The True Love and Humanism in Romeo and Juliet

Cui+Huanhuan

Abstract：Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespeares early tragedy work ， which is adapted according to an Italian folk story. Though Romeo and Juliet is not included in Shakespeares four tragedies， the story of Romeo and Juliet is known to many people. Chinese writer Luxun has said that “tragedy is the valuable thing which is used to show people in a broken way.” That is luxuns comment in order to describe his thoughts about tragedy. The story of Romeo and Juliet which happened in medieval Italy can show the beautiful tragedy. Under the dark and feudal environment in medieval times， in order to pursuit free love， Romeo and Juliet dare to deny family force and feudal system， which reflects the power of humanism at that time. Shakespeare's the love story not only praise free love， the liberation of human nature， and Renaissance humanism spirit， but also tell people this ideal will win through the final outcome.

Key words：Romeo and Juliet； Renaissance； humanism； William Shakespeare

1. The Introduction about the Theme and Background

1.1 The Theme of Romeo and Juliet

A famous saying， Chinese writer Luxun has said that “tragedy is the valuable thing which is used to show people in a broken way.” That is luxuns comment in order to describe his thoughts about tragedy. In fact， English famous dramatist Shakespeares masterpieces about tragedies interpreted it completely. Shakespeares plays always have profound meanings and each one is worth reading thoroughly as a classic and inspired work. Through tasting these works we can feel the beauty of human nature and learn the humanism in that time. Romeo and Juliet， a play of youth and love， is Shakespeares earliest great success in tragedy， which combines a tragic situation with comedy and gaiety. The play is an exposure of the old feudal world with its internal strife and its unnatural human relations.

1.2 The Background of Romeo and Juliet

With the environment of Renaissance movement produced in Italy， it was the first time that people had started to understand the true meaning of "people". Individual liberty is to ask people to pursue pure love and the rights of themselves.

2. The Summary of Romeo and Juliet and Two Main Plots

2.1 The Summary of Romeo and Juliet

The two hostile clans， Montague and Capulet， which belong to the main actor and actresss family respectively， have a perplexed question. So， it is the enmity that caused the tragedy between Romeo and Juliet. One is the young and handsome master of the house and the other is a lady of rich family. This drama is one of the great tragedy themed plays by William Shakespeare. The famous story of the "star-crossed" young lovers Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet couldn't solve the immature blind passion， hatred and prejudice with their love..Regardless of the feud between their families， they married secretly. They make every effort to conceal their secret but the story ends in tragedy when Romeo， Juliet， Tybalt， Mercutio and Paris all die.

2.2 The Two Main Plots in the Play

There are several highlights through the play. At the party， Romeo locks eyes with a young woman named Juliet. They instantly fall in love， but they do not realize that their families are mortal enemies. When they realize each others identities， they are devastated， but they can do nothing. Romeo sneaks into Juliets yard after the party and proclaims his love for her. She returns his sentiments and the two decide to marry. In this kind of beautiful scene， the couple shows their love to each other and says how much they love each other. How a poignant love it is. Beautiful and poignant love often ends with valuable and sad plots. In the plays ending， the two hostile clans restored good relationships， which is similar to Chinese famous play The Peacock Flies Southeast.

3. The Humanism in the Play

The love between Romeo and Juliet is pure and clean and they can influence some complex relations in the filthy word. Since the love cannot be treasured in this life， they just love each other again in next life. As long as the love exists， no matter where we are， no matter how fast time goes by and no matter how cruel the reality it is， the lovers heart can warm each other. Romeo is a mild， enthusiastic， frank， kind young man. However， in this work we see that he shows a dying people with unreasonable madness and expresses the love for his opponent after he killed Paris personally. Regardless of the feud between their families， he still married Juliet in order to purse his love and happiness. For Juliet， she is beautiful and pure， kind girl in her family. Before she fell in love with Romeo， she complied with his parents words and the calls from her family. However， when love suddenly appeared in her heart， she could completely abandon the feudal family conception for her love which showed that she is a firm and courageous women with humanist spirit.

4. Conclusion

Romeo and Juliet embodied humanism vividly in that period of time. It represents that people wanted to break chains in spirit and pursue the personal emancipation. It calls for everything should base on human. Romeo and Juliet is the famous love tragedy indicates Romeos futile fight against the feudal society. In a word， this version was not bad as a whole. But it could be better if it improves in some aspects. What I have learned from this story is that there is true love in the world. Whats more， once we have sought true love， we should stick to it. Orphic songs even can move heaven and earth， but not across the life and death； father Laurence Almighty cannot surmount the life and death， this is I see similarities. Only the love can across the life and death can be regarded as true love.

【Reference】

[1] William Shakespeare.Romeo and Juliet[M]. Beijing：China International Broadcast Press， 1994.

[2] 李景堯. 一部深受影响的爱情悲剧——谈《罗密欧与朱丽叶》[J]. 吉林艺术院学报， 2001（2）.

[3] 罗经国. 新编英国文学选读[M]. 北京： 北京大学出版社， 2001.

【作者简介】

崔欢欢（1993—），女，四川人，重庆师范大学硕士研究生，主要研究方向：学科教学（英语）。