论罗密欧与朱丽叶的爱情观--毕业论文

【标题】论罗密欧与朱丽叶的爱情观

【作者】陈雪松

【关键词】《罗密欧与朱丽叶》;人物刻画;爱情观

【指导老师】

【专业】英语

【正文】

I. Introduction

William Shakespeare is considered as one of the greatest writers in the

history and shows his unique opinions of European Renaissance period. All of his works are based on the feudalism. So those works reflect his views on the society at that time. It was early in the middle 19th century when Shakespeare was first introduced to China. From then on,

his works have

influenced the Chinese literary production and stage. It is from the early 20th century when academic study of Shakespeare found its way into this country. And based on developments during nearly a hundred years, China’s

Shakespeare Society (now changed to China’s Shakespeare Academy)1 was founded in 1984. Many scholars, writers and artists have made their contributions to building up an individual, systematic study of Shakespeare and his works, which include his tragedies, literary background,

characterization, and so on.

Romeo and Juliet is a well-known literary creation in the western and Chinese history. It is classified as a great love tragedy in that

its heroes and heroines first struggled in the conflict between love and feudalism, and

at last coincidentally gave up their youthful lives for love. However, owing to the different attitude toward love at different times, a comparative study of these two generations deserves even greater appreciation. This thesis aims at a comparative analysis of some different views on love and the influences and significance of Romeo and Juliet. By doing research from several perspectives including their different background and quality on love, and applying theories concerning some research on this drama, this

paper analyzes the different views on love in different times.

To summarize, the author of the thesis argues that people’s views

on love in this drama are affected by the environment of feudalism, which resulted in their tragedy. Views on love are also closely related to the quality of human beings. Different qualities bring about

different views on love, which can influence the fate of people.

II. William Shakespeare and his Drama

English poet, dramatist, and actor, often called the English

national poet

and considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time, Shakespeare occupies a position unique in world

literature. Other poets, such as Homer and Dante, and novelists, such as Leo Tolstoy and Charles Dickens, have transcended national barriers; but

no writer’s living reputation can compare to that of Shakespeare, whose plays, written in the late 16th and early 17th centuries for a small repertory theatre, are now performed and read worldwide. He is a writer of great intellectual rapidity, perceptiveness, and poetic power. Shakespeare is astonishingly clever with words and images, so that his mental energy, when applied to intelligible human situations, finds full and memorable expression, convincing and imaginatively stimulating. The art form into

which his creative energies went involved the vivid stage impersonation

of human beings, commanding sympathy and inviting vicarious participation. Thus Shakespeare’s merits can survive translation into other languages and

into cultures remote from that of Elizabethan England.

A. William Shakespeare

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 on April the

23rd. We

know little about Shakespeare’s early years. His father, John Shakespeare, was a merchant and a man of some importance in his local community. His

mother, Mary Arden, was of higher social class, so Shakespeare had a good upbringing. Although there are no records, it seems that Shakespeare attended the local grammar school but not university at Stratford-upon-Avon, where he was born. So Shakespeare is considered as “the swan of Avon”.2 In 1582, when Shakespeare was 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years older than he was. They had three children. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets. He began working

in his home

town of Stratford, but by 1592 he was writing in London. He became

rich enough to buy a house in the capital and one in Stratford. In 1594, Shakespeare became a leading member of the newly-formed acting company, the Lord

Chamberlain's Men. This company became the King's Men when James I was made king. Shakespeare stayed with them for the rest of his career.3 In 1599, the company occupied the now famous Globe theatre in London. Shakespeare lived and worked in London, while his family remained in Stratford. Built on the banks of the River Avon the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is the main base for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Many distinguished British actors and actresses have been associated

with the theatre. You can even see one of Shakespeare’s plays being performed in his “home town”.

Nowadays, Shakespeare becomes a symbol of national culture.

