Romeo and Juliet. When people hear this name, they think of a beautiful love story with a strong love between Romeo and Juliet. This is not the case, considering Shakespeare cannot define love very well. In the play, the love Romeo had for Juliet was very similar to the love he had for Rosaline. Also, Romeo jumped into his relationship with Juliet too quickly after his recent heartbreak. In addition Romeo didn’t take the time to know Juliet, and lastly Juliet knew little to nothing about love. How can a love develop with all these problems in the relationship?

Romeo’s love for Juliet was very similar to the love he had for Rosaline. He doted on Rosaline and would have done anything for her. He pursued her like a crazy man and when Rosaline told him she did not have the same love for him as he had for her, Romeo was knocked off his feet. Romeo was to the point where he would only stay in his room and cry. He refused to do anything and shut himself from the world around him. Only by the urgings of Benvolio did Romeo agree to come to the Masquerade, but he went reluctantly. Because of his recent heartbreak Romeo’s heart was vulnerable and that is why he attached himself to Juliet so quickly. He pursued Juliet and once he got her, he went overboard on discovering she had mutual feelings toward him. To secure avoiding the chance of heartbreak, he suggested marriage, which led to his and Juliet’s downfall.

Additionally, Romeo jumped into his relationship with Juliet to hurriedly. Within twenty four hours they met each other and married. They did not even know each other’s names until Nurse introduced them. Romeo knew hardly anything about Juliet and he decided to marry her anyway. When someone is very emotional, they do ridiculous things that, later on, they would regret. Romeo should have given himself time to recuperate from his heartbreak before he made a drastic decision that cost his and Juliet’s life.

To truly love someone, don’t you have to know them? Romeo and Juliet did not take the time to get to know each other and let their love develop and mature. They might have had feelings for each other, but not strong enough to get married. If Romeo married Juliet before he found out she was a Capulet, would he have still loved her or would he have tried to worm his way out of the marriage? If Rosaline had changed her mind about Romeo, he would have returned to her, for he did not know enough about Juliet to let his love blossom into something strong. Also, they did not think their plan through. What if Romeo or Juliet were forced to marry someone else? What would they do? Also, what would their parents’ reactions be to Romeo and Juliet’s marriage? Their parent would be furious and plenty of fights would form between the Montagues and the Capulets.

Lastly, Juliet knew little to nothing about love. Before she met Romeo, she did not think about getting married. Juliet did not have good examples of love in her life. Her parents had an arranged marriage and Capulet treats Lady Capulet horribly. Also, Nurse did talk about love, though she mostly talked about having “happy nights to happy days”. Another thing, Nurse talked about Romeo like he was some sort of god, but then when Juliet was forced to marry Paris, Nurse tossed Romeo aside and praised Paris. Wouldn’t that confuse Juliet even more about love? This teaches Juliet that if you see someone better than the person you love, you should break ties to get the “better” person. So all Juliet knew of love was arranged marriage and lust. When Romeo came along, Juliet fell “in love” with Romeo. Juliet is also very young and could misinterpret admiration for love. With terrible examples of love in her life, how was Juliet supposed to know if the “love” she had for Romeo was actually admiration? Also, what if Romeo had tricked her into thinking he loved her, and then broke her heart later on? Juliet would probably believe all men are like this and would never attempt playing the confusing game of love again.

To sum this up, Shakespeare did a terrible job at defining true love in his play Romeo and Juliet. First of all, Romeo’s love for Juliet resembled the one he had for Rosaline too closely, second Romeo leapt into his relationship with Juliet too quickly, thirdly they did not take the time to get to know each other, and lastly, Juliet knew little to nothing about love. Being one of the greatest love stories of all time, you would think that love would be defined better.