“Love is like fire, but whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn your house you can never tell.”  -Joan Crawford

But were the two star-crossed lovers from the beautiful city of Verona ever in love? Can the ‘love’ between Romeo and Juliet be compared to that of a three-year-old who catches a glimpse of a talking dinosaur in the window of a toy store and is now ready to go to war to get it?

Is that love forever?

No! It is not, and that is one of the main reasons that the play from the Elizabethan era is still relevant to modern audiences, especially adolescents. Romeo and Juliet’s love-story is an over-exaggerated version of today’s high school romances. We misinterpret our materialistic desires for love, that includes falling for someone’s physical features rather than understanding and appreciating them as a person. Chances are that as an adolescent you are more likely to fall prey to fake love as you don’t even have a full understanding of yourself.

Be it Ed Shereen singing about the ‘Shape of You’ or that crush of yours at school looking at you with his deep brown eyes, you are more than often mistaking the release of certain chemicals and hormonal changes for love. In Act 2 Scene 3, Friar Lawrence quotes, “for doting, not for loving, pupil mine”, reminding Romeo that he never loved Rosaline but obsessed over her. Romeo’s immaturity made him assume his attraction was love, and that impetuous behavior was repeated when he fell for his beloved wife.

When your friends whisper to you that the nerd in your history class has a crush on you, do you find him more interesting than before and start to notice things you never seemed to have cared about? The way his long curls bounce off as he plays basketball and how his smile brightens his face and brings a smile on yours.

Congratulations! You just fell in ‘love’.

During teenage years peer pressure, combined with the feeling of not being able to relate to anyone, makes you feel all alone in this cruel world, but your genius mind seems to have found the perfect solution – a boyfriend/girlfriend. Unfortunately, this ends you with someone your height who would look good in your prom pictures, not love.

Juliet’s emotions towards the young Montague were similar, with her trying to find a partner to give her the affection that her egoistic father and weird mother failed to provide. Her life was a puzzle lacking a huge piece that she assumed to the first suitor in her life. She simply needed some time to find herself and establish her own identity.

Juliet, being a teenage girl in medieval England, did not have the rights and opportunities we have as the youth of today. Neither did she have anyone to compare Romeo to or someone to guide her on love, but we do. One lesson we can all learn from this is that we need to be patient in life. Life may be a race, but you need not be Usain Bolt to win it. Slow and steady often wins the race.

Sometimes we believe the finish line to be his eyes, her lips and his butt.

The idea of love at first sight is often considered passionate but is quite the opposite. Remember the kid who fell in love with the dinosaur, guess what happens to him? He will play with it with for a couple of days, maybe even weeks but would eventually go back to the plush toy he has had with him for ages. The plush may have its ears torn and eyes pulled out, but his master still loves the comfort when they snuggle at night.

What happens when the kid forgets the toy, grows up and goes through he struggles of life?

He remembers those who bought the toys for him, remembers the sleepless nights they went through to make him feel safe and comfortable. He remembers how their love was continuous and pure, remembers how they were the first to ever love him.

On the other hand, Romeo and Juliet never experienced that love, and this is what makes the story relevant to teens of today. Today, the play Romeo and Juliet isn’t an example of love, but rather a tool to spread awareness amongst teens about love, while providing the realization of the major consequences even the smallest of their actions can bring.

So, you, yes you! Stop being stupid and fantasizing about those Hollywood love stories full of action and trauma. Love is eating burritos while wrapped together in a blanket, love is criticizing the live action of Aladdin together, love is the burnt toasts that they make for you, love is passing out together after a long day of work, love is…………

Give life some time and it will put forward the mystery of love for you.