How does Shakespeare present love between Romeo and Juliet at the start of the play?
Love is an emotional expression that comes within two people. It is believed to be a sensation when that person who is right for you appears. In this play Shakespeare has presented love in a forbidden way. He has done this by presenting two characters that fall in love but their love cannot be for their families are enemies.
The prologue of the play basically tells you what is going to happen. It is not only the plot of the play but it also describes the theme of love. It does this by saying ‘pair of star crossed lovers take their life’. This foreshadows that something bad is going to happen, by two people taking their life for each other. It also shows that there is a rival between two families by saying ‘citizens stain their hands with the blood of their fellow citizens’. This emphasis that Verona is a place of hate between certain people. It is outlining the whole of the play and outlining all the most important parts in the play. It has been written in the form of a sonnet, and a sonnet is a love poem, and the play is all about love for others.
In Act 1 Scene1, Romeo is uncertain about love as he had fallen for a girl by the name of Rosaline, but when he saw Juliet he wasn’t sure. The audience knows that he does not love Rosaline, but as soon as you see Romeo and Juliet, you know that they are going to fall in love. The use of oxymorons has the effect of confusion. This is shown when Romeo says, ‘o brawling love’. This can sense confusion as brawling means to hate or to strongly dislike, and love means to strongly have affection for someone else.