Romeo and Juliet

This tragic play by William Shakespeare is the most famous love story in the English literary tradition. It focuses on the intense passion that springs up at first sight between Romeo and Juliet, who belong to rival families.

Oh, to be in love . . . 

The young lovers defy their entire world: families, friends, and country.  As the play progresses, love is shown as overwhelming, blinding them both completely.

It is only through death that Romeo and Juliet think they can preserve their love—a love so profound they are willing to end their lives to defend it.

Many fans of Romeo and Juliet think that this love is so exquisitely beautiful few would want, or are able, to resist its power.

“I disagree,” one of my friends on FB, cried. “What is so romantic about two very young people who fall madly in love then kill themselves to defy everyone? Had they grown up to be mature, thinking individuals to a ripe old age with that kind of passion, they would have separated—through annulment or divorce—or killed each other violently in an ugly fight.”  

“What is truly romantic,” she continues, is the love affair between a grandfather and a grandmother, who have grown old never giving up on each other. They have struggled through and survived life's obstacles together.”

She writes more, “This is the kind of love we should celebrate—write songs and posters for. This is what should be immortalized in movies and books.”

I wrote on her comment box, “This is a beautiful insight, thank you.” 

For indeed, it is the love founded on what Jesus taught us, powerfully written in 1 Corinthians 13, that should define a man and a woman who vow to love each other forever on the day they become one.