The various themes in “Romeo and Juliet” help to create and develop the dramatic contributions that Romeo makes in the play. The themes used in the play develop the past, and therefore determines Romeo’s behaviour.
When we first see Romeo he is a typical thoughtless young man, in love with the idea of love and ready to take silly risks in order to see the girl he is in love with. He uses the language of conventional courtly love to talk about her, Act 1 Scene 4:
‘I am too sore enpierced with his shaft…’
Romeo’s relationship with Rosaline was immature. He had an unrealistic and idealistic view of a woman who was out of reach. He plays the role of the hopeless lover and is chasing a dream. This attitude is also very selfish: he doesn’t care so much for the person whom he says he is in love with, in this case Rosaline, but he cares about how he feels. Notice also how impulsive and impetuous he is in the scene where Tybalt is killed. This dependence on authority figures in his relationship with the Friar.
But once he sees Juliet, in Act 1 Scene 5, he is shocked into using quite a different language:
‘Oh she doth teach the torches to burn bright.’
In these two scenes we can see that Romeo is changing from a conventional young man with conventional emotions into a passionate lover.
In some ways he doesn’t change: he remains romantic and idealistic, impetuous and impulsive in the risks he takes to be with Juliet, but as time goes on the unselfishness decreases. His growing sense of thoughtfulness and responsibility increases once he falls in love with her. The relationship between Romeo and Juliet matures him. In Act 3 Scene 1 he actually tries to get out of a fight between the Montague’s and Capulets:
’Villain I am none – therefore farewell.’
Another sign of Romeo’s maturity is when he refuses to respond to the taunts of Tybalt. That in itself shows maturity, because it is always harder to turn the other cheek.
He is in a wonderful mood because of his relationship with Juliet and he is also no longer the sort of ‘lad’ who likes a fight for the sake of it. It is a great shame that this doesn’t work with Tybalt!
Of course, he then fights Tybalt, because of the death of Mercutio, but pulls himself from his despair at his banishment to follow the Friar’s plan and, no doubt, would have survived and loved Juliet had the train of events not taken their tragic turn.
Despite his killing of Tybalt he still tries to maintain his relationship with Juliet. This is evident in the mature way in which they carefully plan their future. I doubt it is Juliet who changes him, but rather the relationship that he has with her that changes him.
Romeo’s contribution to the drama of the play is in his role as a lover. This contrasts strongly with the theme of hate between the families, which is what drives the action along. Romeo is not in control of his actions. He falls in love with Juliet before he realizes who she is, and by then his feelings for her is far stronger than any hatred felt between the two families. He is at the hands of fate, and we know that the lovers are "star crossed" right from the very start.
Romantic love existed between Romeo and Juliet. This is perhaps contrasted by the relationships of older couples such as Capulet and Lady Capulet and the Nurse’s experience with her husband. Romeo’s obsession and feelings for Rosaline quickly change once he met Juliet.
Romeo’s other role is that of a friend to Mercutio and Benvolio. The love between friends is best exemplified by Romeo’s relationship with Mercutio and Benvolio. We see him spending time and joking with them on a few occasions. They obviously know him very well and try to shake off his feelings of sadness. They laugh at and tease each other, but when the chips are down, they defend each other to the death. There seems to be protectiveness towards him as well, because when Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt, Mercutio automatically takes his place rather than see Romeo dishonored as a coward. Romeo’s peace loving nature and his love for Juliet makes him try to stop the fight and he indirectly causes his friend’s death through his actions. Events spiral out of his control from there, leaving him to remark:
"O I am Fortune’s fool!"
When Mercutio dies defending the honor of the Montagues (the irony being that he wasn’t even a Montague himself), Romeo seeks revenge, which leads to his banishment. Romeo knew that killing Tybalt might spell the end of things for him and Juliet, but he still went ahead with it, because of his intensely strong loyalty to his friends.
Dreams help Romeo to make a dramatic contribution to the play. In Act 1 Scene 4, he dreamt that something would happen that night at the Capulet feast that would lead to his untimely death. Later he dreamt that he had died and Juliet revived him with kisses. This is mostly foreshadowing what is to come.
Romeo also shows a very determined side to his nature. Death to him is better than being separated from his Juliet, and he has no hesitation in getting poison and going to her tomb to die when he believes she’s dead. No one will stand in his way, and he even kills Paris so that he can be with her. The timing of their deaths, with Juliet waking when Romeo has just died has a very dramatic impact as well.
Romeo returns to die with his wife Juliet. Perhaps this shows immaturity and he should have reconciled himself to what he believed to be her death. Yet, you could argue that his decision to make the ultimate sacrifice, his own life, to join Juliet in death is a sign that he has grown from boy to man. His acknowledgement of how much he needed her is a sign of being older, more truly sensitive and more mature.
