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Aubrey Kraus

Mrs. Aaker

English

10 November 2020

Romeo & Juliet, Do They Love Each Other?

Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a tragic love story about how two

strangers from enemy families fall in love. Romeo and Juliet in Act 2 scene 2 explains how they

love each other and care about one another. Juliet shows that she loves Romeo by using

personification and similes.

Juliet feels like she should be devoted to Romeo and uses similes and personification to

show her love for him. Juliet feels that Romeo has not heard enough words from him tonight and

it shows that she cares about what he has to say to her. Juliet tells Romeo that “but thy name is

my enemy.” (39) when talking about whether or not he should change his name. Juliet explains

to Romeo that he should change his name so they could be together and this shows that Juliet

wants to be with him, even if he has a different name. Juliet's feelings are shown in that quote

because as she speaks to Romeo, she is telling him that she would always love him, even if he

changes his name. As Juliet tells Romeo to change his name she asks “What's in a name? By any

other name, [it] would smell as sweet” (44, 45). Juliet wants Romeo to change his name so they

can be together because since he is a Montague, they cannot get married due to the Capulet and

Montague being enemy families and if he changes his name he will still be the same. This shows

that Juliet cares for Romeo because it shows that she wants to be with him and she will still love
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him the same if Romeo does change his name. While Romeo speaks to Juliet, “[her] ears have

not drunk a hundred words” (61). In this quote, Juliet is telling Romeo that her ears haven’t heard

a hundred words come from his mouth yet. Juliet feels that Romeo has not heard enough words

from him tonight and it shows that she cares about what he has to say to her. Juliet's love for

Romeo is explained by the usage smilies and personification.

As Juliet speaks to Romeo, she feels affection towards him, and that is shown through

similes and personification. As Juilet looks at Romeo and he says that he will swear his love on

the moon, she rebuttals with, “[don’t] swear [on] the moon” and “that [there are] monthly

changes in her circled orb” (112, 113). In this quote, Juliet is explaining to Romeo that he

shouldn’t swear on the moon since the position of the moon changes every day for 29.5 days and

then that process repeats. She is saying that the moon is a female while the moon is just a rock

orbiting Earth that controls the tides. Juliet also means that since the moon is inconstant, their

feelings for each other can change and be inconsistent even if their relationship right now is

good. Juliet's feelings are shown by her speaking about how she believes the moon is like their

relationship, always changing. While Juliet looks at Romeo, who just asked her to marry him,

she says “too like lightning” (124). In this quote, Juliet is saying that their relationship is moving

too quickly for her and she is having doubts that Romeo just wants to marry her for love,

therefore, she feels doubtful in their relationship. Juliet's feelings are shown in this quote because

she explains how she would like to marry him, but she worries that since their relationship is

moving quickly, it will end soon. Juliet believes that “[her] bounty is as boundless as the sea”

(138). In this quote, Juliet is saying that her love is a bounty for Romeo to have if they were to

get married and Juliet's feelings are that she loves Romeo and is willing to marry him as long as
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he doesn’t only want to marry her for her looks. These feelings are shown with this simile

because Juliet speaks very highly of her fondness of Romeo and she doesn't quite believe that he

loves her the way she loves him. Juliet shows her love for Romeo by using personification and

similes at the end of act 2 scene 2.