Explore how Shakespeare presents love within Romeo and Juliet.

Throughout the play Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare presents love as an ever-present force which controls and guides the names-sake of the play. From the very start, Romeo and Juliet’s love is pronounced as otherworldly, the two “star cross’d lovers” were fated to not only fall in love but to eventually die because of it. This shows how both youthful romantics are in fact controlled by a higher being which pre-determines their fate. Shakespeare establishes the use of astronomical imagery within the Prologue in order to emphasise to the audience how their love allows them to transcend reality and create their own world “hanging in the stars”. Thus, showcasing the intense and passionate nature of their infatuation. However, the fact that the central love interest within the play results in death showcases the paradoxical nature of love, highlighting to the audience how it can be a powerfully dangerous force that has the ability to upset the balance of the universe. It also shows how the line between romance and violence can be easily blurred and that "violent delights have violent ends". Consequently, emphasising to the audience the futility of the protagonists' romance; they were born to die together.