IS ROMEO A BOY OR A MAN?

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Is Romeo a Boy or a Man?

Shakespeare’s representation of Romeo is of both boy and man. Romeo’s language and actions emphasize his attitude and behaviour throughout the play. People associate boys with being: immature, uncivilised, irresponsible, unreasonable and unable to accept punishment. Romeo has unquestionably got several of these characteristics. However people associate men with being: mature, civilised, reasonable, rational, in tune with their emotions and not afraid of showing their emotions. In my opinion Romeo has undeniably got many more of these characteristics than that of a boy.

In the following paragraphs I am going to put my argument to you in that Romeo is more man than boy.

Prior to meeting Juliet, Romeo’s features are undeniably that of a boy. Romeo’s yearning for Rosaline mistaking lust for love, “Alas that Love, whose view is muffled still, Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will!” His language is very poetic and over-charged. Shakespeare uses sonnets in this part of the play, which portrays Romeo’s attitude. He is in a depressed state of mind, caused by his love for Rosaline. He over-exaggerates everything he says, and creates a drama. This is completely changing his behaviour and makes him seem petty and immature.

Romeo appears to be a “lovesick boy,” because he is constantly talking about Rosaline. He is so obsessed with Rosaline he is oblivious to the fight brewing between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s. Shakespeare uses oxymoron’s to show Romeo’s disturbed emotional state, “…O brawling love, O loving hate…” oxymorons were very popular in love poetry of Shakespeare’s time therefore contemporaries would recognise this and understand what Shakespeare meant.  In the play Shakespeare is very poetic in order to portray Romeo’s character. When Romeo describes his love for Rosaline he uses many rhyming couplets, “…sighs…” and, “…eyes…” This makes him seem very besotted. All of which is felt by the audience giving them a better insight into Romeo.

One of the most essential scenes showing Romeo with the characteristics of a man is before and during the Capulet’s ball; before Romeo gets to the Capulet’s ball the mood is foreboding which is due to Romeo's soliloquy as it seems that he has foreseen his death, “consequence, yet hanging in the stars….” Furthermore Shakespeare creates tension by Romeo's carefully chosen words announcing his strong belief in God. “…He that hath steerage of my course…” and “…Direct my sail…” these are metaphors that Shakespeare uses, describing a ship carrying Romeo's fate and God as the ship's captain. He is also representing fate as the sea; the reason for this is that the sea depicts a force of power and unpredictability. Shakespeare continues using dramatic irony in this scene as the audience already know that Romeo's fate is fixed. Also Shakespeare represents God as stars; this could be because they were seen as mystical and powerful objects during Romeo's time.

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From this scene the audience can see that Romeo is troubled and doesn't know whether to go to the Capulet's ball or not. In anguish he expresses his great belief in religion and rests his fate in God, showing his bravery. Basically, in this scene the atmosphere is serious because of the tension caused by Romeo's soliloquy.

Although it’s obvious Romeo is taking a brave but colossal risk in going to the Capulet’s ball, as soon as he meets Juliet he starts to describe her beauty in great detail, using his poetic language again. Romeo expresses his love for her by ...

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