“The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring,"(Oscar Wilde). Just thinking about love can brighten a person’s day. This is well portrayed in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, and often uses allusions to highlight love and its effects. There are also many other allusions that do not involve love in a positive way, including Romeo’s unreturned love and Mercutio’s continuous mockery of love. Shakespeare uses many allusions referring back to Greek or Roman mythology as well as additional references to literature in order to compare the two lovers’ devotion for each other, emphasize unrequited love, and mock other characters.
Love is a strong emotion, and many people experience it stronger than others. For example, Romeo and Juliet experience love very strongly in a very short period of time. During the balcony scene shortly after they meet, Juliet is exclaiming her love for Romeo, but is also unsure of Romeo’s proclaimed love. She doesn’t want to fall for someone who doesn’t really
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Romeo experiences this agonizing heartbreak when he falls for Rosaline before he even meets Juliet. Romeo talks to Benvolio about his heartbreak for Rosaline and references two Roman gods to describe Rosaline’s nonexisting love for Romeo, “Well, in that hit you miss. She’ll not be hit/ With Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit,” (I.i.222-223). Romeo explains to Benvolio that Rosaline is never hit by Cupid’s arrow because she doesn’t love Romeo back. Diana is the Roman goddess of chastity, so Romeo compares Rosaline to her because she wants to stay chaste. This gives Romeo no chance at trying to court her because she swore off men. Romeo is left heartbroken, without Rosaline even knowing that Romeo is in love with her. Until Romeo meets Juliet, he is left in emotional pain and wants nothing to do with