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How are strong feelings of love presented in ‘Romeo & Juliet’ and ‘Sonnet 43’?
I will be analysing the strong feelings of love presented by William Shakespeare and Elizabeth Barrett Browning in their texts –
“Romeo and Juliet” and “Sonnet 43”
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In “Sonnet 43” I will be analysing the love that Browning had for Robert – other aspects as to why the Sonnet is so
open and the structure of the poem
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Romeo and Juliet were brought up in a catholic society – in a society which was god fury – strong belief in damnation if one had
committed a sin
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When Romeo first catches sight of Juliet, in Act one, scene five, his subsequent soliloquy is a poetic
exploration of Juliet’s other-worldly qualities
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Religious imagery is used to
first introduce Juliet’s pure and virtuous character, and later the spiritual purity of Romeo and Juliet’s love
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(His) rude hand” by vowing to touch the hand of obvious and overpowering that a
simple touch would transfer these qualities, make holy all that merely touched her
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Encouraged by Juliet’s flirting, Romeo pronounces
that it is his “lips (that are) two blushing pilgrims” and that “a gentle kiss” would erase their sin
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Juliet is instigating a repeat
performance, another kiss
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When the tragic
lovers later meet in Act Two, scene two, during the famous Balcony Scene, Romeo again refers to Juliet as being a holy being,
this is an “Angel… a winged messenger of heaven” which again clearly alludes to Juliet’s celestial and striking beauty, a quality
Romeo has never before seen and so rationalises must mean that Juliet came from heaven
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The overall effect makes their flirting less seeding
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Similarly Browning uses religious imagery throughout “sonnet 43”
for instance Browning uses spatial metaphors to explore how her feelings for Robert extend past a human ability/capability
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The Shakespearian sonnet has 14 lines – split into three quatrains and one rhyming couplet
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The Shakespearian sonnet’s
rhyme scheme is slightly different from sonnet 43, it’s: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
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The playwrights William Shakespeare and Elizabeth Browning both ensure that they “bombard” and “machine-gun” love upon
the readers of their texts
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“She outshines the other women like a white dove in the middle of a flock of crows
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Doves represent and symbolise love and couples – the fact that Romeo says “white dove”
furthermore exaggerates the strong feeling of love because he’s bringing in religion into this
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Shakespeare also uses contrast because he compares her to a squad of
crows – crows are black
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Shakespeare also creates a strong and dramatic sense of fatherly love between Juliet and Capulet
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Capulet looked after his daughter Juliet – he was very strict and tried to make Juliet marry Paris (arranged marriage) the
arranged marriage shows unwanted love – causing drama
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Critics may argue that Capulet is “using” Juliet to gain something
by marrying into another family
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“Doth she not count her blest
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For example, “Doth she not count her blest” - Arcane as it seems, the answer to “Doth she not count her
blest” in Juliet’s perspective, and the Elizabethan audience’s is no! This is because even though Juliet’s father is a lord, they have
all the money and stardom in the world - she is still unable to envision happiness
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Capulet says she is “Blest”
(archaic for blessed), she is “one in a million” and merits better
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The term
“blest” brings seriousness into the conversation because it implies that she is elysian and it refers to religion which is generally a
serious thing
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Either way Juliet does tell one of her parents (Lady Capulet) that she doesn’t love Paris (Act 3, Scene 5)
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This is hyperbolic however because Shakespeare shows us that Capulet loves Juliet
so much that he is trying to control and “brainwash” Juliet
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The first eight lines are called an octave
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The last six lines are known as the sestet
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The ninth line is known as the Volta – it introduces a sharp twist, or a turn, which brings about the move to the resolution
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Perhaps she related to Petrarch’s spirituality and tried to
shield away from Shakespeare’s overtly sexual poetry
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Browning would’ve never been so
open about her feelings towards Robert if she knew the sonnets of “Sonnets from the Portuguese” we’re going to be available to
the public – this is the external factor and reasoning for why the sonnet shows such a strong sensation of almost lustful love
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During their engagement, Elizabeth wrote 44 sonnets to Robert Browning, her husband to be
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However, the sonnets were deeply personal and Elizabeth would only agree
to publish them anonymously; she didn’t want anyone to know that they were written by her
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The world love is monosyllabic – it is used intentionally in order to show
her feelings and stick it into his head
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There’s an emphasis on this trio here
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Her love is three-dimensional and goes further in all directions than she can
possibly even know
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These are not tangible boundaries; they can’t be touched nor
seen
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Elizabeth Browning changes the form to suit her though; how do I love thee? Then the rhythm slips back into normal
iambic pentameter as she calmly gives her reasons
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Browning
seems to be referring to god – saying that she needs Roberts “grace” or salvation – it’s like she wants to be with him so bad that
her life will come to an end if she isn’t
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The

words “out of sight” show that even she cannot plumb the depths of her love – it is unfathomable how much she loves him
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The usage of it also shows that not only her mind loves him
but her soul does too – as if it’s meant to be, as if god has assigned them two to be together – it’s also showing that her love for
Robert is not only physical but spiritual as well
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Critics may argue that it may mean more – they may say that he will provide everything that she could
possibly want; he will meet all of her simple needs all the time
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In the second line Elizabeth is hyperbolically emphasising that whatever time of day it is, she will be there
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In the third line of the quote the writer of the poem
decides to capitalise a word once again – she doesn’t do this unintentionally
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This would have been a very important issue at the time
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The word “freely” is a slight addition to the third line that makes it seem like
she’s not looking for anything in return, there are no restrictions on her love
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In the last line of this quote the word “purely” is being used deliberately to once again “machine-gun” pure and
spiritual sensation of love into Robert’s head
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The words “I love thee” always have some form of punctuation before them whether it’s
caesuras or full-stops; they are inserted into those specific parts of the poem repeatedly in order to emphasise the words “I love
thee” when us readers and her one and only love (Robert) read them

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