In The Tragedy Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, Romeo demonstrates impetuous qualities that lead to his eventual suicide. Romeo is infatuated with Rosaline and becomes deeply depressed with her decision to become a nun. Romeo vacillates emotionally from Rosaline to Juliet, the daughter of a feuding family. Romeo’s impulsiveness is best exhibited through his unrequited love for Rosaline which leaves him predisposed to easily fall in love with Juliet. Hours after their introduction they fall in love, therefore reflecting the capriciousness of love and the intoxicating nature it has that causes him to make rash and illogical decisions. Within days they hastily get engaged and married at the young age of thirteen and sixteen which makes them reckless and inexperienced lovers. Upon discovering Juliet’s death, Romeo’s ardor and lack of sense of self prevents him from putting his life in perspective as he considers suicide to be his only option.
Within the first scene of the play, Romeo’s impulsiveness is evident due to the fact that he is distraught and deeply depressed over Rosaline’s choice to leave him. Romeo displays emotional immaturity by believing that he could never love anyone besides Rosaline. “She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair,/ To merit bliss by making me despair./ She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow/ Do I live dead that live to tell it now” (Shakespeare I.i.212-215). Romeo’s unhappy obsession with Rosaline is driven by lust, which he falsely claims to be love. Romeo is grief-stricken over Rosaline’s decision to be celibate. By believing that he was unable to function and live without her shows his lack of experience in his romantic endeavors. The validity of their love is dubious because of his ab...
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...to comprehend a life without his beloved wife which is fatal.
Love compels Romeo to take part in risky and dangerous endeavors that without preparation lead to his eventual downfall.
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In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo’s impulsiveness contributes to the tragedy of the play. There is no doubt that Romeo rushes into love throughout the play. One example of this is when he falls in love with Rosaline. Although Rosaline is not a major role in the play, it shows the sorrow and uncertainty Romeo goes through after not being loved back. Marilyn Williamson said “During the time in which he was infatuated with Rosaline, he was … withdrawn into darkness” (6). The fact that Rosaline never shares the same feelings with Romeo, shows how quickly Romeo is to fall in love. “Out of her favor, where I am in love” (Rom. 1.1.158). Ironically, Romeo falls in love with Juliet during his plan to get closer to Rosaline. He is at a Capulet party when he first sees Juliet and
Furthermore, Romeo starts the whole tragedy. True, Juliet acts naïve, nonetheless Romeo acts hastily by encouraging the relationship. Prior to Romeo and Juliet’s encounter, Romeo is in an infatuation with Rosaline. In Act 1.1, Romeo depicts Rosaline's beauty and says, "She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair." Romeo’s love for Rosaline is only skin deep and faces heart break when she chooses to be celibate. Yet when Romeo sees Juliet for the first time, he forgets all about Rosaline and instantly falls for Juliet. In Act 1.5, Romeo is the first to spot Juliet and immediately feels an attraction to her. In addition, Romeo thinks Juliet is very beautiful and convinces her to kiss him without knowing each other. Then in Act 2.1, Romeo pursues Juliet and goes to her balcony and begins to profess his love for her. When Romeo is swearing that he is in love with Juliet, she stops him and says everything is happening so quickly. However, Romeo reassures Juliet and they plan for their marriage.
Most importantly, Romeo’s poor choices and decisions lead to the tragedy of the drama. From the beginning of the story Romeo reveals his immaturity and ill-equipped emotions. His first mistake reveals itself when he claims to be deeply depressed. Romeo claims that he feels like “sinking ‘under love’s heavy burden’,” (Dupler). At this point Romeo has succumbed to his emotions, due to the fact that a girl named Rosaline refuses to reciprocate his love for her. Romeo’s friends Benvolio and Mercutio “urge him to stop philosophizing about his lost love and to seek another young lady as a new object of his affections” (Dupler).Romeo now demonstrates that he seems incapable of listening to his friends’ suggestions and chooses to continue in a juvenile state of depression. Romeo makes another fatal decision when he nurtures an undeniably damned relationship. Romeo admits that he still loves Juliet once her lineage appears as Capulet when he says, “Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foes debt” (1.5.115). Romeo irresponsibly supports the idea of a relationship between himself and Juliet only because “The young hero is simply shifting his attention to a more receptive subject as he responds to the erotic spurring implicit in his name” (...
