What makes romeo and juliet timeless

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Sign me up. Already have a WordPress. Log in now. Loading Comments Email Required Name Required Website. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. This section contains words approx. Summary: "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare is considered a timeless, universal story because of the persistence of the characters for love, the consistent and interesting plot, and the themes of beauty and love.

The play of Romeo and Juliet has many timeless areas, and we use the characters, plot, and theme still today. The characters show up all over many different works of more modern writers. Also, the plot of Romeo and Juliet has been modernized several times to make great new plays, books, and movies.

In addition, the theme shows up in many works today. What truly makes Romeo and Juliet timeless is its existence of persistent characters, a consistent and interesting plot, and thought provoking themes.

View a FREE sample. Although the language he uses with Juliet showcases a more mature and original verse, he retains a fundamentally abstract conception of love. Juliet, by contrast, tends to remain more firmly grounded in the practical matters related to love, such as marriage and sex.

This contrast between the lovers appears clearly in the famous balcony scene. Wherefore art thou Romeo? Another obstacle in Romeo and Juliet is time—or, more precisely, timing. Everything related to love in this play moves too quickly. The theme of accelerated love first appears early in the play, regarding the question of whether Juliet is old enough for marriage.

Forced to act quickly in response, Juliet fakes her own death. Not only do they fall in love at first sight, but they also get married the next day. Do they truly love each other, or have they doomed themselves out of mere sexual desire? In fact, he arrives too early, just before Juliet wakes up. His bad timing results in both their deaths.

The themes of love and sex are closely linked in Romeo and Juliet , though the precise nature of their relationship remains in dispute throughout. For instance, in Act I Romeo talks about his frustrated love for Rosaline in poetic terms, as if love were primarily an abstraction.

Whereas Mercutio cynically conflates love and sex, Juliet takes a more earnest and pious position. Juliet, by contrast, implies that the concepts are distinct and that they exist in a hierarchical relationship, with love standing above sex. This view accords with Catholic doctrine, which privileges the spiritual union of marriage, but also indicates that this union must be legally consummated through sexual intercourse.

The speech Juliet delivers in Act III, scene ii, nicely demonstrates her view of the proper relationship between love and sex:. Oh, I have bought the mansion of a love But not possessed it, and, though I am sold, Not yet enjoyed. Due to the ongoing feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, violence permeates the world of Romeo and Juliet. Sampson and Gregory open the play by making jokes about perpetrating violent acts against members of the Montague family. Tempers among the young men of Verona are clearly short, as further demonstrated when Tybalt spots Romeo at the Capulet ball and spoils for a fight.

Though tragic, this turn of events also seems inevitable. Given how the feud between the two families continuously fans the flames of hatred and thereby maintains a low-burning rage, such flaring outbursts of violence appear inescapable. Violence in the play has a particularly significant relationship with sex. But it also comes up in more localized examples. These events frame Act III, which opens with the scene in which Romeo ultimately slays Tybalt, and closes with the scene after Romeo stays the night with Juliet, possibly consummating their marriage.

Even the language of sex in the play conjures violent imagery. Romeo and Juliet are both very young, and Shakespeare uses the two lovers to spotlight the theme of youth in several ways.

Romeo, for instance, is closely linked to the young men with whom he roves the streets of Verona. These young men are short-tempered and quick to violence, and their rivalries with opposing groups of young men indicate a phenomenon not unlike modern gang culture though we should remember that Romeo and his friends are also the privileged elite of the city.

In addition to this association with gangs of youthful men, Shakespeare also depicts Romeo as somewhat immature. They also mock Romeo for being so hung up on one woman.