Romeo and Juliet | Romeo and Juliet

In the first selection, Clifford Leech views Romeo and Juliet's love as a maturing experience for the hero and heroine. In the second excerpt, C. Webster Wheelock cites numerous passages in support of his theory that the paradoxical blending of sexual love and death is the central theme in Romeo and Juliet. In the last excerpt, Alice Shalvi asserts that Shakespeare designed the tragic outcome to be the result of the lovers' "passionate rashness," and particularly Romeo's "passionate nature and his lack of moderation."

Clifford Leech
[Leech views Romeo and Juliet's love as a maturing experience for the hero and heroine and demonstrates how the development of their language, in particular, marks their entry into adulthood. Although the critic notes several humorous elements in the couple's declarations of love, he points out that they also frequently speak with authority, suggesting the seriousness of their commitment to one another. In Leech's opinion, Juliet's language displays both her inexperience and her newfound maturity as she struggles to find images to express her love for Romeo. Her...