He wrote sad plays called tragedies, like Romeo and Juliet, funny stories or comedies, romantic stories and stories about historical figures such as

Julius Caesar. Shakespeare died on his birthday in 1616, almost 400 years ago. But why is his work still popular today? That is, Shakespeare can write skillfully in different poetic forms, and has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom. Shakespeare's influence on the English language can

still be felt today. We t alk about “fair play”, meaning honest behavior

but this phrase was first used by Shakespeare. He coined the phrase “you

can have too much of a good thing”. And it was Shakespeare who came up with

the expression to disappear “into thin air” which we stil l use today when

we lose something.4 Shakespeare is above all writers in the past and in the present time.

B. Shakespeare’s Drama

Drama is very popular in Britain. It is the traditional

entertainment for

British people. As we know, England is a developed country. British people have much more free time and money to do what they like. Their good welfare makes them have a higher living standard and well educated.

But if we want to talk about British Drama, it cannot avoid mentioning Shakespeare, whom all British people regard as an honor. And perhaps

this is the real reason why they like drama so much.

Shakespeare is the most important representative in the Renaissance Period of English Literature. His drama looked at common human themes, such as betrayal, murder, lust, power, ambition and love. These themes are as much a part of human nature today as they were all those years ago and are the themes we see in modern soap operas and Hollywood films. Even though his

theatre, The Globe, burned down in 1613 it was rebuilt in London in 1997 and you can still see his drama performed there today. Shakespeare’s drama has been translated into every major language in the world. And perhaps we'll still be as fascinated by his drama.

Shakespeare’s tragedies were of a stonishing variety in presentment, dramatic movement, and in characterization. The characters differ in their sex, age, state of life, virtues and vices, but all of them show distinctive marks even if their parts were very short. Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies are: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. They have some characteristics in common. Each portrays some noble hero, who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely

connected with the fate of the whole nation. Each hero has his weakness of nature.

His comedies bring us into happy and ideal worlds with singing, dancing, harmony with nature and freedom from the vices of the world. They prove

Shakespeare to be a great humanist writer.

Taken as a whole, it could be said that Shakespeare’s early works showed optimism and his belief that love and benevolence will triumph over everything and concern for a peaceful and unified England whereas his later

works, with deep insight, brought to light contradictions between the humanists and the dark and brutal feudal and capitalist reality.

Shakespeare used his drama to narrate the happy and sad life of the world. All his literary works profoundly decayed feudal society. His drama is an

inexhaustible treasury. His dramas are the soul of British culture more than a kind of graceful and pure art only. British people are so proud of the

Man that many celebrations are set to commemorate him.

C. Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet was a product of the English Renaissance written by Shakespeare in 1595. And it embodied the life in the feudal society. It has the same theme as Shakespeare’s other works, that is, the conflict between love and feudalism. Although the main characters were faithful to love,

there existed simply too many obstacles on their ways to true love. In order to protect their love, they stood against their respective feudal families. But they failed and died for love in the end.

Romeo and Juliet’s families were deadly enemies. But they fell in deep love with each other at their first sight at the ball. And passion lent them power. They exchanged their faithful vow of love under the moonlight. Such love affairs between the families in feud certainly led to great conflict. In

order to protect their love, Romeo and Juliet took all kinds of actions to revolt against the feudalism. With the help of Priest Laurence, they got married very quickly without telling their parents. At the same time, the old Lord Capulet had been planning for his daughter Juliet’s future. He had chosen a nobleman named Paris to be her husband. He supposed that Juliet would feel honored and glad to accept him as a husband. But instead of cheering Juliet, this news served but to increase her misery. She perplexed

her mother by her plain distress. She refused to marry Paris. And her excuses made her parents exasperated. It seemed to her father that she was putting obstacles in the way of her own good fortune. So he sternly ordered her to

be ready by Thursday. In her extremity, Juliet decided to seek help of the kind priest. She said there was nothing she would not face, even the death by her own hands, rather than give up Romeo and marry Paris.

In order to be together with Romeo, Juliet took the medicine bravely on the

eve of the wedding day and lost consciousness. Romeo got the news of her “death” and felt an extremity of despair. He thought he would have no joy when Juliet was dead. So he kissed her and then drank the poison. When Juliet came to herself, she found her Romeo was dead, so she killed herself with a dagger.

