Sunday, May 6, 2012

Is it really love?

  1. Romeo and Juliet are the most famous pair of lovers in Western literature, but is their love real, or is it just infatuation? Some people claim that Romeo and Juliet are just melodramatic teenagers. Others argue that the Romeo and Juliet's love is the kind of love everyone should aspire to find. What proof does the play provide that their love is "real love," not just infatuation? Or is it indeed, just infatuation? Explain why you think the way you do.  Try to reference 1 scene or part from the play to support your reasoning.
         REMEMBER, you must reply to one of your peers in order to be eligible for the whole 15 pts.
Posted by at

71 comments:

  1. AlexisLeighlynMay 7, 2012 at 9:27 AM

    I think that if you believe in love at first sight you could say that their love is true. I'm not saying this is true for everyone, I’m just suggesting it.
    I think that it is fake love because Romeo was already in love with another girl to the second he met Juliet. (This is where the love at first sight thing comes in) When he saw Juliet he was "swept away" by her beauty. I believe that you cannot love someone without even talking to them. But Romeo and Juliet did (For the plays sake, at least.)
    To prove that their love is fake, I think that it was just lust to begin with and their feuding families only fueled the fire. Another reason could be that Juliet was looking for a way out of marrying Paris. And maybe Romeo was trying to get over Rosaline.
    I believe that, overall, they were too young to realize the effect of what they were doing, and they ended up making a huge mistake.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eric ArndtMay 8, 2012 at 11:39 AM

      I thought this was very well written, and like I said before I believe Shakespeare left it up to us to decide if Romeo and Juliet had "real love"

      Delete
    2. Molly N.May 10, 2012 at 11:24 AM

      Alexis, I TOTALLY AGREE! You said that Romeo was just getting over Rosaline and Juliet was trying to get out of marrying Paris. THAT IS SO TRUE! Plus, they didn't even speak to each other before they decided they were in love...

      Delete
    3. Theresa MartinMay 10, 2012 at 2:31 PM

      Alexis, you make great references to support your point. You highlighted the fact that they were quite young and as a result they could not possibly understand the idea of "true" love. However, considering the time period is there a chance that R and J were well beyond their age in terms of maturity? Did they have enough life experiences, more than msot teens today, to comprehend the complexities of love and marriage?

      Delete
    4. jacobMay 11, 2012 at 9:43 PM

      i agree with you and yet i also disagree with you. i think that it may not have been true love at first sight, it developed into actual love. i also think that the fueding families and each of their own dissapointments in love made up a good percentage of the reason for their meeting each other and getting married th next day.

      Delete
    5. Rachel FerringtonMay 16, 2012 at 10:09 AM

      I completely agree with you, Alexis! I liked your point with how their fueding families ruled the fire, and how she might be trying to get out of marrying Paris. Did not think of that! Good points!

      Delete
  2. G. MartensMay 8, 2012 at 6:41 AM

    Great Thoughts, Alexis!

    ReplyDelete
  3. MorganMay 8, 2012 at 8:52 AM

    I think that there love is fake. Just because he liked Rosaline. It seems as if Benvolio forced Romeo into liking Juliet because of the fact that Romeo only moved on because Benvolio told him to meet other girls. So he moved on pretty fast because he found Juliet and "suddenly" liked her after only seeing her once. Plus, they were planing on marriage after meeting only once and you can't come to love someone that quick in my opion unless you believe in love at first sight. And I don't think they knew this back then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aaron SchliesMay 8, 2012 at 11:57 AM

      I agree. Romeo is moving around trying to find the right girl and he thinks if he sees a girl he might like he quickly decides tp love her.

      Delete
    2. JasminMay 8, 2012 at 9:10 PM

      I agree. Romeo is just trying to get over his heart break with Rosaline because Benvolio thinks he should look at other girls beauty.

      Delete
  4. Ana BacaMay 8, 2012 at 8:56 AM

    I think they don’t really love each other, they are just young and don’t really know what love is. Romeo fall in love too quickly so I don’t think it was too serious. When Romeo is creeping on Juliet that totally proves that he is not in love with her. They want to get marry after they just met each other. All in all I don’t think it’s true love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michaela WilzMay 8, 2012 at 9:06 AM

      True they are just teenagers wanting to grow up fast they mostlikely do not truely love each other

      Delete
    2. Amber DunlapMay 10, 2012 at 10:17 AM

      Yes, Ana, I agree with you. They met too quickly and cannot be in love; especially because he was just "in love" with Rosaline. I enjoy, and also agree, with your "Romeo creeping on Juliet" statement because he only followed her because he was attracted to her.

