Romeo doesn’t want to be involved in the feud between Montague’s and Capulet’s, even before he falls in love with Juliet, and he never did anything to deliberately aggravate the Capulet kinsmen. However, Tybalt was very insulted when Romeo turned up at the Capulet party. He said:
“This, by his voice, should be a Montague.
Fetch me my rapier, boy. What dares the slave.
Come hither, covered with an antic face
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?
Now, by my stock and honour of my kin,
To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin.”
This is important because the feud was essentially a vital contribution to Romeo and Juliet’s death, and this also brings in the idea of fate.
Act I, Scene 5 shows a sudden and dramatic change in Romeo’s mood. Before, he was “in love” with Rosaline, at which time he was associated with dark imagery. His father said:
“Away from light steals home my heavy son,
And private in his chamber pens himself,
Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out,
And makes himself an artificial night.”
However, when he realised he was in love with Juliet, he used completely contrasting imagery in his language, as he said Juliet was a “bright angel” and implied that she had lit up his life. The contrast is important because it tells the audience that Romeo really is in love, and the purpose of Rosaline is to prove to the audience that he was not in love with her, so that it is blatantly obvious when he falls in love with Juliet.
The idea of love is presented by Shakespeare in two main ways: Mercutio’s idea of love; and Romeo’s idea of love. Mercutio’s understanding of love is a sort of desire, and when he says love he uses the term briefly, missing its entire meaning. He takes it to represent a superficial lust for women. At the beginning, Romeo has a similar view of love as Mercutio. However, when Romeo falls in love with Juliet, he develops a sense of true love, realising how deep and powerful love actually is. The importance of this is to contrast between real love and superficial love, which makes it easier for the audience to see when a character is in love.
At the beginning, Romeo is portrayed as a young boy who believes he is in love with someone, but when he falls for Juliet we see that, this time, it is real. This is important because the audience dislike Romeo at the start of the play, as he is wallowing in his own sorrows all of the time. Yet, when he really falls in love, the audience find themselves warming to the character of Romeo. This also adds a lot of drama, as the audience knows that he is destined to die. Also, Romeo’s language changes from when he “loved” Rosaline to when he falls for Juliet, which proves that his feelings for both women are not the same. When he was infatuated by Rosaline, he said things like “feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health…” These sound as if he is reading them from a book, and have no emotion behind them; the language used is very predictable, and obviously not from the heart. However, when he is with Juliet, Romeo says to himself:
“…her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.”
As Romeo is saying this to himself, the audience know that they are his real feelings, and this shows the audience that he is really in love.
Another way that Shakespeare proves to us that Romeo’s words are from the heart is by using religious diction when Romeo is talking to or about his love Juliet. He refers to her in many ways, as if she cannot only be one of them; it is as if calling her something like a “saint” isn’t good enough, he must also compare her to a “holy shrine”, a “Bright angel…” and a “Winged messenger…” These show his idea that love is pure and that love has almost blessed him. It convinces us that his love is true, but it also holds another purpose. Religion was very important in the days that the play was written, and people who were religious took it very seriously. For somebody to be compared to God would be a huge statement, and would have a dramatic impact. Also, it implies that Romeo is so in love with Juliet, that he is putting her above God.
Romeo is not the only character that the audience sees a change in. First impressions of Juliet Capulet are that she is a modest and obedient girl, and much more cautious than Romeo. However, she too becomes empowered by love. The first time Romeo and Juliet meet, she stands up for herself:
“Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hands too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.”
Juliet is basically asking Romeo why they need to kiss, and why they cannot just hold hands. The sudden change in character, and Juliet’s willingness to sacrifice everything for Romeo that we see when they declare their love to each other, both prove that her love is pure and true.
Although Juliet seems to be a dutiful and obedient daughter, she also has a more determined side to her personality. For example, she silences the nurse after her mother fails to do so repeatedly, and also she makes Romeo swear that he loves her before she believes him. The importance of this is that it portrays Juliet as a strong character, and not just some young, immature girl who is infatuated by Romeo. It shows she is in love.
Love is the main theme in Romeo and Juliet. Even though many interpretations of love are presented in the play, the audience are encouraged to believe that Romeo and Juliet’s love is pure, instant and passionate from the moment they meet.
Language, structure and form are used as methods to achieve the desired reaction from the audience: the language used by both lovers is very heart-felt and delicate, showing that their love is mutual and pure. Romeo uses metaphors of religion and nature to describe Juliet, and in his opinion she seems to be the superlative of all things beautiful; the first time Romeo and Juliet meet, their lines are structured so that their words run together and it looks as if the couple were destined to be together, because they work so perfectly with each other; the couple’s lines at their first meeting don’t only run together, but they also form a sonnet. Sonnets are usually used to express love in poetry. However, in this case it also reminds the audience of the prologue, which was also in the form of a sonnet. The importance of these things is that they add to the tragedy by proving again that the couple are really in love, because if the couple didn’t love each other as much as they did, it would not cause such heartache for the audience throughout the play.
