Yuvraj Singh 11SKA

English Literature CAT

How are relationships presented in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet and

Brownings Sonnet 43?

William Shakespeare and Elizabeth Barret Browning both had explored relationships
within their texts, which were Romeo and Juliet and Sonnet 43, even though there was
a huge gap of possibly over 250 years between the two respected authors. In this essay I
will be exploring the links, textual detail, language, structure and ideas of the two texts
and also exploring how strong feelings of love are portrayed within in the two texts too.
Shakespeare was originally a poet and play writer whereas Browning was just a lover who
was writing to her husband to be who insisted on publishing her writing. Elizabeth Barret
Browning is a very successful poet who was published from the tender age of 15, her
fianc (who she wrote Sonnet 43 to) was a man named Robert Browning and he was
actually her fan who had written to her.

Shakespeare uses a lot of religious imagery to suggest that Romeos love is god is what
god wants it to be and is spiritually pure. In act one scene five Romeo says to Juliet
with my un-worthiest hand this holy shrine my lips, two blushing pilgrims In this
rhyming couplet, Romeo makes several religious references. By mentioning that his hand
is unworthy Romeo may be implying that he is unworthy of her and he is a sinner but he
also uses the metaphor two blushing pilgrims in which he says that his lips are two
pilgrims hands touch so although his hand is unworthy, his lips arent and Juliet should do
what hands do with her lips. Romeo also calls Juliet a holy shrine, so he is suggesting
that Juliet is holy and not a sinner whereas he is unworthy and sinful. In a way he may be
complementing her in a religious and pure because he wants her to be flattered and also
because she is virtuous. In a way, Romeo is using religious imagery to flirt with Juliet. By
referring to her as pure, holy and a holy shrine he is attempting to cleanse and purify
his lustful intentions and desires to kiss her. On the other hand Browning refers to a
different type of religious imagery in her text. In the line "I love thee to the depth and
breadth and height, my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight" Browning describes her
love using a metaphor: her love extends to the "depth" and "breadth" and "height" that
her soul can "reach." She is presenting her love as a three-dimensional substance which
fills the container of her soul. Also in the line "I love thee with a love I seemed to lose,
With my lost saints" Browning suggests that she loves him so much that she 'seemed to
lose, with my lost saints' which could mean that she may be losing her love and devotion
for her family or even her faith's saints and even god. They have all become 'lost saints'
for her now. Another reference to religion could be in the line "Smiles, tears, of all my life!
---and, if god choose, I shall but love thee better after death". This may seem a little
negative because she talking about tears and her love echoes the wedding vows but
religion will help her love because she will 'love thee better after death'. However she
also says 'if god choose' and the word 'death' which implies that she is aware of the
limitations of life and 'better or worse and the reference to after death gives the reader
a sense of infinity, eternity and maybe even heaven because thats the only peaceful
place where the two lovers can stay together after death in peace. Browning also uses
the word Passion as a religious term in the line I love thee with the passion put to use.
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. The word Passion is referring to Jesus as
he was crucified, so Browning is essentially saying that she will love Robert even in
depraved and bad times with passion, just as Christ remained faithful to God as he went
through the agony of his crucifixion.