      Delete
    3. charlie primakowMay 16, 2012 at 4:10 PM

      I realy belive that is true they fall in love to fast

      Delete
  5. Michaela WilzMay 8, 2012 at 9:10 AM

    Love you do not know if it is true or not You have to know what love is to feel it.Romeo and juliet are just teenagers Love between them is not true There love is consist but not true to me they feel for each other maybe they wanted to get there parents mad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. G. MartensMay 9, 2012 at 1:28 PM

      Oooh--rebellious teenagers? Interesting idea, Michaela.

      Delete
    2. Mary DaweMay 10, 2012 at 5:42 PM

      I like that idea! It seems like a possibility, because all teenagers have those "rebellious moments" when they want to make their parents mad.

      Delete
  6. Eric ArndtMay 8, 2012 at 11:33 AM

    I believe their love was real. One scene that expresses "real love" was the balcony scene, because Juliet expresses her love for Romeo while she doesn't know Romeo is listening. She expresses her love very intensly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eric ArndtMay 8, 2012 at 11:36 AM

      But also, I think Shakespeare kind of left it up to all of us to decide if Romeo and Juliet's love was real.

      Delete
    2. Zach OrlandoMay 10, 2012 at 12:04 PM

      I agree completely. I think that if she talks about her love about him even when he isn't around. They loved eachother from the start.

      Delete
    3. Theresa MartinMay 10, 2012 at 2:36 PM

      Eric, elaborate on the meaning of the word "real"
      How would R&J respond, if you were to ask them today, " When you first met, was your love real?" Can someones'interpretation of real different from another?

      Delete
  7. Aaron SchliesMay 8, 2012 at 11:55 AM

    I beleive that it isnt real love. Romeo and Juliet are just kids and dont know what love is. I think Romeo wants attention so he wants to b e in love but doesent know what love is. He and Juliet are moving way to fast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ZachZeutziusMay 10, 2012 at 12:00 PM

      I agree. They moved to fast, but I think falling in love can happen at any age. If Romeo didnt move from girl to girl and if Juliet didnt purposly rush it, it could have been true love

      Delete
  8. JasminMay 8, 2012 at 9:08 PM

    I think that Romeo and Juliet's love is fake. Romeo was deeply in love with Rosaline until he saw Juliet. I feel like he is only moving on is because Benvolio said he should search for other girls. When your in love with someone, you don't just see another person and fall out. In order to love someone you must talk to them first. Romeo and Juliet were young and didn't understand the true meaning of love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MorganMay 10, 2012 at 8:40 AM

      I totaly agree with you Jasmin. They are young people and still dont understand the meaning of love. Nobody really does its just another word that people use.

      Delete
    2. Veronica ShawMay 10, 2012 at 6:03 PM

      I disagree with the statement saying that he's just trying to get over Rosaline. It says in the play that he has no intentions on trying to forget about Rosaline; it says that he is going to the party just to look at and admire Rosaline's beauty. Finding a girl that he was attracted to was completely by accident.

      Delete
  9. G. MartensMay 9, 2012 at 1:27 PM

    Our class discussed Romeo as being "fickle". How could this play into this blog post? Can't teenagers fall in love for real? Can young people truly understand love?

    Just some other things to think about :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Amber DunlapMay 10, 2012 at 10:08 AM

    I believe their love is fake. I believe, like Alexis, that it depends on if you believe in love at first sight. For the most part though, they just saw each other at the ball and noticed each other’s beauty. I believe they just wanted to break the feud between the Montague and Capulet families and they enjoyed going against their parents' will. They had no communication to each other except for the nurse; if they didn't have the nurse as the messenger, they would have no way to communicate because Romeo's banishment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AlexisLeighlynMay 10, 2012 at 10:16 AM

      I like how Amber said that they could have been trying to break the fueding between the two families, and how they just wanted to go against their parents.

      Delete
    2. Molly N.May 10, 2012 at 11:37 AM

      Amber! You are SO right about their family situation! Parents that forbid their 'love' probably make them want to be together even more. Just for the sake of breaking the rules...

      Delete
  11. Amber DunlapMay 10, 2012 at 10:15 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Molly N.May 10, 2012 at 11:34 AM

    Okay. To me, you can't love someone by just looking at them. Some guy could be totally georgous and then turn out to be a huge jerk. How could you love him? IN ADDITION, they never spoke to one another before! How can you fall in love with someone by looks? Shouldn't you get to know someone first?

