The High Price of Love in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Essay

In one of Shakespeare’s most masterful pieces, he depicts a tragic love story in which love conquers all†¦but at what cost? The truth is in this play, love is the victor, but with horrible consequences. Love lives on, love survives, but only at the loss of life. Not only in this play, but in many other Shakespearean works, the constant theme stands that any kind of marriage or deep emotional bond which is solely based on love ends tragically. Othello’s passionate love for Desdemona is the same passion that causes him to end her life. Antony, under the suspicion that Cleopatra has died, tries to commit suicide to only find out soon after that she is alive and in hiding, but all in vain for the fatal wound has already pricked it’s victim. Shakespeare constantly relates love with tragedy, stating that love is in fact fleeting and impermanent. The only way for love to live forever is if it dies young. Initially, there is an underlying struggle of duty verses love. Both families of the â€Å"star-crossed lovers†, especially the Capulets, focus on a successful marriage having an emphasis on d...