Plan:

1. Love is a powerful emotion that overpowers all other elements in the play.
2. Love is often a cause of violence.
3. Love is portrayed through the image of lightness and darkness.

Essay:
In the play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare in 1595, love is
undeniably one of the most overriding themes. It is described as a powerful emotion
and is mainly presented as a cause of violence. Love is also constantly associated with
the symbol of light and dark.

Firstly, love is a powerful emotion that overpowers all other elements in the play. The
lovers are initially described by Shakespeare as ‘star-crossed’ in the prologue. This
immediately allows us to recognise how their love is heavily dependent on fate and
astronomical power, creating a sense that it is heavenly, something ‘hanging in the
sky’. Juliet perfectly defines the idea of love to Romeo, by refusing to explain it, she
says she “cannot sum up some of half my wealth”. The theme of love resists any type
of description or metaphors because it is too difficult to be contained in words. With
their love, Romeo and Juliet are able to escape the constraints of reality. This is
accomplished primarily by defying their entire social world. Juliet suggests that
Romeo should discard his family name, even though it held a large significance in
most families in Elizabethan Era; if not, she will ‘no longer be a capulet’, showing
how desperate Juliet is to overcome the ‘ancient grudge’ between their families so that
they could be together. However, they have also created a world of darkness at the
same time which leads to their consequential death because the ultimate end of their
love is foreshadowed by Shakespeare as being ‘death-marked’.

Secondly, Love is portrayed through the image of lightness and darkness. On the
Capulet’s ball, Romeo’s first description of Juliet is that “she doth teach the torches to
burn”. The comparison of Juliet to a ‘fair sun’, which is a symbolism to heat and light,
identifies her to be a representation of lightness. On the contrary, Romeo, who
‘bescreened with light’, is linked to the moon or the darkness. Interestingly, most of
their meetings happen at night because light reveals the truth of their secret marriage.
In Act 3 Scene 5, Romeo has to leave Juliet’s room since it is the ‘lark, herald of the
morn”, indicating that light and dark can never coexist. In other words, their love can
never survive in reality, or the society they live in.

Furthermore, love is often a cause of violence. The passionate love between Romeo
and Juliet is connected the moment of its inception with death - Tybalt threatens to
murder Romeo after discovering him gatecrashing the party, just the same instance
when Romeo catches sight with Juliet and falls in love instantly. From that point on,
love begins to lure the pair closer and closer to violence. Both person decides to
commit suicide when Romeo is banished from Verona, due to the suffering that is
caused by the loss of the loved one. Juliet threatens, “If all else fail, myself have
power to die”. Friar Lawrence comments that “these violent delights have violent
ends”. Shakespeare did not choose to portray the sweet and gentle love, or immature
love, that protects one from death. Instead, the juxtaposition highlights that love
pushes the pair towards the ‘violent ends’ or double suicide, since this is the only
method their love can be preserved and thrive in peace.