Shakespeare was undoubtedly the most popular playwright of his time, and possibly of all time. His tragedies are well-known throughout the English-speaking world. One of his most famous works is Romeo and Juliet, a tragic love story. Romeo and Juliet ...
Shakespeare was undoubtedly the most popular playwright of his time, and possibly of all time. His tragedies are well-known throughout the English-speaking world. One of his most famous works is Romeo and Juliet, a tragic love story. Romeo and Juliet are two youths who fall in love with each other despite a feud between their families. Their families oppose their relationship, and they decide to end their lives because of the destructive nature of their family's conflict.
Liang Shanbo's biography presents us with another type of tragedy; its origin lies in the East. In the biography, Zhu Yingtai disguised herself as a man in order to pursue an educational path. While on this path, she bumped into Liang Shanbo again and became his bosom friend. However, her father forced her to accept a marriage proposal from another man, which sharpened the conflict between love and feudal ethics.
Each love is built on traditional culture and social institutions. The purpose of my study is to use Romeo and Juliet and Liang Shanbo's biography to analyze the difference in ideals about, and the portrayal of, love in works of love from the East and West. What they share in common is a willingness to sacrifice themselves for their love. They both view death as the ultimate way to assert the dignity of love, which can resolve conflicts between the individual and society.
Juliet is frank and bold; she is brave enough to pursue her true love. In contrast, Zhu Yingtai's ideas are clearly influenced by traditional Confucianism, which, in Eastern thought, is viewed as more important than one's personal desires or beliefs. People from the East regard selfless contributions as the highest standard of morality. Zhu can not make a drastic decision because of familial pressures and traditional filial piety. She is constrained by patriarchal clan rules and the rigid stratification of feudal ethics, but through death, she chooses her love and gets rid of the shackles of the patriarchal clan rules and feudal ethics.
By comparing these two different stories, my study draws a conclusion that highlights the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western concepts of love. Although the two stories took place in two different cultures, they share similar values.