:: Thursday, February 27, 2003 ::

This is my huge Romeo and Juliet essay for Mr. Jessee in English 9 HN; I think I've done pretty well on it if I do say so myself. On the four pieces I have submitted I received a 94, 96, 94, and a 96. So it's pretty much guaranteed a 95 or higher if I polish up some of these transitions. I need to change the intros to quotes in the first body paragraph and maybe a spelling error or two, but the way it looks now is pretty much how I want to submit it, but I'm always open to criticism ;-)

James Freeman
Mr. Jessee
English 9 HN
13 February 2003
Currently Untitled

When Shakespeare’s masterpiece play Romeo and Juliet becomes the topic of discussion, most people contemplate and revel over how deep and complicated the young lover’s relationship is. This certainly isn’t the case, however. Once the images of the play, particularly night and blind love, are untangled, it is clear to see how shallow their relationship truly is. These images of night and blind love not only reveal the superficiality of Romeo and Juliet’s love, but also prove it is completely wild and untamed, ultimately leading to their own demise.
The recurring references to night solidify the fact that there is nothing below the surface to support the supposedly “strong” feelings they express for one another. Just as the darkness becomes a cloak over the land at night, so does Romeo craft an artificial night in which to harbor his love. In the first scene of the first act Montague elaborates on Romeo’s situation, explaining how:

Away from light steals home my heavy son,
And private in his chamber pens himself,
Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out,
And makes himself an artificial night.
Black and portentous must this humor prove
Unless good counsel may the cause remove. (1.1.132-37)

It is within this artificial night that Romeo finds Juliet, and because this was not counseled and allowed to blossom, its insubstantiality shattered causing their love to rot. The second large mistake they both make is putting their faith in night, which is in and of itself representative of instability and deceitfulness. Juliet confesses her uncorroborated
will to the night in act three scene two by exclaiming, “Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night/ That th’ runaway’s eyes may wink, and Romeo/ Leap into these arms untalk’d of and unseen!” (3.2.5-7). She is justifying here that night shall come and bring along with it the love of Romeo. All night the harbors are darkness, death, and evil notions; this oxymoronic phrase validates how her good-intentioned faith is thrust into a device that will only deliver suffering. These references prove that Romeo and Juliet’s love is unsupported – a light sugar coating based upon variable ideals around them. So what is all of this superficial love masking? The feral, uncounseled love that lies at the very core of Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet’s love is unrestricted in every aspect; this is best exemplified by the fact they put their trust into blind love. Of all the characters in the play, Mercutio and Benvolio are most keen to this aspect of their love. While on the lookout for Romeo after Capulet’s party, Benvolio begins discussing Romeo’s behavior and how it applies to his love for Juliet: “Come, he hath hid himself among these trees/ To be consorted with the humorous night/ Blind is his love and best befits the dark” (2.1.30-2). In lighthearted language that nonetheless expresses a profound truth, Benvolio illuminates the dearth of Romeo’s choices. Since his love has no rhyme or reason, it belongs in the dark, where it is sure to become lost and ruined. In addition, despite frequent advice from Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet refuse to adhere to logic and go about their relationship in a wild fashion. As Romeo consults the Friar early the next morning following the balcony scene, Romeo is given clear, blunt advice to go “Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast” (2.3.94). This must not have registered in him, because instead of controlling his love for Juliet, he allows it to gain too much momentum and slip out from underneath his own feet. Juliet is just as guilty in this respect as her lover, accepting the fact that their love is blind, yet childishly entrusting her faith in it. As she awaits Romeo on the evening of the fight, she encourages love to find its way

By their own beauties, or, if love be blind,
It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,
Thou sober-suited matron all in black.
And learn me how to lose a winning match,
Play’d for a pair of stainless maidenhoods. (3.2.9-14).

She acknowledges that her love’s untamed nature is fostered within night, yet ignores all advice and begs for night to blindly bless her with Romeo’s love. All of these irrational, wild choices by Romeo and Juliet convey how feral their love is. Since this core, this very root of their love is in fact ungrounded itself, it’s easy to imagine how their blind love leads to its own destruction.
As the use of night and blind love imagery is unraveled, it is clear to see that such a superficial, untamed relationship was doomed throughout the entirety of the play. Just as a building with no structural integrity will cave in upon itself, so does Romeo and Juliet’s love because of its insubstantiality. Despite being advised time and time again, they restricted their own love from grounding itself below the surface, and thus its insubstantiality shattered causing their love to rot. Not only is their love lost within the shallowness of night, but also the very nature of their love, its blindness, places the final nail in the coffin for their hopes for love. While Romeo has been banished and weeps in the Friar’s cell, the Friar explains Romeo’s treatment of love “Like powder in a skillless soldier’s flask/ Is set afire by thine own ignorance/ And thou dismemb’red with thine own defense” (3.3.132-34). He ignores good reason and lets himself be blown apart by his own Surface-deep desires. Neither Romeo nor Juliet can seek direction with their love within the night, like a sea ship without a compass bound to crash. Romeo and Juliet’s love is wrecked and crashed due to their love’s nighttime concealment and purblindness.
This unsupported, uncontrollable love of Romeo and Juliet, as evidenced by the images of night and blind love, is what ultimately leads to their own deaths. With such intense feelings childishly entrusted into night, they have nobody to blame but themselves for their own tragedy. Their feral love plays the largest part in this play, and they suffer the consequences accordingly.

:: Floydthebarber 2/27/2003 09:17:00 PM [+] ::
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