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Act 1, Scene 1

She’ll not be hit
With Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit.
And, in strong proof of chastity well armed,
From love’s weak childish bow, she lives uncharmed.

In the above quote from Act 1, Scene 1, lines 199–202, Romeo describes his feelings for Rosaline as both romantic and sexual. He likens her to the Roman goddess Diana, a virgin deity. The fact that she won’t “be hit/With Cupid’s arrow” suggests Rosaline’s vow of chastity prevents her from both having sex and falling in love, two concepts Romeo uses interchangeably.

Act 2, Scene 4

now art thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature, for this drivelling love is like a great natural that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole.

In Act 2, Scene 4, Mercutio is pleased that Romeo is exchanging jokes with him instead of moping for his love. He dismisses love as foolish: a “natural” is a fool, and a “bauble” is the stick a professional fool carries. The image of the fool trying to “hide his bauble in a hole” also implies sexual intercourse. Mercutio’s point is that at its root, love is really just sexual desire. As far as Mercutio is concerned, all of Romeo’s romantic longing is just “drivelling” and “lolling” brought on by sexual frustration. Mercutio’s cynical point of view challenges the idealistic romance of the two lovers.

Act 3, Scene 2

Come, night. Come, Romeo. Come, thou day in night,
For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night
Whiter than new snow upon a raven’s back.
Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-browed night,
Give me my Romeo. And when I shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,

As part of her soliloquy at the start of Act 3, Scene 2, lines 17–22, Juliet yearns for her wedding night. The repetition of the word “come” shows us the strength of her desire. There’s no ambiguity about what Juliet is yearning for. “Die” was Elizabethan slang for “orgasm.” The image that follows, of Romeo “cut…out in little stars,” is a subtle metaphor for the sexual ecstasy Juliet anticipates. At the same time, the image suggests childhood play, reminding us again that Juliet is very young. The words “die” and “cut” also have violent undertones. In this play, sex and violence are never far apart.

Oh, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possessed it, and though I am sold,
Not yet enjoyed.

Later in her Scene 3 soliloquy (lines 26–28), Juliet makes her thoughts on the relationship between love and sex very clear. Buying “the mansion” is her way of describing love and marriage; possession, then, refers to sex. The concepts are separate but linked. Saying she has purchased the mansion of Romeo’s love but not yet “possessed” it means they have not yet consummated the marriage. Likewise, she herself has been “sold,” but not yet “enjoyed.”

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