What is the relative significance of the four interpretations of Romeo?

My four interpretations of Romeo were melodramatic, artistic/poetic, self piteous and confused. I think that these are the four best interpretations and that Romeo is actually a mixture of all four of these qualities rather than just one of them.

I think the most significant interpretation is the idea that he is actually being melodramatic. This is because he seems to be exaggerating all of his problems and showing off to Benvolio just how hurt he is. This is shown when Romeo doesn’t directly answer any of Benvolio’s questions but skips around them making him ask more. When Benvolio asks, “What sadness lengthens Romeo’s hours?” Romeo doesn’t give a straight answer but says, “Not having that, which, having, makes them short.” This doesn’t answer the question at all but forces Benvolio to ask yet another question. This shows that Romeo wants as much attention as possible and that he is overacting. I think this is the most significant interpretation as it shows that all of Romeo’s emotions may not be as bad as he makes them out to be and that he just wants attention.

I think the second most significant of these interpretations is confusion because Romeo seems very confused about his feelings and this is emphasised by the number of oxymorons he uses such as, “loving hate” and “heavy lightness.” This shows that he feels confused and doesn’t really know what to do. By saying “misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms” he is trying to explain just how confused he is because order is being turned into chaos and he doesn’t know what to do. I don’t think this interpretation is as important as the first one but it is still very important ...

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I think the third most important interpretation is the idea that he is artistic and poetic. Romeo talks in verse showing that he has a high social status and a poetic side to him. The oxymorons also emphasise his artistic qualities. In the movie he is shown to have prepared the speech beforehand showing that he really is artistic but also quite melodramatic. Romeo uses rhyming couplets such as, “hate” and “create” showing that he is very creative and also the oxymorons emphasise this artistic side to Romeo. This interpretation is quite significant but not really that significant in comparison to the idea that he is being melodramatic because although he is quite artistic he seems even to be showing this off.

The idea that he is self piteous is a significant one but I think it is the least significant because he is probably just putting this side of him on to show off. He obviously feels very sorry for himself and wants to show this to Benvolio. He spends a lot of his time doing this and trying to invoke attention in himself. “O me!” This is him sighing to himself but he makes it very obvious and brings the subject directly on to himself. This shows he feels sorry for himself but also that he wants only to talk about himself and his feelings. Although this interpretation can be taken I don’t think it is as significant as the others and therefore I have placed it as least important.

Afzal Rahman 10S