is a romantic by nature. He attempts to woo Roseline with his eloquent love poems and gentlemanly acts of courtly love in the early scenes of the play, and then weeps relentlessly when she will not reciprocate. However, it is unknown to the reader if he has even ever spoken to her. Throughout the play, Romeo’s character is defined by his multiple heartbreaks and amour. Romeo needs to satisfy the romantic parts of his personality, and in his desperation to do so he comes off as ignorant, inexperienced, and insincere as he jumps so quickly to what should be a deep emotion. Romeo’s priest and mentor Friar Lawrence observes this when Romeo pleads for him to officiate his and Juliet’s marriage. Friar Lawrence says, “Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!/ Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,/ So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies/ Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” (2.2.69-72) If “young men’s love... (is) not truly in their hearts”, and is just a vain attraction to a woman’s looks, how is it actually love? It can’t be. Friar Lawrence specifically says “young men’s love” as well, which shows that it is youth and inexperience with such a deep, passionate emotion that causes Romeo to mistake lust for love. This lack of a mature understanding and experience with love also leads Romeo to connect beauty with true love. When Romeo sees Juliet for the first time, he remarks, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/ For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” (1.5.52-53) Romeo quickly confesses his love for her before he had even spoken to her. In the span of time it took for Romeo’s eyes to fall on Juliet, he went from being hopelessly devoted to Roseline, to questioning everything just over
Ms. Hanna
English 9 Honors
1 June 2016
Love or Lust?
ROUGH DRAFT
Being a teenager coincides with the escapade and heartbreak of one’s first love. (add) Love is a deep, emotional affection with a intense, heartfelt connection. Such an engrossing emotion takes time to fully develop. Lust, however, is a purely physical attraction. It is not love. Love can be lustful, however this sexual desire does not always equate to love, yet it is easily and often mistaken for it. This is the case in William Shakespeare's “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.” Romeo and Juliet were not truly in love and were simply infatuated with each other. This is proven through Romeo’s shallow admiration of Juliet and their own immaturity and inexperience with …show more content…
This ignorance of what love is causes Romeo to mistake his infatuation with Juliet for true love. Romeo is a romantic by nature. He attempts to woo Roseline with his eloquent love poems and gentlemanly acts of courtly love in the early scenes of the play, and then weeps relentlessly when she will not reciprocate. However, it is unknown to the reader if he has even ever spoken to her. Throughout the play, Romeo’s character is defined by his multiple heartbreaks and amour. Romeo needs to satisfy the romantic parts of his personality, and in his desperation to do so he comes off as ignorant, inexperienced, and insincere as he jumps so quickly to what should be a deep emotion. Romeo’s priest and mentor Friar Lawrence observes this when Romeo pleads for him to officiate his and Juliet’s marriage. Friar Lawrence says, “Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!/ Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,/ So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies/ Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” (2.2.69-72) If “young men’s love... (is) not truly in their hearts”, and is just a vain attraction to a woman’s looks, how is it actually love? It can’t be. Friar Lawrence specifically says “young men’s love” as well, which shows that it is youth and inexperience with such a deep, passionate emotion that causes Romeo to mistake lust for love. This lack of a mature understanding and experience with love also leads Romeo to connect beauty with true love. When Romeo sees Juliet for the first time, he remarks, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/ For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” (1.5.52-53) Romeo quickly confesses his love for her before he had even spoken to her. In the span of time it took for Romeo’s eyes to fall on Juliet, he went from being hopelessly devoted to Roseline, to questioning everything just over