The climax of the conflict resulted in this pair winning their love, but with the sacrifice of their lives.

III. The Characterization of the Protagonists

People are not isolated, especially for the leading roles in a play; living in specific environments, people tend to inherit part of their character traits from their surroundings. And their characters decide their will. Then they will take all kinds of actions under the control of their wills. This

part will examine how the characterizations in this drama contribute to the literature.

A. The Personalities of the Protagonists

The Personalities in Romeo and Juliet are direct and concrete: we know the inner world of the person by what they said and what they did. Because of

the different culture backgrounds and their influences, Romeo and Juliet saw each other at a banquet, they fell in love and Romeo kissed Juliet. She accepted and asked him to do that again.

Romeo: Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purged.(kisses her) Juliet: Then have my lips the sin that they have took.

Romeo: Sin from my lips, O trespass sweetly urged!

Give me my sin again. (Kissed her)

Juliet: You kiss by the book. (Act one, Scene V)5

Romeo and Juliet were full of youthful spirit and bravery, and they were so naive and unaffected that people could feel romance from them. Romeo was an enthusiastic young man, both peace loving and courageous. When he saw a fight was happening between Tybalt and his friends, he did his best to intervene, beating down the swords of their opponents. When he saw Tybalt mortally wounded his friend on his account, he provoked Tybalt to a fight and instantly killed him. In order to show his

faithful love to Juliet, he

risked his life to climb over the walls of the orchard to meet her and exchange their love’s faithful vows.

Romeo: With love’s light wings did I o’er perch these walls;

For stony limits cannot hold love out,

And what love can do, that dares love attempt.

Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me.

Juliet: If they do see thee, they will murder thee.

Romeo: Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye

Then twenty of their swords! Look thou but sweet,

And I am proof against their enmity. (Act Two, Scene II)6

From Romeo’s own speech, we re cognize his courage to go see his Juliet, his cleverness to escape from the Capulet’s men and eagerness

to have Juliet as his wife. And then he was willing to throw away his family name. He could even give up his precious life for loving Juliet and staying together forever. Juliet was a naive and lively girl. She was brave and decisive, clever and resourceful. Being a strong character, she represented the power of hope. In the love affair with Romeo, she was the dominant part. It seems

that power of her love would never dry up.

Juliet: My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

My love as deep; the more I give to thee,

The more I have, for both are infinite. (Act Two, Scene II)

She loved Romeo and devoted all her heart into love.

Juliet: go ask his name. —If he be married,

My grave is like to be my wedding bed. (Act One, Scene V)7

In her secret rendezvous boundless with Romeo, in dealing with her parents’ forcing of her marriage to Paris, she showed extraordinary intelligence.

She put forward every plea she could think of to stop or delay the projected marriage. She pleaded that she knew too little of the proposed husband, that she was too young for marriage, that it was still too soon after the death of Tybalt. When she failed to persuade her parents to

d elay th

e wedding, she took Priest Laurence’s advice and drank the

phial bravely. Here Juliet’s brave character was shown through what she said and did.

She was a complete rebel of the feudalism society. She was bold enough to

seek love in defiance of the enmity of the two families. After the first sight of Romeo, she knew he was the only son of her father’s great enemy. But she was still determined to love him and made appointment for their tryst. Then she decided to arrange for marriage and lay all her f ortunes at Romeo’s foot and follow her husband throughout the world. When she found that her lover had died, she killed herself to show her loyalty to Romeo and the tenacity to pursue happy life. She would rather die than marry Paris,

whom she did not love at all. The enthusiastic love encouraged her

to throw away all the shyness and said directly to her lover: “Please tell me where

you go, I will dedicate myself to you, and go with you to any place.” 8 Both Romeo and Juliet went ahead without any hesitat ion. They just followed their natural instinct, never accommodated themselves to the feudal ethics. They vividly displayed the humanist spirit of the English Renaissance.

