Romeo and Juliet | Aspects of Love

In the first excerpt, Leonara Brodwin studies Romeo and Juliet in relation to the courtly love tradition in Elizabethan romance. Courtly love is a philosophy that was prominent in chivalric times and had a significant irifluence on Renaissance literature. In the second excerpt, Van Doren contrasts Romeo and Juliet's attitude toward love with that of the other characters. While the hero and heroine view love as holy and solemn, the critic observes, Mercutio considers it pornographic, the Capulets prudent, and the Nurse practical, though, unlike the Capulets, with a "certain prurient interest." In the last excerpt, Maurice Charney places Romeo and Juliet in the context of love and lust as it is traditionally represented in Shakespeare, ultimately arguing that love in itself does not produce the tragedy in the play.