Out of a library once I read “ There are people who want a relationship like Romeo and Juliet’s without knowing that lasted three days and caused six deads!”
This sarcastic but indeed real sentence has nothing to do with the idea of overwhelming, powerful, idyllic and especially ideal love that we are all used to associate to Romeo and Juliet. What does ideal actually means?
Ideal : 1. A conception of something in its absolute perfection. The definition is concise, but probably not very clear. It’s not easy to define what “absolute perfection” is, especially because of the free will.
The passion between Romeo and Juliet is misinterpreted by the two young lovers as love. And all the readers in all these centuries have been interpreting a dramatic idea of love not based on reality but on impulsive feelings as “The ideal Love” . Romeo’s longing for ideal love is the primary driving force behind most of his actions, that reveal themselves as impulsive and stupid.
In the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, mutual love and devotion are the main characteristics of Shakespeare’s ideal love. He also portrays the idea of lovers making sacrifices in order to be together, even if it means forsaking things that are valuable to their existence, including their lives.
The individuals possessed by ideal love are not the only ones who are affected by it.
In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence’s first reaction to Romeo’s drastic change of “love” was shocking : “Holy Saint Francis, what a