Romeo And Juliet Unfair Advantage Essay

Romeo and Juliet: The Unfair Advantage Paris and Romeo are the two leading male characters of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. While both likable gentlemen of their time, it seems that Romeo has an unfair advantage at every turn. He appears just a bit more charming, attractive, and interesting at every critical point in the play. Throughout Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare favors Romeo over Paris as Juliet’s main love interest. There are many differences in Romeo and Paris’ personalities. These differences help shape their characters and determine their place in the play. Although both men come from wealthy families, their personalities are surprisingly diverse and distinctive. “Characters like Tybalt, Mercutio, Capulet, and Romeo and Juliet themselves stubbornly adhere to an overriding passion in order to protect or to justify their positions, their loyalties, their self-conceptions, or their prejudices” (Bloom), which tells the reader a lot about their personalities. These characters are shown to be very opinionated and expressive about their beliefs. Shakespeare clearly gives Romeo beliefs that are more appealing to Juliet and her thoughts, and makes him more likeable as a character. Although Romeo comes from the Montague family, his personality does not seem to be affected by his

Both Romeo and Paris clearly care for Juliet very much, and this love drives them to do whatever it takes to get Juliet’s hand in marriage. When Romeo first sees Juliet from across the room, he instantly falls in love. He even exclaims, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (Shakespeare 53), which shows that he is very expressive and passionate about her beauty. This reaction is unlike Paris’, who hasn’t said much about his love for Juliet at all. Shakespeare gives Romeo this ability to express his feelings, but clearly limits Paris, which puts him at a