Love Above Life

My favorite scene from Act Two of Romeo and Juliet is scene two also referred to as the balcony scene. The balcony scene was my favorite because it portrays spontaneous, unrealistic, romantic, young love.  

The beginning of the scene is very romantic. Both characters confess their love for each other without the other person knowing. Romeo repeatedly compares Juliet to the sun. For example, Romeo says "Would through the airy region stream so bright/ That birds would sing and think it were not night," referring to Juliet.(Shakespeare) In this quote, Romeo metaphorically says that when Juliet comes along the birds get confused and think it is daytime.  I believe that this is one of Romeo's most poetic and romantic lines, making it one of my favorite quotes. 

Romeo is very romantic and very in love with the idea of love.  On the other hand, Juliet also loves the idea of love, but rather than just loving a person  she sees that there are sacrifices.  Juliet seems to be more level-headed, however she, like Romeo, falls in love too quick.  She says “Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet.”(Shakespeare) In this quote, Juliet expresses that she wants Romeo to give up his name as a Montague or to confess his love and she will give up her name Capulet. Giving up their family name means giving up everything, including all they have known their entire life.  Both characters are young and I'm not sure that they are thinking through giving up their lives.  It is very romantic and does display true love, but this is a choice that will impact the rest of their life.  Since they have lived their whole life under this name, most of the people they talk to will probably not talk to them anymore. In addition, they have never lived poor and probably have never worked.  If their relationship were to end and they were still alive, they most likely would not know what to do.  Keeping in mind that they have only known each other for a few hours, they tend to jump to conclusions and risk an unrealistic amount of their lives.

While Juliet is willing to give up more of a material life to be with him, Romeo is willing to risk his physical life to be with her. When Juliet warns Romeo that he will be killed if her family finds him, he answers, “I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight; And but thou love me, let them find me here: My life were better ended by their hate, Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.” (Shakespeare) Here, Romeo is saying that he would rather die than not be loved by her. Romeo wants to know that he is loved by Juliet, so he risks his life to come find his answers.  If he did not come to find out whether Juliet loves him, he may not have ever found out if she loves him.  This is a huge sacrifice being only a few hours into the relationship. He is basically betting his life on her returned love for him. 

So far, the balcony scene stands out as my favorite scene in Romeo and Juliet because of this idea of true love and how the character display it.