The play starts off with Romeo in love with another young lady, Rosaline, a character we don’t know anything about. His love sick attitude remains strong throughout, although it is with two different people; this shows Romeo to be fickle and unsure of what he wants: “With Rosaline, my ghosts father? No; I have forgot that name and that names woe” He is depicted in comparison to the modern day teenager who goes through phases. His love for Rosaline is unrequited; she is simply uninterested in Romeo. Shakespeare mimics Petarch, who is famous for writing love poetry, with Romeos unrequited love for Rosaline. Romeo is over elaborate with his love overtones; he uses similes and metaphors and also speaks in rhyming couplets throughout.
It’s not long before Romeo discovers Juliet at the Capulet’s ball; she intrigues him, love at first sight would explain it well. He starts off straight away by speaking in sonnet. Juliet is happy to oblige and follows Romeo’s lead, teasing and flirting. Romeo finds himself speaking in sonnet throughout, a smooth talker, the modern day equivalent being ‘smoothies’ like Steve Owen from Eastenders or James Bond; the cheesy womaniser that is, of course in an older, quieter manner; the style that involves sonnets and rhyming couplets. Romeo may be described as over elaborate with his use of similes: “Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs” and he uses many rhyming couplets: “My only love sprung from my only hate!” “Too early seen unknown, and unknown too late!” We have understood that Romeo is romantic, he speaks in sonnet and that he is naïve and unsure of what he wants even though it may appear to be Juliet.
We can understand that, quite naturally, Romeo wants Juliet to show the same attitude of love, as we can see from Act 2, Scene 6 where Juliet tells Romeo not to use so many words to endeavour and make his love known. Unfortunate for Romeo that this is another great example of him being over elaborate and his love being unrequited as with Rosaline, his first love.
Juliet on the other hand is more of a quiet young girl who tries not to get into trouble with her family. Unlike Romeo, Juliet has less experience in love. You may call that a contradiction as I have explained Romeo’s inexperience in love, but Juliet is less experienced in the way that she has been isolated since she was born. Her only experience with people, other than her family, is the relationship she has shared with her nurse. Romeo is the first person Juliet is to meet and ironically fall in love at first sight. The obedience Juliet has had from the day she was born went as soon as she met Romeo, a bad influence Romeo would prove to be. However, Juliet is the mature one out of the two and is diffident to the relationship at first.
Juliet is not as gregarious as Romeo and is more cold is her speech. She uses a pessimistic tone when talking about the relationship. Juliet is apprehensive of Romeo’s over-elaborate tone but his complements give her more confidence. She is more than happy to oblige with rhyming couplets and sonnets with Romeo to express her love for him. This is a perfect example of the romance that the two share. Romeo is spontaneous with his speech whereas Juliet is the more mature quiet type. This is shown in Juliet’s speech, when she worries about Romeo and he pays no heed to it:
Juliet “If they do see thee they will murder thee”
Romeo “Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye for twenty of their swords!” (Act 2 Scenes 2)
Juliet is very clear on her speech compared to Romeo, whose use of over elaborate language becomes riddled language. Juliet expresses her love for Romeo clearly. Romeo, on the other hand, insists on giving metaphors and similes to elaborate. Juliet deals with this by being levelheaded, but at the same time wanting the relationship to progress further.
Juliet has proved herself to be the thoughtful and mature one out of the two, which clearly reflects on her visions for the future. Romeo is dismissive of the danger that surrounds him and this is something that proves Juliet to be the mature one as she is looking out for him all the time. They both share in common the thought of bad coming to the relationship, however Romeo still doesn’t look out for these dangers like Juliet.
Something must be attracting Juliet to Romeo, it is hard to say exactly what apart from the term: Love at first sight! Shakespeare has picked up on this and shown the two’s passion for love and that nothing will get in their way. We worry for Juliet as Romeo is a naïve and insecure, something that is proved by his loss of emotion for Rosaline, where will Juliet be? We can’t help but feel that Romeo is taking advantage of Juliet, who, lets remember, has had no experience in love. The two could have lived very happy lives if it wasn’t for their families. The big difference between the two is the way they accept their fate – Romeo accepts it, but Juliet, having been isolated for all her life, is wary about the outside world, and is always thinking meticulously about her actions.
The two have no problem in sharing their passion for each other, just in very different ways. They eradicate every problem that lies in their path. The two may be very different but their differences compliment each other and give a wider prospect of their situation. But they both share the same passion – love. This makes them determined together and nothing will stop them.
Not even death.
