Romeo was not part of the fight because he was with Rosaline or too busy thinking of Rosaline. The audience can tell this as he says ‘A las love, whose view is muffled still’. When we are first introduced to Romeo he seems confused. The audience can tell this because Romeo’s first words are ‘Is the day so young?’ This is important because it tells the audience what mood he is in. The audience find that Romeo is unhappy this is because he can’t get Rosaline to reciprocate his love when he has a fixation with her. The audience can tell this because Romeo says ‘Not having that, which, having makes them short. He means not having Rosaline makes his hours seem longer than they really are.
In lines 188 to 191 Romeo sees love as special, but he is just not himself. It is changing him to something he is not. He is ashamed of himself. The audience can tell this because he says ‘This is not Romeo’. Romeo delays telling Benvolio who he is in love with. He does this by changing the subject and just saying ‘…I do love a women’. The effect of this delay is that Romeo does not want to tell anyone who he is in love with not even Benvolio can find out. This suggests that he is not actually in love with Rosaline, and this is an immature type of love.
In line 206 to 214 we find out about Rosaline that she is very beautiful, she is wise and she will not love him back. The audience know this because he says ‘she is rich in beauty’. Benvolio has a cure for Romeo’s depression that is for Romeo to find another women, ‘examine other beauties. This suggests that he is puerile.
Shakespeare prepares the audience for a tragedy by at the beginning of Act 1 Scene 2 Capulet promises Paris that in two years time Juliet can be his bride. The audience can tell this because Capulet says ‘Let two more summers… her ripe to be a bride’. Also in this scene the audience find out about Juliet that she is 13 years old and her parents tell her what to do and who to marry. This shows that Capulet is protective of her. In Shakespearean times, it would be common that parents chose their daughter’s husband. In Act 1 Scene 3 the audience learn about Juliet is that she has a low position as her mother tells her what to do. They do not have a close relationship, but Juliet does have a close relationship with the Nurse. At the end of this scene Juliet promises that she will at least met Paris, if she likes him she will marry him.
Meanwhile Benvolio promises Romeo that if he comes to the ball Rosaline will be there, and there will be others more beautiful than Rosaline. They will appear like swans and Rosaline will appear like a crow compared to them. Romeo promises to go along but predicts that he will ‘rejoice in splendour of mine own’ meaning he does not think that Benvolio will be right. In Act 1 Scene 4 Romeo says
‘Give me a torch, I am not for ambling… being but heavy, I will bear the light… with nimble soles, I have a soul of lead’. This tells us that Romeo is not feeling in the mood for partying, he just wants to stay there. Romeo doe not want to join in the festivities, the audience can tell this because he says ‘So stakes me to the ground I cannot move’. This shows that he is immature and self obsessed. At the end of the scene Romeo predicts that there are consequences in the stars which will lead to an early death beginning with that night, ‘some consequence yet hanging in the stars’.
When Romeo sees Juliet for the first time he compares her to a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear. Romeo has changed, the audience can tell this as when he loved Rosaline he used poetry like ‘this love thou has shown doth add more grief to too much of mine own’. His language then changes to plain and simple when he meets Juliet like ‘For saints have hands that pilgrim’s hands do touch’. His feelings seem more genuine and he is maturing.
Romeo does not want to leave Juliet because he is in love with her, ‘can I go forward when my heart is here’. His friends think that Romeo is miserable because he has to leave Rosaline or she did not pay him much attention to him. ‘I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes’.
Romeo has changed! In Act 2 Scene 2 Romeo compares Juliet to the sun, ‘Juliet is the sun’. He compares her to the sun because it is bright and power this shows he has grown-up. Also in this scene Romeo describes Juliet as light, he says ‘As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven’. Her beauty is brighter than all light, it makes real light look artificial. The audience notice from Romeo’s use of imagery now that he is in love with Juliet is that he is really genuine about loving Juliet. He is now more easier to understand, ‘bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night’. In the rest of the scene Romeo is fairly forceful and confident. An example of this is ‘thy kinsmen are no stop to me… thou love me, let them find me here’. Meaning he will never leave her even if he was in danger himself, he would be caught, as if he could not have her he would be dead.
This different from what he was before he met Juliet. Before he met Juliet he was shy and locked himself in his room and when he met Juliet he became confident and happy. This demonstrates a growing maturity. In the last speech in Act 2 Scene 2 Romeo is happy, the audience can tell this because he says ‘Hence will I to my ghostly sire’s cell, his help to carve, and my dear hap to tell’. He means he is off to tell Friar Lawrence and tell his of his happiness. In his speech he makes a reference to peace twice showing how peaceful he is.
