The Development of Romeos Character Essay

From the moment we first hear about Romeo, it is in the context of his suffering at the hands of love. Romeo’s father, Montague, perplexed by his son’s behavior states that, “Many a morning hath he there been seen, / With tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew, / Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs” (1.1.124-26). While this may be the first time we encounter Romeo’s melancholy humour, it certainly isn’t the last. In fact, one of the primary sources of our infatuation with Romeo rests in our sympathy for him. From the very start this poor boy is plagued by affections for girls that fate, it seems, will not let him be with. At first, it’s Rosaline, a girl who has “sworn that she will still live chaste” (1.1.210), a vow that sets Romeo reeling and complaining because “from love’s weak childish bow she lives unharmed” (1.1.204). His depression over Rosaline is enough to draw the attention of his father, Montague, who has observed that Romeo shuts himself up in his room all day in order to wallow in the darkness. These are the actions of someone who is undeniably quite

Montague's son Romeo in the book Romeo and Juliet written by Shakespeare in the 1500’s, supports the audience with many of his strengths and weaknesses. In this story, two well-known families of Verona, the Montagues, and Capulets are in a feud against each other; however, the son of the Montague family, Romeo, and the daughter of the Capulet family, Juliet fall in love at first sight at a Capulet party. Even though Romeo is a Montague, his personality and his calm behavior persuades Capulet to let him stay at the party. After he meets Juliet, Romeo asks the friar to marry them both; even though, the friar was concerned about Romeo because of his instantly changed and unthought decisions he lets them marry each other secretly. Romeo’s commendable behavior proves a strength and his uncontrollable emotions show his weakness.

Romeo is shown to be poetic and romantic. He and his friends are on their way to the Capulet party when his friends encourage him to dance, but he refuses. He is still sad about Rosaline, the woman he loves. She doesn’t love him back as she has plans to become a nun. Romeo says, “Is love really

He uses rhyming couplets, ‘as a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear, Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear’. This suggests his love for her is so powerful, it changes the way he speaks. Romeo also uses religious imagery to describe Juliet, such as ‘This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this.’ He compares her to a shrine which shows how their love is pure and how he worships her. This shows he has confused his love with religion. In act 1, scene 4 Romeo says, ‘I fear, too early, my mind misgives some consequences yet hanging in the stars.’ This suggests that he feels something is going to go wrong, which shows that their relationship is doomed from the start. In Elizabethan times people were superstitious and thought that their lives were mapped out in the stars. If you tried to change your destiny it was considered a sin. They also believed that their lives were planned by the wheel of fortune. Philosopher, Boethius proposed a theory of that people can rise in power of luck, but; it has to come down. In act 3, scene 5 Juliet refers to this. ‘O fortune, fortune! All men call thee fickle.’

Romeo is portrayed as an emotional and reckless character. His friend Mercutio and Fr. Lawrence comment on Romeo’s fickle attitude when he immediately falls in love with Juliet completely forgetting about Rosaline, his first love. Romeo quotes,” Did my heart love until now? Foreswear it sight, for I never saw true beauty until this night”. His love for Rosaline was superficial. Juliet transforms Romeo’s immature and erotic infatuation to true and constant love. After meeting Juliet he matures very quickly. Maybe Romeo’s love for Juliet is so intense because unlike Rosaline, Juliet reciprocates his

Romeo explains how love is a constant battle within him when he exclaims “brawling love” and “loving hate”. He lets out his sadness when he says “heavy lightness” which means sad happiness, and “serious vanity”, which means serious foolishness. All of this language is very complex and not clear, which is also a sign that Romeo is not truly in love. Romeo uses dark diction in his comparisons when he says “brawling”, “hate”, and “heavy”, which shows the darkness of courtly love and how it can eat someone up emotionally. Next, courtly love is shown through figurative language when Romeo uses an extended metaphor to describe his feelings for Juliet. Romeo states this complex metaphor in the quote, “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun./ Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,/ Who is already sick and pale with

Romeo seems to be miserable as he is in love with Rosaline yet Rosaline is not in love with him. Once Romeo learns that the Capulet’s are holding a party at which Rosaline is attending he risks his life just to be with the one he loves. Romeo is passionate for love.

