The Almost-Mythological Level Attained by Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet could most assuredly be called one of the most famous love stories of all time. Their names have seeped into common language, those sappy-eyed lover-boys being deigned, "Romeo", and the girl he's perpetually after, "Juliet". There is no mistaking that this play has achieved the highest level of literary and cultural recognition; it is famous all over the world.

The realization that this play has become immortal begs the question: why has it become so famous? To answer this, one only need look into the universal qualities this play exemplifies. Romeo and Juliet has the whole package. It has forbidden lovers, dramatic fight scenes, comic relief, family rivalries, characters from all walks of life, poetry, passion, minute-by-minute action, and death. It has suspense, yet flagrant foreshadowing. It has arduous love, yet is centered around the hate between two families. It has the boy every girl wants: love-struck, willing to do anything for love, risky, daring, forbidden, handsome, in pursuit. It has the girl every boy wants: beautiful, young, forbidden, cautious yet willing,courageous, faithful, completely sold-out. All of these factors combine to weave an immortal story, unforgettable to the ages.

Romeo and Juliet not only contains these literary factors which enthrall audiences, it also comes in the form to awe them as well. Shakespeare wrote the whole play in blank verse, which is a remarkable feat in and of itself, but this method of writing also lends itself to a certain poetic element that draws viewers in. Without being blatantly poetic (lacking rhyme, for the most part), Romeo and Juliet oozes the language of romance and passion in a way that is conveyed subtly to the audience, not thrust upon them. Shakespeare also added rhyming couplets, telling viewers and readers alike when something of great import was happening. These couplets are mostly delivered at the end of scenes, to wrap up events and add to the coming suspense of the next scene. These elements of form and structure really add to the solidity and passion of the play, further endearing them to the whole world.

This play also contains scenes which have attained almost mythological proportions. The balcony scene is one of the best-known scenes in all of literature, evoking images of two forbidden lovers, conversing from two different altitudes in the dark moonlight. This scene is immortalized in the oft-quoted lines of Romeo, "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?/ It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." These lines, murmured quietly in the seclusion of Juliet's garden, entice audiences because of their poetic nature and secretive environ. Though Romeo has not known Juliet for more than a couple hours, he can compare her to the sun, and he can utter beautifully poetic lines about her, even when he is not addressing her. This scene, about the first private exchange between the two lovers, has most likely become Shakespeare's most famous scene.

Finally, one of the main reasons why Romeo and Juliet is so famous is the events at the end of the play. It is simply unforgettable when the two lovers narrowly miss each other and separately take their own lives when they think the other is dead. To love so much, so quickly, means a whole lot, and the tragedy of the final act stick in the hearts of those who read and watch it. When Romeo drinks over Juliet's seemingly dead body, uttering, "Here's to my love!", the hearts of all beholding it sink, and they know that there is no saving the unfortunate lovers from their "untimely death[s]". All the world would want so badly to aid Friar John, to speed up the awakening of Juliet, to prevent the apothecary from selling his lethal dose, but alas! they cannot. This element of preventable tragedy, unstoppable even as it is being played out, touches the hearts of those who behold it. Romeo and Juliet have gone down in history as the couple for whom everyone would save if they had the chance. An aching heart, inherent to the end of the play, is felt by all, and this has made the story virtually mythological: everyone remembers the tragic story of Romeo and his Juliet.