In the opening of Act3 Scene1 the marriage between Romeo and Juliet significantly changes Romeo’s state of mind and presents him as a loving and romantic person. Although Act3 Scene1 begins with the newly formed union between the Capulet and Montague families, Shakespeare juxtaposes the marriage with another confrontation to ultimately show that the two families will never be united. This is shown when Tybalt and Mercutio confront each other and Mercutio ridicules Tybalt in public by saying ‘And but a word with one of us? Couple it with something; make it a word and a blow’. This comment by Mercutio tells the audience that Romeo and Juliet’s marriage will never last because of their families’ violence and hatred towards each other.
The confrontation between Romeo and Tybalt in Act3 Scene1 helps the audience perceive Romeo’s character as strong and resilient while the other characters in the play see him as a coward when he does not ‘turn and draw’ and face Tybalt in a fight. Tybalt slanderous comments ‘thou art a villain’ enrages Romeo, although he shows his resilience and does not fight Tybalt. Demonstrating remarkable self-control to the audience, as he has been publicly insulted but instead he responds with ‘Tybalt the reason that I have to love thee Doth much excuse my appertaining rage’. also allowing the audience to empathise with Romeo who does not want to fight, as Juliet is Tybalt’s cousin. However Mercutio infuriated by Romeo resilience and sees his actions as ‘calm, dishonourable, vile submission’ because of Romeo unwillingness to fight Tybalt, even though Tybalt has stained his reputation. Shakespeare uses this dramatic irony to tell the audience that Romeo is indeed strong and courageous in not fighting Tybalt and preserving his love for Juliet.
Mercutio’s death in the play is a very sorrowful and mournful experience for Romeo, as he feels guilty about why he could not stop Tybalt from murdering his best friend ‘hath got mortal hurt in my behalf’. This informs the audience of Romeo’s mental decline as he soon begins to behave irrationally and illogically. Mercutio’s line ‘A plague o’both your house’ is repeated numerous times in during his death, this illustrates his outrage and fury since he sees himself as another innocent victim of the feud. At this point in the play the Romeo is grief-stricken about the death of his friend and begins questioning himself whether falling in love with Juliet has made him less manly ‘Thy beauty hath made me effeminate and in my temper soften’d my valour’s steel!’ The audience now begins to see Romeo’s mental decline and his state of confusion, since he does not know whether to kill Tybalt in retaliation for his actions or to preserve his marriage with Juliet by enabling Tybalt to leave unharmed.
Consequently Romeo takes on the role of the avenger for Tybalt’s actions in killing Mercutio and fights Tybalt, the line ‘Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him,’ emphasises Romeo’s intent on killing Tybalt and avenging his best friend’s death. The use of imagery such as ‘And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now’ illustrates Romeo anger towards Tybalt and underlines his mental decline as he loses control of himself. Tybalt seems unnerved by Romeo’s anger and is eager to fight with him, from his line ‘Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here, Shalt with him hence’; this indicates Tybalt brutality of his lack of remorse for his actions to the audience. Romeo decides to avenge Mercutio’s death and carries on fighting Tybalt at the expense of losing Juliet, as he knows he would be banished or put to death for his actions, but nevertheless he continues to kill Tybalt, fuelled by his rage and anger. This act of reprisal cost him dearly as he soon realises he has risked losing his wife Juliet. The audience now begin to see Romeo in a deep state of depression as he realises his future with Juliet is now uncertain. Romeo remark ‘O, I am fortunes fool’ underlines the extent of his actions as he begins to see himself as a victim of destiny, since he knows his actions that night will have consequences and he could end up never seeing Juliet again. The audience can now see Romeo on the verge of insanity as he begins to comprehend that murdering Tybalt will separate him and Juliet forever.
Romeo’s banishment to Mantua in Act5 Scene3 evokes Juliet’s feelings of grief and sorrow, as she believes fate has denied her a future with Romeo. Her line ‘Come weep with me, past hope, past cure, past help’ reinforces the extent of her pain and suffering from Romeo’s forced departure to Mantua. Romeo who is also in anguish believes his banishment to be ‘Tis torture and not mercy’, as he cannot endure a day without Juliet, this emphasises Romeo’s belief on how being apart from Juliet is unbearable and unendurable. The audience now begins to see Romeo in a vulnerable state as he starts behaves irrationally.
