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  • Essay / Archetypal Romeo Juliet - 1991

    When they first meet at the Capulet party, they speak in sonnets, a sign to readers that they will eventually become objects of affection for each other. However, the pattern of Petrarch's sonnets emerges in Romeo's life, where requited love never exists, indicating that this love will not be eternal. The most explicit moment of their plight occurs during Act 5 Scene 3, where Romeo commits suicide, not realizing that Juliet is still alive. When Romeo first enters the tomb and sees Juliet's lifeless body, one of the first things he says is, "Oh, what can I/call that lightning?" O my love! my wife!" (V.3.90-91). This type of reaction, the feeling that this love he has just received has suddenly been taken away from him, shows the true influence of Romeo by Petrarch's sonnet. The two lovers have been reunited as quickly as they were taken away, restoring balance to the Petrarchan sonnet archetype of love that ultimately did not work Romeo continues: “Why are you still so beautiful Do I? believe / That insubstantial death is in love, / And that the thin and abhorred monster keeps you here in the dark to be his lover (V.3.102-105) that after having already taken the poison, according to the indications in the scene), Romeo accepts from afar that even if Juliet does not seem dead, she is adding that death only preserves her appearance;