Romeo And Juliet Courtly Love Research Paper

Have you ever been in love? In the play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare the two families, the Montagues and Capulets, have been in a feud for generations. Romeo, a Montague, at first glance falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet. These two star-crossed lovers fall in love, marry, and die all within a very short period of time. It is because of their death that the two families finally end their feud and agree to live together, harmoniously. Courtly love is a major theme woven throughout this entire play. Courtly love is, “a code of behavior that defined the relationship between aristocratic lovers in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.” (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, “Courtly Love”). “The origins of this form of extreme love can be traced to the Roman poet Ovid.” (Bleiberg, “Courtly Love”). This type of relationship is shown in countless examples throughout the play. For example, the relationship between Romeo and Rosaline show may elements of courtly love as well as Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. “Courtly love developed in the late eleventh century in the courts of Southern France.” (Quinn, “Courtly Love”). Gaston Paris originally coined this term to “describe the devotion of knights to their ladies in medieval romances and love poetry.”

L. Kip Wheeler, “Rules of Courtly Love”). This is shown in many different examples throughout the play. One example of this is after Romeo had killed Tybalt and learned that the Prince had decided to be merciful and banish him from Verona rather than sentence him to death. Although Romeo should be ecstatic that the Prince has shown him mercy and chose only to banish him, he can only think about Juliet. While at the church with Friar Lawrence he says, “’Tis torture and not mercy. Heaven is here / where Juliet lives, and every cat and dog / and