Furthermore, Juliet, motivated by sorrow, takes a potion feigning death, as she believes it will reunite her and Romeo. Romeo who does not know this is devastated and believes Juliet is dead so he sets his journey to back Verona. The audience can now begin to see Romeo’s decline, as he believes his beloved wife has died. This is shown when Romeo speaks to his servant Balthasar ‘If thou are jealous, dost return to pry in what I further shall intend to do. By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint and strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs’, this emphasises Romeo’s decline from romantic lover to barbaric wild man. Shakespeare uses the oxymoron ‘thou womb of death’ to suggest that Romeo is in a state of disarray and wants to start a new life with Juliet, where their love for each other can be preserved. The audience here begin to see Romeo as a desperate man who will do virtually anything to preserve the love he has for Juliet. Imagery such as ‘rotten jaw’ reinforces Romeo’s decline as Shakespeare uses vile imagery to show the audience his deranged mental state.
Paris’ reintroduction into the play allows the audience to see how deeply love can affect another, like Romeo. He accuses Romeo of ‘villainous shame’ for attending to Juliet’s tomb, this enflames Romeo’s love for Juliet, as he cares not of what Paris has to say. Paris continues to warn Romeo to ‘stop thy unhallow’d toil’ which indicates Paris’ belief on how Romeo is there to desecrate Juliet’s tomb, this allows the audience to empathise with Romeo as he is only there to mourn for his beloved wife. Romeo is in a tense and sorrowful state so he warns Paris by saying ‘tempt not a desperate man’ he also carries on saying ‘I love thee better than myself’ this stresses Romeo’s willing ness to be left along, by advising Paris not to tempt him to do something he will regret, it also illustrates Romeo state of mind as he hates him more than ever for ruining his relationship with Juliet. Romeo also begins to accept his madness and eventually murders Paris ‘A madman’s mercy bade thee run away’ this underlines his dismay and decline as he only warns Paris’ once, but earlier in the play spared Tybalt for his slanderous comments until he murdered Mercutio. Although Romeo has murdered Paris he shows remorse by listening to his last request and laying him next to Juliet, this informs the audience of Romeo’s compassion and empathy, as he understands Paris’ love for Juliet. Shakespeare’s dramatic purpose for introducing Paris at this point in the play is to show Romeo compassion for other, and that he has taken responsibility for everything that has happened to himself and everyone around him.
Romeo’s final soliloquy reveals his deepest and inner most thoughts about Juliet. He uses the imagery ‘honey of thy breath’ to emphasise Juliet’s enduring beauty and elegance. Romeo also employs the metaphor ‘death’s pale flag is not advanced there’ to illustrate that Juliet’s beauty and vitality is still obvious, but the irony is she has not died. The line ‘forgive me cousin’ implies that Romeo is reflecting on his murderous deeds and displays remorse for Tybalt. Shakespeare personifies death as Juliet’s lover in the line ‘the lean abhorred monster keeps thee here in the dark to be his paramour?’ to stress that Romeo believes that even death cannot take away Juliet’s beauty, so death chooses to be her lover. The audience now begin to see that Romeo is realising that fate was against the marriage between him and his beloved wife Juliet ‘shake the yoke of inauspicious stars from this world-wearied flesh’ this emphasises Romeo’s mental state as he is mentally and physically tired and his knowledge that fate was against the unity of the Capulet and Montague families’. The audience, realising the tragic irony of Romeo death, now see love as an overwhelming and cruel emotion. They also begin to acknowledge that the dramatic purpose of Romeo’s last soliloquy was to evoke sympathy for Romeo and illustrate how a feud can never solve any situation.
Through Shakespeare’s presentation of Romeo we have acquired the knowledge of how can love influence and manipulate someone without them fully knowing. I myself have learnt that love can be intoxicating, as you cannot control how you feel towards someone else. Furthermore I have leant of how fate can never be changed or manipulated by love, even though Romeo and Juliet went to every possible and conceivable length to be with one another, but ultimately there relationship was doomed to fail.
