An Ode To Juliet

I was having this stimulating conversation with a friend of mine,the other day, as to why Juliet chose Romeo over Count Paris. What made things more interesting was perhaps the fact that even though the two of us were familiar with the basic storyline of Shakespeare’s classic, we had conveniently forgotten a number of intricate details,of stupendous importance. Closer introspection revealed that initially, Romeo, the most celebrated of the Montague’s was head over heels in love with Lord Capulet’s niece. He wrote a number of tragic poems and played the spurned lover thereby vying for her attention. He was awestruck by her beauty, her simplicity, her aura and yet she chose to remain celibate ,thereby thwarting his advances

“ She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow / Do I live dead that live to tell it now.”

Heartbroken, thwarted by this lady love,the youngest of the Montague’s attempted to seek solace by sneaking into Lord Capulet’s banquet,at the advice of his beloved Benvolio, who promised him that there he would come across women so beautiful that his beloved Rosaline would look like a “crow” in comparison. Romeo, doubted Benvolio yet agreed. It was there that he met the enemy’s daughter,his Lady Love,his Juliet.Thus began,one of the world’s most celebrated fictional romances,which continues to be remembered and loved (and applauded)by readers,critics,and people all around the world.

It became increasingly evident on subsequent readings that the fact that Romeo chose Juliet over Rosaline implied that he was but infatuated with the latter, while the former was his true love. Critics,I am told ,believe that Romeo’s earlier poems, dedicated to Rosaline were lyrically and conceptually much inferior as compared to the ones that he dedicated to Juliet,a possible reason being a young Shakespeare writing the initial portions of his celebrated draft as compared to a much wiser and more mature bard penning its conclusion.

I have always been an admirer of the Bard though if truth be stated,I haven’t read many of his works in their original format, primarily because of the fact that poetry has never been my cup of tea and I have always preferred prose over the former .I was introduced to the Bard by the works of a certain Charles and Mary Lamb ,when I was very young, maybe eleven and fell in love with his works. Moreover,that the word Romeo has now become a metaphor of a spurned lover,the fact that an Othello has become a metaphor of extreme misfortune bear testimony to Shakespeare’s genius.

That Romeo turned to Juliet was also an outcome of the fact that he had been repeatedly turned down by Rosaline (though not explicitly mentioned in the original work).Had Rosaline chosen Romeo over celibacy ,had Rosaline responded favourably to her young lovers repeated pleas of physical intimacy and companionship,would Romeo have turned to Juliet? Another factor which perhaps contributed to the coming together of these two colossal figures was that Juliet actually reciprocated Romeo’s advances. The fact that he never desired Rosaline post meeting Juliet can also be an outcome of what one of my friends call “mortification of self-gratification” or a man’s ego dictating terms.

Now comes the more pertinent question,why did Juliet reject Count Paris,who although a noble man has become a figure of much hate and disrespect primarily because of the fact that he desired Juliet,and was prepared to do away with Romeo,to be with her.Closer introspection reveals that Paris was desperately in love with Juliet,true he desired to have her as his wife even though she was an adolescent ,yet he chose to visit her and mourn her untimely death,even though he unaware that she was alive and unconscious.He chose to duel with Romeo and as he lay dying,he requested the latter to put him to rest beside his Lady Love,Juliet. She could never be his, she never wanted him as her husband and yet he loved her with all his heart.

A possible explanation for Juliet’s indifference could perhaps be attributed to the fact that Count Paris was considerably older than Juliet,another factor which according to me is the more potent reason was perhaps the fact that she too was sexually attracted to Romeo ,while she viewed Paris as just another suitor. However,given Juliet’s description in Shakespeare’s celebrated work as this mature ,headstrong,and intelligent character it is really paradoxical as to why she chose Romeo ,given that the latter (possibly) chose her after being repeatedly turned down by her father’s niece Rosaline. It may be mentioned however,that the verity that Romeo truly loved Juliet however cannot be questioned as he choose to be reunited with her on her Deathbed, which (although )was a foolish thing to do and it bears testimony to the fact that Romeo’s feelings for Juliet, were perhaps not guided by physical intimacy alone but that in the end,when all was over,he realized that he had become a part of her as she had become a part of him.

Moreover in many cases,that the protagonist has often been overshadowed by minor,recurring characters,the most notable being Karna in the Mahabharata,what surprises me even more is the fact that Count Paris’ unconditional love for Juliet was conveniently forgotten by the readers who branded him to be the play’s antagonist. The ignorant fools.

One of the primary reasons as to why,this post took a really really really long to get published was because of the inherent complexity of the subject it dealt with. I was nineteen years old when I published Amarcord, and on introspection I find many a detail pertaining to the state of affairs which had occurred at that point of time. Moreover the post was very political in nature partly because of the fact that I was deeply disturbed by the atrocities being conducted by a particular political power. What is perhaps ironic is that in two years time the dreaded political power has not only lost almost all its relevance in the contemporary political scenario of West Bengal ,but has also become virtually non-existent at the Centre.

Content, with the existing state of affairs I attempted to digress from the format which I had followed diligently for the previous two years and thereby present my take on human relationships. My take on love, on infatuation ,on spirituality on religion. As mentioned,due to the complexity of the nature of the subjects which I wanted to deal with,this post took a very long time to conceptualize.

I have always sympathized with Count Paris because he was perhaps the only human and relate able character in Romeo and Juliet. In the twenty one years that I’ve lived,I’ve come across countless Romeo’s and Countless Juliet’s, not necessarily encountering the same fate as the unfortunate duo, but I have encountered only one Count Paris. A possible reason as to why Romeo’s and Juliet’s have been glorified is perhaps the fact that such immature acts of love,culminating in tragedy, although juvenile have mass appeal and have often been projected as heroic deeds. People like Count Paris on the other hand have been projected as the quintessential loser,as one who couldn’t even get the girl and died fighting those he had promised to destroy. This however, is a matter of perception.

What does one mean when one says that he loves someone? What is the primary difference between intense admiration and love or are both concepts one and the same?

At the onset,loving someone doesn’t necessarily imply members of your family,or members of the fairer sex for that matter.One of the primary reasons why the Outsider was such a riveting book to read was perhaps because of the fact that while Camus’ Mersault was totally indifferent to the proceedings of the world he was in no way disgusted with it .He had lost his mother at the beginning of the novel,and at the time of his prosecution, one of the primary reasons as to why he was given capital punishment was because he did not shed any tears and was visible unperturbed at the time of her death. However as has been mentioned explicitly, Mersault was the only child and being brought up by his mother was visibly attached to her, they may have grown apart with the passage of time but that does not in any way imply that Mersault did not love his mother, or life for that matter.

I have admired a number of people, in these twenty-one years of my life,I get to meet some of them socially,I get to talk to some of them occasionally and yet mutual admiration, like the derivative of a linear homogeneous function has and will always remain constant.

The only Count Paris that I have encountered period is one who (like my Marxist friends) has lost much of his vigour and mass appeal in recent years. However unlike the latter he is as relevant today as he was two hundred years ago and I’m sure, will continue to be so in years to come. Born the eldest son of the ruler of a princely Indian province, he willingly agreed to give up his kingdom and go into exile. His adherence to “dharma” despite hard texts of time, upliftment of moral values, refusing to distinguish between his beloved wife and his subjects so as to rule out favoritism on his part, has made him legendary.I have always been a sympathizer of the movement which attempts to restore the temple constructed in his honour ,at his rightful place of birth ,and will continue to do so as long as I live.

It is high time that we spoke for the Count Paris’ of the world. The Romeo’s and the Juliet’s have been basking in the limelight for too long...