In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo's character is explored throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Romeo’s character is depicted as depressed and withdrawn. As the novel progresses, Romeo’s Character slowly changes into happy and in love. Ultimately, as the novel nears its end, Romeo has a new hatred for his life because he can’t have the things he wants most and becomes severely unhappy and pessimistic. In the the beginning of the novel, Romeo is seen as sad and lonely.
Romeo shows his tragic flaw of immaturity by the fact the he bases his love on appearances/looks and falls in love without thinking about it. This default is shown in the beginning of the play when Romeo goes to the Capulet party. When Romeo first sees Juliet for the first time, he says, “Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear...Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! /For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night” (1.5.45-51).
When Romeo is still in love with Rosaline he describes their relationship using several contradictory adjectives: “Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health” (1.1.173). These oxymorons reveal that Romeo is confused and has conflict when trying to comprehend his affection for Rosaline. Although Romeo is vulnerable, Shakespeare also uses juxtaposition to show that he is always fixated on Juliet’s light and beauty. Romeo describes Juliet as a “snowy dove trooping with crows” when he is at the party in the Capulet’s house (1.5.46). When Romeo first sees Juliet, he judges her based off of her appearance, this shows that he is quick to jump to conclusions and is immature.
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night”(I.v.44-45). This shows Romeo’s impulsiveness by how he says he loves her, and he hasn't met her yet. Romeo is being impulsive by how quickly he falls in love. This is an obvious example of how Romeo is impulsive. Another time Shakespeare shows Romeo’s tragic flaw is when Romeo and Juliet get married the day after they met.
However Romeo, originally is in love with Rosaline, he is convinced by his friends to attend the Capulet ball where he falls in love with Juliet, and he quickly forgot Rosaline. However the
Romeo had just been madly in love with Rosaline, but as soon as he sees Juliet it is love at first sight. The irony of this scene intrigues the audience because it keeps them guessing who Romeo is in love with more. What the audience most likely guessed is the opposite of what happens,
Friar Lawrence realizes this and tries to get Romeo to slow down at first by saying, “Young men’s love lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes” (2.2.71-71). Romeo saw how beautiful Juliet was and immediately knew he had to have her. It was not love controlling him at first, but lust. As soon as Romeo realized that Juliet was a Capulet, he wanted her even more. Romeo was purely being driven by greed.
For example Romeo always glares at a beautiful girl, Rosaline. Romeo describes to his cousin that he loves her for her “rich[ness] in beauty, only poor” (1.1.223). Rosaline’s beauty composes Romeo to always acquire an image of her in his mind, and he determines that they should be together forever. Although he claims to love her, Romeo’s
This creates indirect characterization when he uses complex juxtaposition to describe Romeo and Juliet's complex love. Through terms of contrast, Shakespeare characterizes Romeo as naive in the beginning of the play. Romeo makes mistakes by killing Tybalt and this destroys Juliet. She becomes heart-broken from this because her true love had just killed her cousin. This reveals Romeos dark side.
First, there is Benvolio, a close and trusted companion to Romeo, who helps him through many struggles of his life, including Rosaline, the death of Tybalt, and his punishment from the Prince. Next there is Friar Laurence, a Priest whom Romeo leans on for help many times, Friar Laurence advises Romeo when he want to marry Juliet, helps him when he gets exiled, and devises a plan for him and Juliet to be together. Finally, there is Juliet, the love Romeo has for Juliet allows Juliet to influence Romeo the most throughout the play. For instance, she influences Romeo to get over Rosaline, come to her despite being exiled, and lastly to kill himself. Romeo has many people who influence him throughout the story and these people help Romeo make hard decisions and get through many