When Romeo first hears of his sentence of banishment, he immediately becomes hysterical, telling the Friar that “banished” is “death mistermed”, and he later becomes so distressed that he starts rolling on the floor, “taking the measure of an unmade grave”, which is impulsive and immature behaviour.
Romeo’s musing of his dream in Act 5 Scene 1 is pretty short and phrased simply, “When but love’s shadows are so rich in joy”, and this shows signs of maturation, where his speech is less flowery and more meaningful.
Just before he dies, however, he is able to deal with situations much more calmly. His first reaction when he hears of Juliet’s death is very calm and brief, “Then I defy you stars”, and he does not go into a frothy and exaggerated speech like before. He has matured, and even though he still makes a very rash decision of rushing off without checking the news, it is a large development from the previous Romeo who would bawl and cry. When he tells Balthasar to leave him alone, he starts off very level-headed, logically explaining why he needs to be alone, “to behold my lady’s face” and “to take thence from her dead finger a precious ring”. This shows that Romeo has learnt to temper his passion. He still remains impulsive, and the tragedy is precipitated by speed with which he buys poison and kills himself. Shortly afterward, however, in the same speech, he starts becoming wild. He tells Balthasar that he will “tear him joint by joint” and gives Balthasar some money and a letter, to be passed to his father Montague, not realizing that he was giving Balthasar some very vital clues regarding his intended actions in the tomb. This shows that he still has a lot of room for improvement, in regards to his state of maturity.
He is generous to the apothecary, and gives him a large amount of money, showing his generosity of spirit. Next, inside the tomb, he deals with Paris very calmly at first. He calls Paris a “gentle youth” and reasons with him to depart from the tomb and leave him alone. For instance, he tells him he should be afraid of the dead in the tomb, to run away and to later say “a madman’s mercy bid me run away”. Later however, he fights Paris without asking for his name, and finds out only after he has slain Paris that he has slain another of the Prince’s kinsmen. The last bit shows, again, that Romeo is still very rash.
At the beginning of the play, Juliet shows herself to be an obedient and well-brought up girl, and her responses are submissive and simple, “What is your will?” and “It is an honour I dream not of”, which are very proper replies and show nothing of what she really feels. We see her as a naïve girl who is stranger to the ways of the world. She follows the wishes of her mother and accepts it without questioning, “I’ll look to like, if looking liking move. But no more will I endart mine eye than your consent gives strength to make it fly.” The nurse also describes her as a ‘lamb’, and we can see this is so, from her docile and simple nature. Capulet also describes her as ‘a stranger in the world”, showing her to be inexperienced and unaccustomed to the ways of the world.
Upon meeting Romeo, Juliet is bold and resolute in her declaration of love, and she even flirts a little, “Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.” This is a dramatic change from the Juliet whom we saw earlier. Her language is not retiring or bashful, and she is able to meet the intensity of Romeo’s love, “Then have my lips the sin that they have took”. She is now blossoming into a woman who knows her own mind and what she wants. She also shows intelligence at cleverness in the way she allays suspicion while asking for Romeo, “What’s he that follows there that will not dance?”, asking for other people before she questions about Romeo.
Although she knows that falling in love with Romeo will have dire consequences, she knows her own feelings and is determined in her love, “Romeo doff thy name, and for thy name which is no part of thee take all myself.” When Romeo shocks her by his appearance, her reaction is practical and she is concerned about Romeo’s welfare and the possible dangers, “How cam’st thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?” Her mind is clear and she knows the dangers that Romeo is risking by climbing up the balcony, and she expresses concern over his safety, telling him he would face death “if any of my kinsmen find thee here.” She appears to be more sensible, and she is not a hypocrite, and is frank and direct about her love, “I’ll prove more true”, showing her courageous and forthright nature. She also expresses hesitation over the hastiness of their declaration of love, “It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden”, showing her to be mindful and clear of the possible consequences. However, she gets indulgent towards the end of Act 2 Scene 2, showing she is still quite young and susceptible to pretty ways, “I have forgot why I did call thee back, I shall forget, to have thee still stand there, remembering how I loved thy company.”
Juliet also waits for the Nurse’s return in Scene 4, fretting the whole while, and pestering her like a little kid, ‘Oh sweet, sweet sweet Nurse”. When the Nurse returns after seeing Romeo, she also, expresses nervous excitement, and the eagerness of character, “Love’s heralds should be thoughts”.
On hearing the news about Tybalt’s death, Juliet is broken and distressed, but she quickly gets a hold of herself and remains loyal to Romeo, “For tis a throne where honour may be crowned sole monarch of the universal earth”. Despite the difficulty to stay loyal and all the tremendous difficulties facing her, she gets a hold on herself and shows care and a focused mind even at this moment, asking the nurse to “give this ring to my true knight” , to send a message to him that she is still on his side and will give her support. Her considerate nature shines here, and she is able to face the situation with courage.
When Romeo is banished and she is forced to marry Paris, she does not lose control of her emotions after the Nurse has rejected her, but she falls back on her own resources and gets a hold on herself “If all else fail, myself have power to die.” From this we can see her strength and maturity from the fact that she is so determined to remain faithful to Romeo and despite being left to her own devices, she is still courageous to meet the odds, and find a practical solution by disseminating information. She also has a cunning use of words for Lady Capulet so that she does not betray Romeo, “To wreak the love I bore my cousin upon his body that slaughtered him”. She is rational, first she tries to argue and beg her parents for a way out, upon failing, turning to the Nurse, and upon failing on that to Friar Lawrence.
When Juliet has the potion, she thinks of fearful things that might happen should anything go wrong, “Should I not be distraught, environed with all these hideous fears”, and how it is possible the Friar is trying to save his reputation. However, she still makes herself take the potion in hope of a solution, and her ability to overcome all these and remain loyal to her cause shows a greater maturity. Later in the play, when Juliet wakes up and sees Romeo dead, she does not run away from the situation but faces up to the reality and situation, “Go get thee hence, I will not run away”. She is not an escapist and it took tremendous courage to use the dagger to kill herself.
Throughout the play, the characters show tremendous development, but Juliet’s character develops significantly more than Romeo in that aspect, and we see a greater change in her character, which continues to change till the end of the play. However, the Romeo we see in Act V still remains very much like the Romeo we see in Act 3, and his impulsive nature carries till the end of the play. The shrewd decisive character of Juliet we see at the end of the play is very different from the obedient, docile girl we saw in Act 1.