Love Story – Taylor Swift

Discussion Questions:

1.    Outline the subject matter of the poem?

The subject matter of the poem, love story by Taylor Swift, is love and hope. This is displayed through the story told in the song as the story shown in the song is about love and having hope that they can be together, hence the title ‘Love Story’.

2.    Why is the poem entitled “Love Story”? Use evidence from the   lyrics to support the titles significance and relevance.

The poem is entitled Love Story because that’s exactly what the song is about, a love story. This is evident from the lyrics “You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess, It's a love story, baby just say, yes”. The stereotypical love story generally relates back to fairytales with the prince and the princess living happily ever after, explaining why the song is titled “love Story”. Overall, the title “Love Story” does have significance and it is relevant to what the song is about and what story is told throughout the song.

3.    Describe the relationship between the two characters.  Who are they?

The relationship present in this song/poem is very strong and full of love and passion for one another. The two characters are Romeo and Juliet, and as shown through the lyrics present in the song, they are deeply in love with one another however they are forbidden to see each other. There relationship summed up, I believe, is forbidden love.

4.    What evidence is there to suggest that these lovers have to overcome obstacles in their relationship?

There is much evidence shown in this poem that the two lovers have some obstacles them manage to overcome in their relationship. The lyrics “And my daddy said stay away from Juliet, And I was crying on the staircase, Begging you please don't go” as well as the lyrics “And my daddy said stay away from Juliet, But you were everything to me, I was begging you please don't go”. Both of these lines show that their love was forbidden by their families and in particular Juliet’s dad, and that this caused them to have a very hard time in their relationship.

5.    What themes and issues are explored in the lyrics and through the video clip?

The Themes of Love, Hope, Passion, Sadness and joy are shown in the song and the through the video clip. The themes of love and passion are shown through the evident love that Romeo and Juliet share “I love you and that's all I really know”. The themes of joy are shown throughout the last verse when Romeo proposes to Juliet and they can finally get married and in the film clip where they run into each others arm and be together and the theme of sadness is shown through the lyrics “And I was crying on the staircase, Begging you please don't go” it is also shown through in the part of the film clip where Taylor is waiting for Romeo.

6.    How does the “Love story” end for Romeo and Juliet in the song? Is this how it ends for the Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet? Why does Taylor Swift end her song this way? What perspective is she writing from and why would they want the story to end this way?

The love story for Romeo and Juliet ends with them getting married and living happily ever after, however in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet both lovers end up dying tragically. I think Taylor decides to end her song this way because she want her listeners to capture the love that Romeo and Juliet shared with one another and how they overcame everything to be able to be together and that true love really does exist. The perspective Taylor is writing from is from Juliet’s perspective. I believe she does this, as her main audience is young girls. By having the perspective of the song in Juliet’s perspective, she is able to reach out to her audience more and really make them believe true love exists.