We can tell that he has fallen in love with someone else,
“with tears augmenting the fresh mornings dew”
From the way Benvollio and Lord Montague talk to each other Romeo is very anti-social and melancholic because he,
“shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, and makes himself an artificial light”
This tells us that Romeo likes to be alone in the dark because he is very sensitive,
“and private in his chamber pens himself”
After this in Act One Scene Two, we first hear of Juliet, although we do not meet her in person, her father Lord Capulet and Young Paris, a person who would like to marry Juliet, are having a conversation about marriage of Juliet and Paris. At this point in the play, Lord Capulet seems to be very defensive and over-protective for his daughter, Juliet. This gives us the feeling that he believes that Juliet is too young to marry,
“My child is a stranger in the world
She hath not seen the change in fourteen years
Let two more summers wither in their pride”
We now know that Lord Capulets perception of Juliet, is still as a young child. Ironically, Lord Capulet comes out with this line,
“too soon married are those so early made”
This tells us that Capulet believed at this point that Juliet will be unhappy if she marries at this age, the irony however, is that Lord Capulets decision completely changes later in the play.
The next scene is where Romeo and Juliet finally meet. This is the only scene, where the theme of love emerges, with no act of violence.
Romeo first impressions of Juliet are, that she is beautiful,
“for I ne’er saw true beauty till this night”
Romeo believes Juliet to be,
“a rich jewel in Ethiops ear”
It is from this point that the tension and theme changes, to a
“new mutiny”
Tybalt, who is very wary of the Montagues, decides to confront Romeo. If it were not for Lord Capulet, who defended Romeo, Tybalt may have ended the relationship before it had even started,
“Romeo is well regarded in Verona”
Tybalt however, vows that he will not let the indignity pass. At the point of argument between Tybalt and Lord Capulet, Capulet seems to be the antithesis of Tybalt. Which again is ironic, because later in the play, he will be very much like Tybalt.
When Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time, they kiss. This shows that Juliet has already lost her childhood and begun her road to adolescence. Romeo has approached Juliet and touched her hand. In a dialogue full of religious metaphors that figure Juliet as a saint and Romeo as a pilgrim who wishes to get rid of his sin, he tries to convince her to kiss him, since it is only through her kiss that he might be absolved. Juliet agrees to remain still as Romeo kisses her. Thus, in the terms of their conversation, she takes his sin from him. Juliet then makes the logical leap that if she has taken Romeo’s sin from him, his sin must now reside in her lips, and so they must kiss again. This is another example of Juliet maturing. She now is able to make rational decisions on her own, without the need and/or aid of her parents.
Juliet appears at a window above the spot where Romeo is standing. Romeo compares her to the
“morning sun” and
“far more beautiful than the moon it banishes”
He nearly speaks to her, but thinks better of it. Juliet, musing to herself and unaware that Romeo is in her garden, asks why Romeo must be Romeo—a , and therefore an enemy to her family. She says that if he would refuse his Montague name, she would give herself to him; or if he would simply swear that he loved her, she would refuse her Capulet name. Romeo responds to her plea, surprising Juliet, since she thought she was alone. She wonders how he found her and he tells her that love led him to her. This is another example of maturing. When Juliet had first kissed Romeo, she had lost her child-like presence. She already begun to mature into a young woman.
The most drastic changes with Juliet takes place in Act III Scene V, where she sleeps with Romeo to become a woman. After the loss of Tybalt, Lord Capulet assumes the personality of Paris earlier in the play, and decides to wed Juliet and Paris, very soon. However, Juliet, argues that she does not want to marry Paris, her second real step to becoming a women. This is the first time she defies her parents, directly in front of them. However, angered by this, Juliets father, Lord Capulet does not take this lightly. After being forced to marry, Juliet takes a poison that will make her look and feel dead for 24 hours.
This is the last scene to Romeo and Juliet where they are together. All that was predicted by fate has come true. Both die along side each other, as their parents’ feud finally comes to an end.
During the play, Juliet has grown a lot in mental terms. She had defied her parents many times, married Romeo, made drastic decisions on her own and died for what she believed in.
