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Attitudes Toward Love And Marriage In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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Attitudes Toward Love And Marriage In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet
Modern audiences would blame Paris for not courting Juliet, however in Shakespeare's time Paris would have been considered as behaving in a much more proper fashion than Romeo. Private courting between young people, illustrated in Romeo and Juliet, was officially disapproved of. There are many types of love in the two scenes, for example Paris's love. Paris is the man Juliet's parents think is fit for her; however this arranged marriage does not involve love - love was not a feeling, it was a commitment. Another type of love is illustrated in Romeo and Juliet. When Romeo met Juliet, Romeo became more passionate, seen in his language compared with his language about Rosaline. Juliet also became more independent. Their love was so strong they were willing to die for each other, although their families had gone through years of hatred.

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This conversation has a heavy sense of foreboding since Lady Capulet's hope of poisoning Romeo is brought to life at the end. Juliet's attitude towards love and marriage is seen in her refusal to marry Paris. She is already married to Romeo, so to marry Paris would be bigamy. This shows us that Shakespeare has assigned Juliet to be a faithful and law abiding person.

The Nurse, who is been presented as more of a mother than Juliet's biological mother, fails Juliet at the end of Act 3 Scene 5. To comfort Juliet in her desperate situation, the Nurse offers her an easy solution; to marry Paris and forget the 'dish clout' Romeo. This immoral advice betrays Juliet's trust and shows the Nurse's failure to understand the passionate nature of Romeo and Juliet's love. The Nurse therefore regards love as a temporary and physical relationship, and she sees Juliet's marriage to Paris entirely

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