Yuvraj Singh 11SKA

English Literature CAT

Shakespeare associates dark to light to Romeo & Juliet a lot in his play. He says that he is
impure, however Juliet is referred to as a pilgrim and a holy shrine; these terms are all
religious and pure as is Romeos love for Juliet because love is gods creation and god is
like a light and god's creation should be respected. R&J are therefore contrasted in many
ways such as impure and pure, light and dark and holy and sinful. This could be
suggesting that Romeo is more lustful because he is a sinner and also Juliet is more
powerful because she is associated as a holy shrine which could link in with god, god
being the ultimate ruler and creator of all to which everyone looks up to. On the other
hand, the interplay of light and darkness also highlights the secrecy of their relationship
too, because of the forced secrecy of their relationship, Romeo and Juliets love blossoms
under the blanket of night and darkness. This is hanging more towards Romeo as he
hides in the shadows during act one scene two when Juliet is talking to herself and hears
Romeo talking. Juliet asks what man art thou that, thus bescreened in night, so
stumblest on my counsel? He then looks to the balcony and compares Juliet to the sun.
He then asks the sun to rise and kill the envious moon. Romeo had always compared
Rosaline to the moon, and now, his love for Juliet has outshone the moon. He
commanding the real Light to kill the envious moon as the moon doesnt produce light,
but instead it reflects the light of the sun. By killing the moon he may also be implying
that he wants Juliet to Kill whatever remaining love Romeo has in him for Rosaline. As
Romeo steps from the moonlit darkness into the light from Juliet's balcony, he has left
behind his previous dramatic woes and his puppy love for Rosaline and has moved
towards a more genuine, mature understanding of love. In the line It seems she hangs
upon the cheek of night. Like a jewel upon an ethiops ear... dark and light are again
contrasted as light is best seen at night so is Juliet. She hangs upon the cheek of
night, suggesting Juliet stands out from any other girl, because her differentiated beauty
is as rare as a rich jewel. The darkness of the nigh protects the two lovers from
exposure and also the wrath of their feuding families who will not accept this
relationship. However Browning has a different approach to light and dark in her text, "I
love thee to the level of every days, most quiet need, by sun and candle-light". That line
suggests that Browning loves him so much the she loves him 'by the sun and candlelight' which means that even if his light or 'love' is natural or it was set by someone else,
she still loves him every day and she loves him no matter what light she sees in him. The
symbol of light is used perhaps in reference to the darkness and loneliness that plagued
most of Brownings earlier life as she was bedbound and lonely. Robert is the light that
took away and got rid of this darkness and loneliness from Brownings life and he brought
her happiness as well as hope. Dark and light is also contrasted a lot in Sonnet 43
because as Browning is writing a Sonnet in an Iambic Pentameter format and shes also
writing it in the structure of an Italian sonnet which means it is following the rules such as
the octave and the sestet. During Sonnet 43s octave, Browning gives a very positive and
enlightened and good side of her love and shows purity which she is all linking to light.
However after the Volta and during the sestet, a lot of negative language is used to
question her love for him. Language such as death which feels darker and contrasts to
the start of the Sonnet.

William Shakespeare portrays and mocks Courtly love in the play R&J. During the start
of the play, a few moments of courtly love are present between Romeo and Rosaline
although he didnt truly love her as he was love sick and that was just puppy love.
However Romeo shows signs of courtly love after Rosaline jilted him. Romeos
inexperience as a lover at this point in time guides the exaggerated weeping of his heart

Yuvraj Singh 11SKA

English Literature CAT

and this was typical of how young lovers, during this time, thought they should act when
in love .Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty till
this night. This implies that Romeos short-lived courtly obsession with Rosaline was
nothing in comparison to the emotions he is now feeling. It is love at first sight. However
Romeo is describing Juliet more as an object a true beauty implying that any other
woman he has seen before this was not a true beauty. This seems to be rather
exaggerated and conflicts with how Romeo was earlier describing Rosaline as rich in
beauty too. After this, during the ballroom scene, a lot of courtly love is shown between
Romeo & Juliet. During Shakespeares time only the upper classes and rich people
practised courtly love as an art and this was done by almost all the rich people. It was
like a tradition for them, the men would teach their boys on how to be men and would
arrange their marriages too for wealth and power. This tradition of courtly love is
portrayed throughout the play R&J. Courtly love language is used a lot during the
ballroom scene in which Romeo exaggerates a lot, calling Juliet a saint and mentioning
that her lips are two blushing pilgrims. This is suggesting that Romeo thinks that Juliet is
a goddess, which is one of the characteristics of women in courtly love and is how men
treat women in courtly love. In Sonnet 43, Browning is being very direct and reveals her
love for her fianc especially in the line How do I love thee? Let me count the ways! The
reader does not feel that her feelings are any less bottomless for her fianc than Romeos
are for Juliet, as both display an honesty and directness that reject the inflated and
dramatic spectacle seen in Romeos heartbreak over Rosaline.