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A character goes through many changes that depend on the kind of events they experience. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by William Shakespeare, uses different tones and language that shows the readers that Juliet, a Protagonist, changes over time, proving the idea that she is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the play, we are introduced to a young, innocent and inexperienced girl, Juliet the daughter of Lord Capulet . She has not yet seen the real world and is raised by the person she trusts most, her nurse. Juliet begins as a naive child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Due to the fact that Juliet is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to rome around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. As we begin to learn more about the character of Juliet, we learn that Juliet is not the girl she used to be anymore. She is more courageous and willing to break the rules. She goes against her and her family beliefs. In the beginning of the play she obeys her parents. But as the play descends Juliet is disregarding of what her parents say. She is no longer the innocent girl she use to be. Shakespeare use of language helps the reader to see the change in a character that makes them a dynamic character.
Within the script of “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, the concept of enduring a risk is a reoccurring theme portrayed by the plethora of characters. Romeo and Juliet are members of two opposing families, both attempting to find methods to unite their love, despite the wall of hatred separating them. All throughout the script these two star-crossed lovers endure many risks, each with its individual result which affects them and the society as a whole. It is evident in the plot of the play, Romeo and Juliet, that individuals who are willing to take a risk do so because of the illusion of a star-crossed love, which assigns a quest of reuniting two lovers who belong to families that despise each other, inevitably leading to death
Romeo & Juliet Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, but it did not have to be. Many things could have been done to prevent their deaths. Many characters contributed to their deaths. The sole character that was responsible for their deaths is Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the deaths of the lovers because he was secretive with their relationship, he was unable communicate effectively, and he had a cowardly persona.
The story begins with Romeo in love with Rosaline and it is not long before Romeo realizes that Rosaline does not feel the same about him. Romeo, in fact, tells Benvolio that Rosaline has sworn to a life of chaste. “Then she hath sworn that she will live chaste? / She hath” (1.1.226-227). To Romeo and Benvolio chaste means Rosaline will not engage in sexual activity. Benvolio, who is his cousin, helps Romeo see that Rosaline is not the only girl that he will love the rest of his life. Benvolio convinces Romeo that he needs to consider other women in order to get over Rosaline faster. “By giving liberty unto thine eyes. Examine other beauties!” (1.1.236).
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The proverb goes that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” In the classic play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, this proverb reflects Friar Lawrence’s preeminent role in the tragedy of the two teenage lovers, each belonging to feuding families in Verona. Though Friar Lawrence’s motives are filled with good intentions, he does not always use the moral approach to reach them. In his play, Friar Lawrence is the most responsible character for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths because he is not only political, but also irresponsible and deceptive.
Romeo has a passion for love that is unbreakable, and he will do anything to get who he wants, no matter the consequences that might follow. An example of this is when Romeo goes to Juliet’s balcony and confesses his love for her, but what he does not understand is that “if they do see thee, they will murder thee” (Shakespeare II.ii.75). Romeo has trouble accepting the reality that it will not work out for him or her because of family differences. The intensity of love in both of these texts becomes a dangerous and violent thing.
Aurora, N.Y.: The Roycroft Shops, 1929. 133-150. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Lynn M. Zott. Vol. 69. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.
Romeo has an obsessive personality. The morning before he meets Juliet, he is obsessing on Rosaline. To see Rosaline, Romeo snuck into a Capulet’s party; once there, he meets Juliet and instantly he forgets his obsession of Rosaline, thinking Juliet is the most beautiful creature on earth. Friar Lawrence even acknowledges this when he states, “Young men’s love then lies / Not truly in their hearts but in their eyes” (II iii 67-68). Romeo’s affection is easily swayed from Rosaline to Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous love tales, but what if the play is not actually a tale of love, but of total obsession and infatuation. Romeo has an immature concept of love and is rather obsessive. Romeo is not the only person in the play who is obsessed though. Many people throughout the play notice his immaturities about love. Very rarely was true love actually shown in the play. attention. Romeo childishly cries to his friend, Benvolio because Rosaline will not love him back and says " She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow/ Do I live dead that live to tell it now" (I i 219-220). Romeo is stating that he's ready to die for loving Rosaline. This is exactly the same attitude Romeo had towards Juliet a little later in the play. During Scene I, Act ii, Romeo's friend, Benvolio tries to get him to go to the Capulet's party to help him get over Rosaline and meet other women Romeo gets very angry and emotional when he suggests this. “Now Romeo is beloved and loves again, / Alike bewitched by the charm of looks” (II 5-6). The chorus expresses Romeo’s juvenile way...
When Romeo meets Juliet, he claimed to be immediately in love. Although he has been sulking over Rosaline, when he met Juliet, he states, “Did my heart love till now? forswear it sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (Act 1.5 Lines 51-52). The entire time as he envisions love with Rosaline, it was all incoherent. Romeo’s impulsive attitude causes him to fall head over heels with Juliet, which begins the drama in this play.