Romeo says this after first setting eyes on Juliet, he is saying that Juliet is brighter than the torches which light the whole room and that she teaches them to be as bright as she is.
Romeo then goes on to talk of Juliet as “a snowy dove trooping with crows,” saying that Juliet is a bright, white dove, a symbol of peace, walking among black crows; she stands out like a beacon of light in the dark. Romeo then asks;
“Did my heart love till now, forswear it sight,
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”
Here, Romeo is asking himself did he really love Rosaline. Not only does this show his passionate nature, it also shows that he is fickle and impetuous. His impetuosity is shown when, although he is at a Capulet party he allows himself to fall in love with Juliet before finding out who she is.
Kerry Walker
Romeo’s impetuosity is also shown in Act 3, scene 1 when we see a lot of his passion in anger and fury.
We, as the audience know that Romeo has just wed Juliet and therefore as Tybalt is Juliet’s cousin when Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel Romeo tries to walk away from the challenge, but Tybalt will not allow him to walk away without a fight and in the text Shakespeare gives us directions that “Tybalt under Romeo’s arm thrust Mercutio in.” This means that Mercutio has been wounded under Romeo’s arm because Romeo did not want to fight with Tybalt.
After Mercutio dies we see Romeo’s impetuosity when he says;
“Away to heaven respective lenity,
And fire and fury be my conduct now.”
Here, Romeo admits to himself, that he isn’t thinking rationally; in fact he invokes anger to ‘think for him.’ Later, in the same speech Romeo states;
“Mercutio’s soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company:
Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.”
Basically here Romeo is saying that he is willing to die to avenge Mercutio’s death. He says that either Tybalt or himself or both must die and keep Mercutio ‘company.’
This is not the first time we have seen Romeo’s will to die for something, or someone, he loves. In the ‘balcony scene’, Act 1, scene 5 we hear Romeo say;
“My life were better ended by their hate,
Than prorogued by wanting of thy love.”
Romeo is saying that he would rather die by the Capulet’s hate for him than not be able to love Juliet.
We then see Romeo battle with Tybalt until Tybalt falls. Then we see Romeo admit to himself that he is “fortune’s fool,” although he admits that he has been foolish but he still ‘blames’ his foolish action on fortune.
Kerry Walker
When Balthasar first brings the news to Romeo of Juliet’s death Romeo asks no questions and rushes off to get some poison to kill himself without even going to see the Friar. When Romeo then goes to see Juliet in the tomb Romeo goes on and on about how alive Juliet looks and how it seems as though she is just sleeping but does not think about why and how this may be and then goes on to take the poison to kill himself. This is a good example of Romeo’s impetuosity where his quick actions without any thought have ended fatally.
We could say that Romeo is his own worst enemy but we can’t blame him solely for the tragic ending. There are other factors that we need to take into consideration; for example the feud between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s which we are told about in the prologue when Shakespeare writes;
“Two households alike in dignity,
From ancient grudge, break to new mutiny”
If this feud did not exist then neither would the tragedy; Romeo and Juliet would not have had to get married in secret, Tybalt would have never have been killed and then Romeo would have never been exiled from Verona and Juliet would never have had to take the poison to make herself appear to be dead and therefore Romeo would never have taken the poison to kill himself.
Other characters have a lot of impact on the outcome of the play with their strong personalities for example if the Friar and the Nurse were not so keen to unite Romeo and Juliet and actually thought about the consequences of their marriage and if the Friar hadn’t been so naive to think that Romeo and Juliet’s love for each other could resolve the conflict between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s when Friar Laurence says to Romeo;
“For this alliance may so happy prove,
To turn your households’ rancour to pure love.”
The means that if Romeo and Juliet get married their happiness and love for each other may unite their families and solve the “ancient grudge” that has stood between the two families for years, and turn their hate into “pure love.”
Timing is also an important element. Timing is so important in any tragedy; a few second’s difference could mean the difference between life and death; if Romeo had waited just one more minute before he had taken the poison he would have known that Juliet was still alive and neither of them would have died. Another example of timing leading to the tragic ending is if the Friar’s letter had arrived with Romeo and he had read it before speaking to Balthasar he would have known that Juliet was not really dead but instead he did not receive the letter and then proceeded to rush off without thinking about the whole situation showing his impetuosity.
Kerry Walker
So we could say that Romeo’s personality does have quite a large bearing on the tragic ending but not a full bearing, but I would certainly say that Romeo is his own worst enemy in some ways but Romeo is not the only person or thing that has an influence on the tragic ending to Romeo and Juliet.