Examples Of Attraction In Romeo And Juliet

William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two teenagers from feuding families who fall in love at first sight. Through the course of the play, Shakespeare uses the characters Romeo, Friar Lawrence, and Benvolio to reveal that physical attraction is often misinterpreted as love.
The first character who demonstrates that physical attraction is commonly mistaken for love is Romeo. The first time he sees Juliet at the Capulet’s party, Romeo is immediately spellbound by her beauty, exclaiming that “it seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear” (1.5.45). By using a simile to compare Juliet’s beauty to “a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear”, Romeo is suggesting that Juliet is the most beautiful, glowing girl in the room, and that her beauty is unmatched. Shortly after this, Romeo goes on to

After seeing how heartbroken unrequited love has made Romeo, Benvolio is determined to cheer his friend up. He takes Romeo to a party and urges him to “...in that crystal scales let there be weighed your lady’s love against another maid” (1.3.103-104). Here Benvolio metaphorically compares Romeo’s eyes to crystal scales, and suggests that Romeo forget about Rosaline and look at other girls. In another attempt to comfort Romeo, Benvolio against instructs him to “take thou some new infection to thy eye, and the rank poison of the old will die” (1.2.51-52). Here Benvolio is symbolically comparing love in two different ways: as an infection, and as poison. He suggests that once Romeo finds someone more beautiful than Rosaline (“take thou some new infection to thy eye”) then he will no longer feel the pain of Rosaline’s unrequited love (“the rank poison of the old will die”). Benvolio suggests that a person is in love until they find someone who is even more beautiful - again blurring the lines between physical attraction and