B. The Love of the Protagonists

Nothing can separate two people being in love. The love of the protagonists in Romeo and Juliet is very powerful. And it means that love can conquer everything. But love can also destroy many things. In

order to purify love, Romeo and Juliet broke through the obstruction of the family. And they eloped

with each other boldly.

Shakespeare said that every one of us is an actor, life is like a

play and the world is like a huge stage in the theater. 9 Every one has their own parts and scripts that can not be changed and they must follow. This is what

we call fate, an unchangeable process of life. In the play of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare describes them as two star-crossed lovers. Their story

was written on the star long before they were even born. They met each other,

they fell in love with each other then they died and ended the story. All those happened because of love. Love is a force that makes

everything changed including the story of Romeo and Juliet, in which it advanced the plot and brought the ultimate death of the protagonists. In this drama the love fate happened frequently.

After all the entire drama was full of chance, circumstance and coincidence on love, which pushed the plots to go on and controlled

Juliet and Romeo’s lives, controlled the story. Juliet and Romeo, two star-crossed lovers

blessed by fate where they meet; were also cursed by love fate where they died. The author of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, was the most outstanding

writer in the period of the English Renaissance. And the feature of the

English Renaissance was humanity, which encouraged human being to enjoy the happiness in love in this life.

IV. The Views on Love in the Drama

A. The Main Characters’ Views on Love

Most of the traditional works must express characters’ feeling directly,

such as this drama, which also reflects views of all the characters on love.

1.Different Love Views of the Two Generations

Love is an everlasting topic. In this drama, different generations have different views on love. Julie’s parents made a misunderstanding and

thought that she was sad of her cousin’s death. Therefore, they ordered Juliet to get married with Paris. All this reflects that the old generations at that time were very despotic on love. They opposed free love because of the views of fogyism.

It was in vain for Juliet to stand against her parents, so she had

to turn to Priest Laurence for help. And Priest Laurence gave her a liquid medicine, which would make her sleep deeply and look like dead. So long as Romeo came back and took her away, their love and lives would be saved. But

unfortunately, the priest did not send the letter to Romeo in time because of the pestilence. After Romeo came to the Cemetery, he misunderstood that Juliet had died. As a result, he drank the poison.

After several minutes,

Juliet woke up but she also killed herself for love.

Romeo and Juliet’s love proved that the young generations can give

up something important to a complete love. It reflected the

contradictions existing between the advanced youth and the backward

social system that is

the ol d generations. And this drama stirred up people’s courage and confidence to pursue freedom and happiness, especially in the young generations at that time.

2. The Reasons for the Differences

Shakespeare’s major characters are individuals representing cer tain types. He succeeds in exploring the characters’ inner mind. The soliloquies in his plays fully reveal the inner conflict of his characters. Shakespeare also portrays his characters in pairs which will bring vividness to his

characters. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet does not coincide with Aristotle's tragic theories; it is more like a comedy.10 During the

period when feudalism was declining, humanism was not totally established. Some obstinate feudalist conventions such as blood revenge still existed in the

former big feudal families, and became the last fortress to struggle.

From above, we can know that the main theme is the conflict between love and feudalism. So Romeo and Juliet was a product of feudalism. It objects feudalism and has a great influence on both the people and the society.

3. The Results of the Differences

In order to protect their love, Romeo and Juliet took all kinds of actions to revolt against the feudalism. With the help of Priest Laurence, they got

married very quickly without telling their parents. At the same time, the old Lord Capulet had been planning for his daughter Juliet’s future. He had chosen a nobleman named Paris to be her husband. He supposed that Juliet would feel honored and glad to accept him as a husband. But instead of

cheering Juliet, this news served but to increase her misery. She perplexed her mother by her plain distress. She refused to marry Paris. And her excuses made her parents exasperated. It seemed to her father

that she was putting

obstacles in the way of her own good fortune. So he sternly ordered her to be ready by Thursday. In her extremity, Juliet decided to seek help of the kind priest. She said there was nothing she would not face, even the death by her own hands, rather than give up Romeo and marry Paris.

