While most interpretations of the characters of Romeo and Juliet have focused on the nature of their love, there has recently been a greater tendency to emphasize the manner in which they mature as a result of their passion for each other. This emergence into adulthood is clearly illustrated in the development of their language, which progresses from the forced and artificial rhetoric of their early scenes to a more sincere form of expression later in the play. The lovers can also be interpreted through an explicitly Christian reading of the play. Such a perspective stresses that their maturing love reflects a form of spiritual education in which Romeo and Juliet ultimately accept their destiny as part of God's plan to punish and reconcile the opposing families.

The bawdy, or humorously obscene, language of the Nurse and Mercutio present a stark contrast to the purity of...