The couple I write of is of course, Romeo and Juliet. To utter this couple's name is to bring about thoughts of love; of a love so powerful and deep that the two lovers knew of nothing else. And though their names were thankfully never forced into one, say a "Jomeo" or a "Roliet", the link to each other's name is just as imperative as that of a compressed name. For if one says "Romeo", the name of "Juliet" is sure to follow and vice versa.
Together, these two characters form a couple that speaks of love and tragedy. Are Romeo and Juliet defined by the love each holds for the other? It can certainly be argued that the two characters do exist for each other and that their defiant actions prove their love.
To go back to the subject of names though, it is ironic that while the couple's name of "Romeo and Juliet" has become a definition of love, their family names were what dared keep them apart. Indeed, that is ultimately the story of Romeo and Juliet, is it not? For one is a Montague; the other a Capulet, and despite this obstacle (one that was not of their making), the two fall in love -- regardless of name, regardless of history. With each other, they found their destiny.
When we first meet Romeo, he is distraught over Rosaline, but once he sees Juliet, all of his melancholy disappears, replaced instead with joyous discovery. His heart is pledged to Juliet, even before knowing her name:
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
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