In Sonnet 43, Browning also used structures and different techniques to present her
sonnet and her love to Robert. In sonnet 43, I love thee is repeated eight times in total.
This kind of repetition, especially in poems is called anaphora. In the poem, the
repetition is a confirmation of Brownings feelings to her to-be husband Robert. She
repeats the line to confirm that Robert is that one she is saying this too, not anyone else.
Browning has also used some exclamation marks in her poem, for example in the line
Let me count the ways! the exclamation mark is used to make the tone of the sentence
more enthusiastic, exciting and to show how passionate she is. She wants to count the
ways in which she loves him and is bursting with happiness, emotion and feelings. During
the sonnets iambic pentameter, Browning doesnt follow the strict form of writing but
instead adapts the sonnet to her likings in the line HOW do I LOVE thee? which is the
rhetorical question at the start of the sonnet. After this, Browning goes back to the
traditional form of the iambic pentameter form of writing as she explores the ways and
reasons of her love for Robert. Also Browning links rights of men and women of her time
as well as what she wants in the line I love thee freely, as men strive for Right by
capitalising the R in right, she implies the fact that she loves him as much as men strive
to be free and have their correct rights and this would have been more important in her
time as women didnt have rights before and men were more free. As she loves him
freely she doesnt care about any rights and is also not excepting for anything in return
other than Roberts love and for her there are no restrictions being applied on her love.
Similarly in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare also made use of the structure of a Sonnet
when Romeo first met Juliet in act one scene five. One of the structural features
Shakespeare used in this scene was something which I call a problem and solution
structure in what Romeo says to Juliet. An example of this structure is used in the line If I
profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two
blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss Romeo
presents a problem which is the fact that his hand is unworthy, and he also gives Juliet a
solution by saying that he can amend this by kissing her hand, like a pilgrim at a "holy

Yuvraj Singh 11SKA

English Literature CAT

shrine." Shakespeare also uses another type of structure in the Sonnet. Shakespeare
makes use of an unusual rhyme scheme. Shakespeare usually made use of the abab
cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme. However, in the second quatrain the words this and kiss
are repeated, making the rhyme scheme: abab cbcb. The repetition of the words this
and kiss may be emphasising how strong Romeos feelings are for Juliet or maybe just
shows how badly Romeo wants to kiss Juliet. The two words may also be rushing inside
Juliets head as she mentions to Romeo that You kiss by th' book. which to me suggests
the Juliet believes Romeo is such a good kisser that its as though he has read a manual
on how to kiss.

To conclude, I think that Romeo and Juliet and Sonnet 43 have some similarities as well
as some differences in the way they present relationships. For example in Romeo and
Juliet, Romeo presents his love in religious ways and uses dark to light imagery as well as
Sonnet 43. However in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo uses religious imagery to flatter Juliet.
Whereas in Sonnet 43, Elizabeth Barret Browning uses religious imagery to refer her love
to god, and how she will continue to love Robert even after death. However in my opinion
I think that Browning shows more affection for Robert and is more conscious about the
future as well as what may happen if he doesnt love her, whereas Romeo just wants
Juliet to reciprocate to his desires and kiss him. He is more blind in his love for Juliet even
though Browning mentions I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost Saints!
which seems to be referring to her parents or maybe even Angels and God himself as
Catholics believe saints are those virtuous people who have entered heaven. All in all,
relationships and different types of imageries are presented in many ways within Romeo
and Juliet and Sonnet 43 such as courtly love, religious imagery, dark and light imagery
and different types of structures especially the structure of Sonnets.