    Their love is infatuation. In the balcony scene, Romeo goes on and on about how georgous Juliet is. Beauty isn't everything, pal! Young love has it's faults. Look at Romeo and Juliet... Their relationship lasted 3 days and ended with their deaths.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Triple MMay 10, 2012 at 5:34 PM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Dalton MengerMay 14, 2012 at 11:22 AM

      Totally true. One look at someone is not going to declare that you are deeply in love.

      Delete
  13. AlexisLeighlynMay 10, 2012 at 11:40 AM

    This is perfect Jo-Ann! (P.S.) (Their love actually ended more than just their lives, im sure some would have died anyway, but you get my drift.)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Triple MMay 10, 2012 at 11:41 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  15. ZachZeutziusMay 10, 2012 at 11:56 AM

    Personaly, I think this love isnt real love. Just because they barely know eachother and they "fell in love" because Romeo thought juliet was good looking and Romeo felt the same towards juliet. It could have grew to love if they wouldnt have rushed into it like they did.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Zach OrlandoMay 10, 2012 at 12:00 PM

    I think that Romeo and Juliet's love was real. It doesn't matter how old you are. You can be in love if your a teenager. Their can be such a thing as love at first sight. Juliet expresses her love for Romeo even when he isn't around. I'm pretty sure their in love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blake EliasMay 10, 2012 at 2:31 PM

      I agree, It doesn't matter how old you are, it matters on how much you love the other person.

      Delete
    2. G. MartensMay 13, 2012 at 4:20 PM

      Good point, Blake

      Delete
  17. G. MartensMay 10, 2012 at 1:59 PM

    Watch out for grammar, punctuation, spelling, & usage. It all counts.

    Example: I should be cap., they're, their, or there?
    subordinate clauses that begin a sentence need a comma after them.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Blake EliasMay 10, 2012 at 2:23 PM

    I think that Romeo and Juliet's love was real because, with all the fighting between there family's when they found out who each other was they wouldn't like each other anymore, but there love kept growing more and more. Another thing is in that time period when your a teenager you were already getting married to the person you love, so that's why I believe Romeo and Juliet were in love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Triple MMay 10, 2012 at 4:50 PM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. G. MartensMay 13, 2012 at 4:25 PM

      Don't forget that many marriages during this time period were arranged...they often did not get a chance to "fall in love" because who they had to marry was selected by family members--usually a father.

      Delete
  19. Mary DaweMay 10, 2012 at 5:40 PM

    I think that Romeo and Juliet's love starts out as not being true love, but later on becomes real love. I think this because only a few days previously, Romeo was supposedly "in love with Rosaline", and the next day he's in love with Juliet. That's not right. Also, at first, they barely know eachother but still get married; I don't think that was true love, but in later scenes I think a true love develops between them, once they get to know eachother better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A.BethMay 10, 2012 at 6:46 PM

      You're absolutely right about the Rosaline thing. I hadn't thought about that....although, I still believe my spiel them being madly in love. Good job!

      Delete
    2. AnonymousMay 11, 2012 at 3:25 AM

      I totaly agree with you. It does not look like true love at first. But i do think that at the end they do love each other.

      Delete
  20. Veronica ShawMay 10, 2012 at 5:57 PM

    Everyone's saying that they don't know what love is so they cannot truly be in love. I agree with that, but I don't think they're being dumb kids. We have to think back to when this play was written. In the Elizabethan Era, I feel like not many people married the one they loved. They had obvious feelings for each other that they had never felt before and they felt as if it was urgent to get married before Juliet's parents started pressuring her into marrying Paris. It says in the play that Juliet does not have feelings for Paris, but she had agreed to look at him in order to follow her mother's orders. I do not believe that they are truly in love, but they have what is like a crush on one another which is more than Juliet had ever felt before so she felt as if she loved him. Romeo is just a love-craved, normal teenage boy who met a pretty girl who he spoke with and got along with. In this time, that was probably enough to feel that marriage was suitable.

    ReplyDelete
  21. A.BethMay 10, 2012 at 6:40 PM

    I believe that it is true love. Obviously! Who kill's themselves unless they're truly in love? Of course this answer may be challenged if one was placed in this unfortunate love tragedy... Honestly, from my perspective, I think this is the truest and purest form of love. I am in love with this story and really think it can apply to anybody if they were in the same situation. Other people may think my theory is insane, but I believe in love the same way that Romeo and Juliet do. Love is pure and sacred.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary DaweMay 11, 2012 at 5:55 PM

      I think that what you said is totally accurate because everyone treasures their life, and if Romeo and Juliet both died for the reason of thinking they had lost eachother, then it must be true love. Super idea!

      Delete
    2. Donnovin PollardMay 15, 2012 at 6:34 PM

      This isnt love its obsession because nobody should kill themselves over sombody unless its family.