In order to be together with Romeo, Juliet took the medicine bravely on the eve of the wedding day and lost consciousness. Romeo got the news

of her “death” and felt an extremity of despair. He thought he would have no joy when Juliet was dead. So he kissed her and then drank the poison. When Juliet came to herself, she found her Romeo was dead, so she killed herself with a dagger. If they would not fight for the views on love in the feudalism and adhere to their parents’ views, they woul d have another end.

Maybe they would live with other persons not considering their love. So they would not have sacrificed their precious lives.

B. The Author’s Views on Love

1. The Formation of His Views on Love

Although there are no records, it seems that Shakespeare attended

the local grammar school at Stratford-upon-Avon, where he was born. As we know that

in 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years

older than he was. All this reflects that he was also the casualty of that society of

feudalism. And he also had no choices to express his love at that time.

Shakespeare’s dramas are the product of the British social life during the Renaissance and cultural development. At that time, Shakespeare’s humanistic worldviews were graduall y taken shape. And his works were filled with humanism spirit of optimism and full of humanistic ideals. It is

in this great historical background that Shakespeare’s protagonists in the first image are rebellious character. Based on this, he formed his special

views on love.

2. The Ways He Expressed His Views on Love

Shakespeare expressed his views on love from the following aspects: Shakespeare’s major characters: In this drama, Shakespeare’s major characters are individuals representing certain types. Shakespeare succeeds in exploring the characters’ inner mind. The soliloquies

in Romeo and Juliet fully reveal the inner conflict of his characters. Shakespeare also portrays his characters in pairs which will bring vividness to his characters.

Shakesp eare’s plays’ plot construction: Shakespeare’s plays are well-known for their adroit plot construction. Shakespeare usually borrows

the plots from some old plays or storybooks, or from ancient Greek and Roman sources. To make the play more lively and compact, he would shorten the time and intensify the story.

Shakespeare’s language: Shakespeare wrote skillfully in different forms, either formal ones or informal ones. He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom in this drama. His coinage of new words and distortion

of the meaning of the old ones also create striking effects on the reader. Shakespeare is above all writers in the past and in the present time.

In this drama, Shakespeare used different ways to express the theme.

Besides, he had some other ways to transfer his views on love to us. He used his drama to narrate the happy and sad life of the world.

V. The Influences and Significance of Romeo and Juliet

A. The Influences

Romeo and Juliet has great influences both on that time and today. And it

has the realistic significance to the world.

Romeo and Juliet reflects the characteristics of Shakespeare’s

early creativity. And Romeo and Juliet eulogizes the faithfulness of

love and the spirit of pursuing happiness. The play, though a tragedy,

is permeated with

optimistic spirit. So it has a great influence on People’s view on love at that time. More and more people wanted to pursue a perfect love.

The opinions of love in this drama still have some inspiration to

the modern

society. Modern people are influenced by Romeo and Juliet, and what they pursue is the spirit of love, not the physical things. They are inspired with this kind of love.

Romeo and Juliet added a sad atmosphere to the whole play, which

made people think what the true love is. As time changes, it changes the

confusing interpretation of the drama. More and more people are

attracted by this drama because of this deep love in Romeo and Juliet. This drama is a great masterpiece in the world. So Romeo and Juliet is of permanent art value in

the literature. With this further investigation of this drama, we

can gain more direct views on love in the feudalism. And we can have a good understanding on love nowadays. But it does not mean that the views on love in Romeo and Juliet are right. We can have our respective views on love based on the modern times.

B. The Realistic Significance

In Romeo and Juliet, the leading roles’ families were the representatives of the feudal power. They would fight on the street even when they just

happened to meet each other, let alone permitting their posterity to love each other. It reflects the society of feudalism. Romeo and Juliet establishes an imaginative world, in which we are likely to enter and share the fortuity of these imaginative people. Compared to the accurate reports, this works could enjoy the people and compels them to follow the imaginative world created.

Romeo and Juliet as a creative of individual scholars, in the light of the

true story of many young men and women to the unfortunate stories and legends