“I’ll go along no such sight to be shown,
But rejoice in splendour of my own”
Before meeting Juliet Romeo is presented to us by Shakespeare as a young man who has an infatuation he is not in love. Friar Lawrence sums it up when he says for Doting not for Loving.
Eventually Romeo agrees to go to the party this is where he first sees Juliet
“O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!”
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night”
When he first talks to each other they sure a sonnet which was a popular form of love poem at the time
“If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, this gentle sin is this,
My lips, two blushing pilgrims ready stand
To smooth that rough tough with a tender kiss”
“Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand to much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this,
For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands to touch,
And palm to palm to holy palmers’ kiss”
“Have not saints, let lips, and holy palmers too?”
“Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer”
“O then dear saint, let lips do what hands do:
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair”
“Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.
“Then move not while my prayer’s affect I take.
Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged. .
They then kiss for the first time.
Later in the night the famous balcony scene accours.
After Romeo escapes from his friend Romeo goes in search of Juliet and finds her at a balcony where she is talking to herself about him
“O Romeo Romeo, wherefore out thou Romeo”
And soon about marriage
“Deny thy farther and refuse thy name
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,”
They agree to get married and Romeo says he will arrange it
“O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?”
“What satisfaction canst though have tonight?”
“Th’exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine”
When meeting Juliet Shakespeare shows us Romeo’s development by his use of language, religious imagery and spiritual language like the use of the sonnet, this is a more mature Romeo.
When Romeo plans the wedding with Friar Lawrence he turns up at the church early in the morning and Friar Lawrence is surprised to see him and asks him why he is up so early, Romeo reply’s that he has been with his enemy and has met someone special.
“I have been feasting with mine enemy,
Were on a sudden one hath wounded me”
But the Friar doesn’t understand and is confused
“Be plain good son, and homely in thy drift”
So Romeo tells him straight
“Then plainly know, my heart’s dear love is set
On the fair daughter of rich Capulet”
Holy Saint Francis, What is change here!” Replies friar Lawrence shocked as he thought Romeo loved Rosaline
“Is Rosaline that thou didst love so dear,”
Romeo replies that his love for Rosaline was a childish crush, and he says fryer Lawrence told him off for loving Rosaline,
“Thou child’st me oft for loving Rosaline.”
Fryer Lawrence finally agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet and Romeo rushes of and trips, Fryer Lawrence delivers the famous line
“Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast.” This line means that if you rush you will fall, this means he must know the relationship will end in tragedy because they have rushed into things.
Later in the play Romeo runs into his friends who are wondering where he has been and why he has been acting strangle when Romeo comes they see that Romeo has transformed back into the happy go lucky guy he was and Romeo acts like hasn’t a care in the world. The soon run into Juliet’s Nurse who is teased and mocked by Romeo’s Friend Romeo tells his Friends he will catch them up and when they are gone he gives the Nurse a message to deliver to Juliet
“Bid her devise
Some means to come to shrift this afternoon,
And there she shall at Friar Lawrence’ cell
Be shrived and married. Here is for thy pains”
At Friar Lawrence’s cell
Romeo says that he cannot express his joy and a minute would satisfy him and he would give his life just to know she is his.
“It cannot countervail the exchange of joy
That one short minute gives me in her sight
Do thou but close our hands with holy words
Then love devouring Death d o what he dare
It is enough I may but call her mine
Juliet then enters and Romeo and Juliet are married by Friar Lawrence
Shakespeare shows us Romeos development of character in this section by his marriage to the other character and the detail in his language
After the wedding Romeo finds his friends arguing with Tybalt as Tybalt is looking for him.
Tybalt tries to insult Romeo
“Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford
No better term than this: thou art a villain.”
But Romeo will fight or answer back to Tybalt.
“Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
To such a greeting. Villain am I none:
Therefore farewell, I see thou knowest me not”
This continues until Tybalt becomes angry and pulls out his sword, Mercutio intervenes and fights Tybalt Romeo tries to stop the fight and in the process Mercutio is injured by Tybalt and dies Tybalt runs away leaving Romeo angry and confused
At the begging of this scene Romeo Thought he was in control of his life but now he has come to realize that he has no Control his life and he is following a path already set out for him.
Conclusion
The play is a tragedy, the prologue refers Death, and the death is just as important
“A pair of star crossed lovers take their life;
This shows that they kill them selves.
The Development of Romeos Character is mainly shown by Shakespeare by Romeos language in the beginning the play
He uses strange language like oxi morons
“Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate
O any thing of nothing first create!
O heavy lightness, serious vanity,
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms”
Later in the play when meeting Juliet he uses language of religious imagery and Spares a sonnet with Juliet this is a more mature Romeo
Around the time of the wedding Romeo uses a lot of detail in his language.