      Delete
  22. AnonymousMay 11, 2012 at 2:21 AM

    I think that young people can find true love at a young age. my parents did. But they did rush in to it. If they did not love each other why would they kill them selfs at the end.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. markMay 11, 2012 at 2:07 PM

      You do have a good way at it. but what if it was not true love at all ?

      Delete
    2. jacobMay 11, 2012 at 9:34 PM

      kenny,i would like to know, for the sake of my sense of humor, exactly Who rushed into it and killed themselves in the end, romeo & juliet, or your parents?

      Delete
    3. G. MartensMay 13, 2012 at 4:22 PM

      LOL! This is a great teachable moment--pronoun usage!

      Delete
  23. markMay 11, 2012 at 2:03 PM

    I do think that there love is true. Or They would not of killed them each other at the end.

    ReplyDelete
  24. jacobMay 11, 2012 at 9:30 PM

    i think that their love,whether real or not, depends on a person's past experiances with love and also on their interpretation of events in the play. personally, i think that if they had slowed it down a little bit and let their love mature, it would have been better for them all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alyssa NMay 13, 2012 at 6:39 PM

      Jacob, I agree 100%. If they slowed things down they might have had more feelings and actually would of fell in love instead they just felt differently then they did before.

      Delete
  25. Alyssa NMay 13, 2012 at 6:38 PM

    I believe that Romeo and Juliet weren't inlove. I believe that they liked each other and had feelings that they haven't felt before. But I don't believe it was true love simply because the fact that Romeo thought he was inlove with Rosaline and then the next day he believed he was inlove with Juliet.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Dalton MengerMay 14, 2012 at 11:19 AM

    In think there love is fake! Young love is overrated. You cant possibly know if you truly in love with someone as young as romeo or juliet. You're to imature to realize the true meaning of "being in love."

    ReplyDelete
  27. alexandraMay 15, 2012 at 11:27 AM

    To be honest i believe their love is not true, because who falls in love the first time you meet someone. I belives that you cen begin to like someone, but you have to get to know them before you fall "in love." I think Romeo should of been repsectful and went and talked to Juliet's parents because they might of allowed if after he showed respect for them. When Romro and Julied got married in the begining i dont believe they were in love. Although, by the end of the story i could feel their love for each other, and it was true.Romeo for instance, you dont just creep around some girl and follow them. You go and talk to them. I dont believe you can love someone the first time you meet them, end of story.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Donnovin PollardMay 15, 2012 at 6:29 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Donnovin PollardMay 15, 2012 at 6:45 PM

    i think its not love they feel its obsession. the "love" between them is maybe a little too intense for teenagers. i think that you mature then feel love not just an OMG look at her... im in love. its getting to know sombody and getting feelings that makes love love.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Rachel FerringtonMay 16, 2012 at 10:05 AM

    I think that the love between Romeo and Juliet isn't true love, because, for one, Romeo was in love with Rosaline in the beginning of the play, but then right when he sees Juliet, he's "in love." In my opinion, there is no such thing as "love at first sight," so how could they be in love? True love is how you feel about someone's personality, not somebodies looks. All in all, I believe that Romeo and Juliet's love was very rushed, and not true.

    ReplyDelete
  31. charlie primakowMay 16, 2012 at 4:01 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  32. charlie primakowMay 16, 2012 at 4:05 PM

    I'm not sure about this but it does look like love but all love looks like real untill you know what ture love is or is not and romeo and juliet both are a little to young to know what true love is.

    ReplyDelete
  33. TeronMay 17, 2012 at 3:21 PM

    i think that the love they had was part childish and part true love. i think Romeo is a very unstable person because he acts so much on his emotions and he over reacts to stuff easily. Juliet is still very young and doesn't know more than what shes told so when she meets romeo she is quick to act before thinking things through. but this doesn't mean that they aren't in love its just different than today where its less "quick".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMay 18, 2012 at 1:54 PM

      Keep in mind that this is the Elizebethan era - Romeo is a creeper but overreacting was common then.

      Delete
  34. AnonymousMay 18, 2012 at 1:52 PM

    According to the chorus, Romeo and Juliet kill themselves so they can live together forever. Can that possibly be infatuation? While Romeo is a bit of a creeper, Juiet is still willing to die for him, and vise versa.

    ReplyDelete
  35. jennastumbrisMay 27, 2012 at 8:10 AM

    I think Romeo and Juliet's love is real. I believe there is such thing as love at first sight and theirs was. I believe ifd there love wasn't real they wouldn't have stayed together and even get married so fast. Everyone has there opinions on love and ways of love and theirs i think was real and fast moving.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)