Jan 2, 2010

Romeo and Juliet | Common Themes in Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra

Essay exploring common themes and attitudes between the two works, including love, war, and the notion that love between two people can conquer death.

Shakespeare’s plays Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra share some common themes and attitudes, among them love, war, and the notion that love between two people can conquer even death. In Romeo and Juliet we find families at war, their children victims of an argument which is meaningless and irrelevant in the face of a mutual attraction. In Antony and Cleopatra the wars of nations and political intrigue trap the lovers in a net from which death is the only escape. Both pairs of lovers are dead at the end of each play; yet the nature and quality of...