The Immature Love of Romeo and Juliet
A recurring debate since the time of Shakespeare has been whether or not Romeo and Juliet were mature lovers. Using the text of the play, Romeo and Juliet, I shall assert that Romeo and Juliet were very immature in their love towards each other.
In the beginning of the play Romeo was in love with Rosaline. He swore to Benvolio that he loved Rosaline and could love no other. "One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun / Ne’er saw her match since first the world begun," (1.2.94-95). Yet in Act 1 Scene 5 Romeo sees Juliet and instantly falls in love. This shows Romeo’s immaturity as a lover in two ways. First, he is able to instantly switch from Rosaline, whom he swore he was in love with, to Juliet, who he doesn’t even know. Second, we see that Romeo bases his love on physical qualities. He instantly forgets about Rosaline, the most beautiful girl he has seen to that point, and falls in love with the even more beautiful Juliet. Romeo and Juliet’s initial attraction was entirely physical and had no solid basis upon which they could build a relationship. This is shown quite well in Act 2 by the chorus. The chorus states "That fair for which love groaned for and would die, / With tender Juliet matched, is now not fair," (2.0.3-4). The chorus is telling the audience how Romeo was madly in love with Rosaline, but when matched against Juliet she is no longer as beautiful and therefore no longer loved by Romeo.
Another sign of Romeo’s immaturity as a lover is illustrated in the famous balcony scene. Beginning in Act 2 Scene 2 Romeo uses extravagant metaphors comparing Juliet to different and beautiful forms of nature. All these metaphors, however, are very trite. This shows that Romeo is only saying things that he believes he is supposed to say. They are not his original thoughts or ideas. When Romeo begins stating "Juliet is the sun," "The brightness of her cheeks would shame those stars," and "thou art / As glorious . . . / As is a winged messenger of heaven," he is merely restating trite overused phrases that he has heard before (2.2.3,19,26-28). Also, these sayings that Romeo utters are all based on physical qualities which goes to reinforce the fact that he had nothing else to base his love on. We again see this use of unoriginal sayings by Romeo when he describes how he entered the Capulet orchard, "With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls, / For stony limits cannot hold love out," (2.2.66-67).
Also in the balcony scene, when the possibility of death is mentioned by Juliet, Romeo states, "Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye / Then twenty of their swords," and "let them find me here. / My life were better ended by their hate / Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love," (2.2.71-72,76-78). Romeo is stating that he doesn’t fear death and that he would rather die from their hate than avoid death and leave Juliet. This shows Romeo’s immaturity because he is willing to die just to see Juliet when he could leave and survive to see her again at another time.
