In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, there are several themes. One theme deals
with “eye love” versus “heart love”. Eye love is loving someone at first
sight because of their personal appearance. Heart loving is loving someone for
who they are, regardless of appearance. Another theme of this play is fate and
its hands in their lives. Heart love versus eye love is one theme. This is seen
through Romeo’s two female loves during the play. Romeo was in love with
Rosalind at the beginning of the play even though she did not return the
feelings. This is heart love. Romeo’s love for Juliet is eye love. He fell for
Juliet without knowing her. When Friar Laurence asked Romeo about this, he said
his love for Rosalind was wrong because she didn’t return it, and that his
love for Juliet was right because she returned the feelings. Fate is another
theme in the play. Fate is when everything is predetermined. Fate is inevitable.
This is seen through both Romeo and Juliet. Anytime something goes wrong, they
quickly blame it on fate or “the stars”. They never stopped to think it
could be themselves doing it.