The hyperbole used in these lines emphasize the short span of time for which it took Romeo to transition from mourning over Rosaline to loving Juliet. In addition, Friar also mentions “an old tear that is not washed off yet”(2.3.80) to continually present the quickness in which Romeo was able to change both emotions and lovers. Romeo’s love for Rosaline was so recent that a tear from when he was crying could still be seen. Lawrence also follows up with a melodic diction with the repetition of the “th” sound through “If e’er thou wast thyself and these woes thine, / Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline”(2.3.81-82). The “th” sound is usually a very long sound that can be held for a long time. Friar uses this to symbolize how he believes that love is pleasant,and therefore should last a long time. Previously, Romeo was so in love with Rosaline that he expressed his love for her by making her seem like a god. He stated, “The all-seeing sun / Ne’er saw her match since first the world begun”(1.2.99-100). Through this hyperbole, Romeo emphasizes the extremity of Rosaline’s beauty. However, now he has changed his mind already, saying that Juliet is a “holy shrine”. When Romeo sees someone that he likes, he immediately praises their beauty without ever questioning his own foolishness. The motif of Romeo’s foolishness is the reason that he will never be able to stay in a stable relationship. Therefore, Romeo does not and will most likely never understand the true meaning of

The first kind of love shown in the play is teenage love through Romeo. Montague tells us that "Many a morning hath he (Romeo) been seen... adding to the clouds more clouds with his deep sighs." Romeo is often seen sighing showing that he is either depressed or in love. Romeo is both. He says he is "out of her favour where I am in love". He is "in love" with Rosaline but she has sworn herself to a life of chastity and does not return Romeo's love. Shakespeare mocks Romeo's infatuation with the

During some of part one, and two, we slowly learn about Romeo and his dilemma. He has fallen in love with beautiful Rosaline and all of his heart is crying out to her. He vows to never see a beauty as fair as her, and complains about the rudeness and pain of love. He allows himself to go to the party with Mercutio and his friends, but remarks he won't have a good time. "I'll go along, no such sight to be shown, But to rejoice in a splendor of mine own."  That is until he sees Juliet. Instantly he forgets all of his lamenting for Rosaline love, and proclaims Juliet is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. "O! she doth teach the torches to burn bright. It seems she hangs on the cheek of night, like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand, And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” said Juliet implying that Romeo’s being a Montague makes them enemies. Romeo didn't listen to Friar Laurence about not getting married. “Is Rosaline whom you didn't love so dear, so soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” Friar says that what Romeo feels toward Juliet is simply a crush and nothing more. Lastly Romeo was the one to drink the poison. “Come bitter poison come unsavory guide!” making him responsible for his own

I feel that Romeo does not change very much in this play. He has many

Shakespeare’s Character Personalities In life, our personalities can lead to positive outcomes, but also negative outcomes at the wrong time. Each person’s personality can be susceptible to change and also affect other people's personalities. In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, “A pair of star-crossed lovers” (Rom. 1.prologue.6) and their peers battle not to let their personalities get the best of them. These characters’ personalities in Romeo and Juliet lead to the tragedy at the end.

Franny has this obsession with the “Jesus prayer,” a continuous prayer that is supposed to cleanse one’s spirit. You say the prayer over and over forever and you will be a good follower in religion. Lane, Franny’s boyfriend, just brushes her off when she’s talking about this prayer because he is more interested in his paper that he wants Franny to read. Franny got the information

In the beginning of the play, Romeo is young and carefree, he loves Rosaline and then Juliet. He is in love with the fact that he is in love. Romeo in this case is the tragic hero, his tragic flaw is his immaturity and fickle traits. Benvolio and Mercutio make fun of Romeo in the beginning because he is always in love. Romeo goes to this party thinking that no girl is prettier than Rosaline, but when he goes and meets Juliet he thinks she is the most beautiful, and that fate brought them together. Romeo acts on this fate to make it permanent despite the several obstacles. Romeo says before the party at the Capulet’s, “I fear, too early, for my mind misgives-Some consequence yet hanging in the stars-shall bitterly begin