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Ryan O’Cain

Mr. Turley

English I Honors

17 October 2017

Romantic Love

Merriam Webster defines love as “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or

personal ties”. There are many different classifications of love. Some of these classifications

include romantic love, platonic love, narcissism, and many more. The six types of love that can

be found in Romeo and Juliet are romantic, unrequited, familial, narcissistic, platonic, and

religious love. One of the types of love that is most relevant in Romeo and Juliet and modern day

is romantic love. Romantic love is a mutual attraction between two individuals.

Romantic love is the type of love that is most relevant in modern society. It has a major

influence on how people live their lives. A romantic relationship is seen as an essential part of a

normal life in America. A prime example of this is how common it is for people to get married in

America. The frequency of marriages shows just how big of an impact romantic love has on

modern society. On the other hand, according to Time Magazine, about fifty percent of

marriages in America end in a divorce. However, if a person truly loves their spouse, divorce

should not be a problem. This is what makes romantic love the most relevant type of love in

modern day.

In Romeo and Juliet, romantic love is easily the most important type of love in the story.

The main example of romantic love in the story is the relationship between Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet felt such a connection that they both committed suicide at the sight of each

other dead. This emphasizes the extremity of the love shared between Romeo and Juliet. Romeo
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and Juliet decided to get married as soon as possible, as if they were worried that if they didn’t

do it then, they would not get another chance. Consequently, romantic love is the most important

type of love in Romeo and Juliet.

Romantic love in modern society is both similar and different to the romantic love

displayed in Romeo and Juliet. A similarity is that the relationship between Romeo and Juliet led

to them getting married, which is similar to modern times. In modern times, marriage is a normal

circumstance between two people in love. A difference is that the relationship in between Romeo

and Juliet developed much faster than most modern relationships do. Rather than being in a

relationship for a couple years before getting married, Romeo and Juliet got married within a

week of meeting each other. These are the main similarities and differences between the

romantic love in modern times and Romeo and Juliet.

For all the reasons discussed above, romantic love is the most prominent type of love in

both Romeo and Juliet and in modern society. Romantic love is not limited to just Romeo and

Juliet, however. It can be found easily throughout much of modern literature and movies. A

couple examples of romantic love in modern movies are the movies Titanic and Beauty and the

Beast. Romantic love is a major influence on modern literature, culture, and society.
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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet.

Abrams, Abigail. “Divorce Rates in US Drop to Nearly Forty-Year Low.” Time.com. Time,

2017. Web. 25 Oct. 2017. http://time.com/4575495/divorce-rate-nearly-40-year-low/

"Love." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2017.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/love