This 3 page paper analyzes Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet according to Joseph Campbell's theories on Love and Myth. Based on Joseph Campbell's book, The Power of Myth. Quotes Cited from text. Bibliography lists 1 source.
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classic love story gone horribly wrong. This would not be far from true, but given the nature of the love between the two famous lovers, Joseph Campbell, in his book,
The Power of Myth, sheds a greater light on the theme of love. Campbell, in a fictitious conversation between himself and Moyers, discuss the issue of love. Campbell states
that in his studies of various cultures, he has found that there are several types concepts of love which were prevalent in the 12th century. First, he states, there was
Eros, which was a belief of the Greeks and others under their influence. This type of love was almost like a seizure that one was helpless against. "Eros," writes Campbell,
"is a biological urge. Its the zeal of the organs for each other. The personal factor doesnt matter"(Campbbell, 186). In some respects Romeo and Juliet have this type of
eros for each other initially. Romeo shows no real romantic bent at the beginning of the play. In fact, he is taking part in a street fight. When he first
sees Juliet, he is struck by her beauty. Yet, he does not know her as a person. This attraction that he has for her is purely impersonal. However, if
Romeo simply stopped at this infatuation then the tale would not have been so tragic. Romeo gets to know Juliet, and the friar aids their liaison for his own ends.
Thus, according to Campbell, we can see that Romeo and Juliet are moving from eros into amore. Campbell states that beside the form of eros there was an additional
way in which love was viewed. That is the form of agape which is a religious type of love for ones neighbor. The Montagues and the Capulets do not have