Reggae and Romeo and Juliet
While Romeo and Juliet and old reggae may seem very different in terms of culture they have a lot in common in terms of expressing different types of love. In Gregory Isaacs “If I don’t have you” and Romeo and Juliet the concept of true love has been a main theme. Additionally, in Barrington Levy’s “Vice Versa Love” and Romeo and Juliet many people feel that a sense of community love is better than conflict between two different parties. Finally, in Chaka Demus and Pliers “Murder She Wrote” and Romeo and Juliet, the love of women for their beauty is illustrated. Throughout the hills of fair verona, and the districts of Kingston different kinds of love have flourished through the arts.
Both William Shakespeare and Gregory Isaacs express the concept of true love through their pieces of work “If I don’t if I don’t have you, then for me there’ll be nobody else. No” The hook of Gregory Isaacs “If I don’t have you” clearly expresses the idea of true love. Throughout the song, Isaacs illustrates how even in many difficult situations he would still wish for no one else but his one true love. This concept is expressed similarly in Romeo and Juliet. When Romeo learned of his banishment from Verona, he said “there is no world without Verona walls but purgatory, torture, hell itself. Hence banished is banished from the world and world’s exile is death, then banished. (Act 3 Scene 3) This quotation clearly illustrates that without Juliet, Romeo believes there is no world. Since the lyrics of these songs are similar; it is clearly shown that they express the same ideas. This is exemplified mainly through the idea that one cannot live without the other person.
However, while the idea of true love is expressed through these two texts, the importance of community love is also expressed. In Barrington Levy’s, “Vice Versa Love” the importance of community love is clearly shown. During the 1900s, there was a lot of political corruption in Jamaica. Since it is home to a prevalence of poverty, gang members offered food and protection to the people of Kingston in return for their absolute support in all matters including keeping an eye out for the police. Different Dons, or mayors of these districts, would often tell the people of their community who to vote for in upcoming elections. In order to gain the support of the Dons, politicians would arm the gangs with guns and ammunition in return for their votes. Since different districts supported different politicians for this reason, the community was very divided. In Barrington Levy’s song he states “People are straying and straying dividing themselves from each other there’s too many hopeless souls and ragamuffin souljahs what we need is love”. This quote clearly shows that Barrington Levy and many of the people of Jamaica do not want this political war and instead want everyone to come together as a community. This idea of community love is similarly expressed in Romeo and Juliet. Because Romeo and Juliet are from two different houses they are not allowed to love each other. Romeo, a montague, and Juliet, a capulet, both think that the warring houses are stupid and that people are people no matter what house they belong to. In addition, many members of verona think that the fighting between these two houses have caused misery. After a fight sparked because Romeo snuck into a Capulet party led to the death of Romeo’s best friend Mercutio, Mercutio’s last words to Romeo were “I am hurt A plague o’ both your houses! I am sped.Is he gone and hath nothing?” (Act 3 Scene 1 line 90–92) Mercutio thinks that the reason for his death was because of the fight between the two houses and is therefore cursing them on his deathbed. In addition, when Friar Lawrence married Romeo and Juliet he did so not because he thought they were truly in love, but because he thought that maybe if he married them the two houses would come together. “But come, young waverer, come, go with me. In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.” (Act 2 Scene 3 lines 96–99) Clearly, the people of both Jamaica and Verona want for the division in their communities to come together under one love.
Finally, the third theme of love that is expressed in Both Romeo and Juliet and Chaka Demus and Pliers “Murder She Wrote”, is the idea of love based on look. Throughout the song Chaka Demus and Pliers talk about how they love a girl named Maxine. However, upon close inspection, it seems that Chaka Demus and Pliers do not love her for her character but instead love her because of her beauty. They even went as far as to say that while she is beautiful she has a bad character. The hook of the song further exemplifies the concept of love through beauty “I know this little girl her name is Maxine her beauty is like a bunch of rose.” In addition, Chaka Demus says in the first verse “Yuh pretty face an bad character Dem the kinda livin can hold chaka”. He is stating that he thinks that Maxine is beautiful but she has a bad character. In Romeo and Juliet a similar theme is explored, as Romeo is marrying Juliet mainly for her looks. In fact Romeo describes what he thought his first true love Rosaline’s face looked like. “I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes, By her high forehead and her scarlet lip,By her fine foot, straight leg and quivering thigh And the demesnes that there adjacent lie,That in thy likeness thou appear to us!” (Act 2 scene 1 lines 7–20) This just goes to further exemplify how Romeo loves Rosaline not for her personality but for her beauty. Even Friar Lawrence went on record to say “Young men’s love lies not truly in their hearts,but in their eyes.” (Act 2 scene 3 67–68).
In conclusion, in both Romeo and Juliet and old school reggae different themes of love are exemplified through the arts. Gregory Isaacs and Shakespeare both wrote similarly about the theme of love where one cannot live without the other person. Additionally, Barrington Levy and Shakespeare are both in communities infested with hate but in need of love. Finally, in both Romeo and Juliet and “Murder She Wrote” young men see beauty and think they are in love in their eyes but not truly in their hearts. WHile the cultural differences may seem broad, Renaissance Italy, and Jamaica in the 70s both express themes of love.
