Sadie Barling

Ms. Giovanetti

English 1H Period 1

Anatomy of Broken Heart

Voodoo dolls are commonly known for being able to cast pain amongst others by causing

pain to the doll, which will then afflict on the a real person. When you feel love for someone,

they act as their voodoo doll, so when one feels pain the other aches for them too, and cant help

but feel their pain inside too. From parents and kids to husbands and wives and teachers and

apples, the types of love and the feelings that come with them range from a wide variety.

Feelings of both love and pain are common factors all humans can relate to, and mixing those

together to create sweet sorrow can leave even the strongest minded individuals dazed and

confused. When all else seems lost most people believe they can rely on love to bring peace and

serenity, but when the suffering of guilt, loneliness, and jealousy set in, the ups of love dont

seem worth the short spurts of happiness in between. Love is put into a new perspective in

Williams Shakespeares play, Romeo and Juliet,and other literary texts, by revealing how storge

and eros can cause tragedy not only for lovers, but for their families too.

Unsuspecting parents are struck with tragedy when their loved ones romance is suddenly

forced into secrecy, causing them to have to watch their lives come to an end. William

Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, follows a pair of star-crossed lovers whose marriage is
forbidden by their parents. Shakespeare uses foreshadowing by having Friar Laurence, a father

figure to Romeo, try to remind him to, love moderately, (2.6.14). As the best honey could ruins

someones appetite, Romeos passionate love could have violent ends, (2.6.9). The Friars

advice proves how his parental feelings for Romeo, still do not stop him for marrying Romeo

and Juliet together in secrecy and defying both their families wishes. Friar Laurences love and

wish for Romeo to be happy, lead to him helping the young lovers despite the fact he knew it

was wrong, and eventually resulted in the loss of the childrens lives. Both children and parents

strive for each others love, but the actions that go unnoticed tend to mean more than the things

we say to one another. Loves Vocabulary, an article by Diane Ackerman, is about how love

cannot be explained with the worlds limited vocabulary. She speaks of storge and the

increments of love saying, How much do you love me, a child asks. Because the parent cant

answer I (verb that means unconditional parental love) you, she may fling her arms wide; and

say: This much! (68-69). Parents can find a hard time trying to show their kids just how much

they mean to them, when it comes to words. Children often neglect and discard the subtle actions

parents do to keep their children safe and away from heartaches. The stern methods parents use

make it easy for kids to forget that their parents always have their best interest in mind when

setting rules, because if they defy them, they may find themselves in tragic heartbreaking

situations.

Decisions made out of storge is not always what is best for their child, but what the

parent believes is right to do. After Juliet tells her parents she does not wish to marry Paris, in a
fit of anger her father threatens, go with Paris to Saint Peters Church, Or I will drag thee on a

hurdle hither, (3.5.154-155). Capulet no longer approves of Juliet marrying anyone other than

Paris, and convinces her she will not have a home if she does not follow through with marrying

him that Thursday evening. In fear of being disowned by her family, Juliet and the Friar plan to

fake her death so she can avoid her marriage with Paris. Lack of communication with Romeo

about Juliets death being faked resulted in the real death of Juliet, after she discovered Romeo

had killed himself because he thought that he was really dead. Tragically this left Lady and Lord

Capulet daughterless. Lord capulet had no knowledge of how his words would lead to the

sorrowful deaths of two innocent lives. s Duty gives an insighPamela Berkmant of Lady

Capulets perspective on Romeo and Juliets death. After having found their only daughter lie

dead with the son of their enemy, the author shows us how Lord Capulet felt in that moment,

Regret. Can it be that my hot-blooded lord and master feels regret? (127-128). Lady Capulet

watches her husband cry as the nurse tells him Juliets death is all his fault for being too harsh on

her. The tough, intimidating Lord Capulet shows his inner compassion when he realizes that the

life of daughter was worth so much more than his feud against the Montagues.

Juliet had just found out her true love had been exiled on the night of their honeymoon,

and as she weeps for his absence, she cries, Ill to my wedding bed; And death, not Romeo, take

my maidenhead, (3.2.136-137). By this Juliet means, if she cannot live with her new husband,

she will accept death as her husband and kill herself. She feels her love for Romeo so deeply,

that she refuses to continue living if he is not there with her, creating an emotional tragedy inside
herself. Eros has caused lovers to put themselves through mental and physical torture when

separated from their loved ones. In Ovids tale of Pyramus and Thisbe a misunderstanding

causes Pyramus to believe his love, Thisbe, has died, although she has not. Before killing himself

he utters, she was the one more worthy of long life; its I who bears guilt for this, (80-81).

Pyramus believes he is to blame for her death because he let her walk alone and was not there in

time to rescue her, so he kills himself from guilt. Out of love, he puts blame on himself for his

loves death and cannot live with the thought of knowing he could have saved the love of his

life. The effect love has on people can blind them from making rational decisions.

Overall, by examining the use of eros and storge in texts such as, the tragedy of Romeo

and Juliet; by William Shakespeare, Ovids tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, Duty by Pamela

Berkman, and Loves Vocabulary by Diane Ackerman, it is demonstrated how the outcome of

love can be the tragic death of innocent lives, which hurts loved ones left behind. In both Duty

and Romeo and Juliet, the deaths of their children create immense amounts of guilt and suffering

for their parents, who only wanted to protect them from their sworn enemies. While in Loves

Vocabulary, the author gives us insight of how difficult it can be to express your love for

someone, causing a painful feeling of neglect in the relationship. Not only does storge backfire,

but eros can take a deadly turn, which is shown in Pyramus and Thisbe and Romeo and Juliet.

The weight of living without their partner is too much to bear, causing both pairs of star-crossed

lovers to end their lives out of love, creating a tragic love story. The bitter-sweet feeling of love

shown openly in these texts, ending in death should make lovers think twice before assuming

theyll live happily ever after.

 Works Cited

Ackerman, Diane, Loves Vocabulary

California Collections. Ed. Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago,

William McBride, Erik Palmer, and Lydia Stack.

Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. 183-278 Print.

Berkman, Pamela. Duty

California Collections. Ed. Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago,

William McBride, Erik Palmer, and Lydia Stack.

Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. 183-278 Print.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

California Collections. Ed. Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago,

William McBride, Erik Palmer, and Lydia Stack.

Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. 183-278 Print.

Ovid. Pyramus and Thisbe

California Collections. Ed. Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago,

William McBride, Erik Palmer, and Lydia Stack.

Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. 183-278 Print.