Compare and contrast Romeo's speeches in Act 1 scene 1 when he speaks of Rosaline and Act 1 scene 5 - when he sees Juliet
Compare and contrast Romeo's speeches in Act 1 scene 1 when he speaks
of Rosaline and Act 1 scene 5 - when he sees Juliet.
What changes in Romeo's language, feelings and opinion of love can be
noted and what conclusions can be reached about the nature of his love
for the two women?
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare was written around the 16^th
century. Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is a love-tragedy about two
people who fall in love from two feuding families. The intended
audience was for Elizabethans who visited the theatre regularly.
An Elizabethan lover was very different to a typical lover nowadays.
An Elizabethan was a deeply pious person and was typically married at
a very young age. This can be illustrated by Juliet who is only 13 or
14 and yet she marries Romeo despite the fact that he is also quite
young. The lover would attract the opposite sex by the use of poetry
and various romantic words.
As well as different characteristics, a typical Elizabethan lover also
held different moral values. Society at that time believed strongly
in maintaining high moral values and trying to set good examples for
the rest of their community. For instance, if two people fell in love
with each other, but they were not married at the time, (or were from
two feuding families), it would be frowned upon by other members of
society for those two people to act upon their emotions & feelings of
love. Instead, people believed one should actually obtain permission
from their parents before subsequently formalising their love in the
sanctity of marriage.
The main characters in Act 1 scene 1 are: Romeo (Lord & Lady
Montague's son), Benvolio (Romeo's cousin); and in Act 1 scene 5:
Romeo, Juliet (Lord & Lady Capulet's daughter).
Romeo is a hasty and indecisive character. He quickly changes his
mind over who he loves. First it was Rosaline, and then suddenly, his
feeling of love seemed to be for another woman, Juliet. Soon after
Juliet catches Romeo's attention, he says to Benvolio: "Did my heart
love till now?" This shows that he changes his mind so rapidly that he
does not have time to even contemplate what love actually is. The
reader is likely to have further doubts as to the genuine nature of
Romeo's love because he appears to have the propensity to change his
mind frequently.
When Romeo talks about the women he supposedly loves, he contradicts
himself. When he says he loves Rosaline, he obviously does not. We
know this because very soon afterwards when he sneaks into the
Capulet's ball to catch a glimpse of Rosaline, he spots Juliet and
seems to instantly fall in love with her. While he was talking to
Benvolio about how much he loves Rosaline, it means nothing as he
rapidly changes his mind about which one of the two women he actually
loves. From this we can discover that Romeo is not in love but that
he is in love with the idea of being in love. Romeo's love is
unrealistic, uncompromising and given to extremes. For example he
says "She will not stay the siege of loving terms", whatever charm
Romeo throws at her, she is not going to be seduced. This is a
perfect example of Romeo exaggerating about his "love" for Rosaline.
Romeo seems to be irrational because although he believes he is in
love with Rosaline, his speeches in Scene 1 would appear to indicate
that he in fact lacks certainty. Benvolio tries to make Romeo forget
about the girl by persuading him to look for other women: "By giving
liberty unto thine eyes. Examine other ...
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says "She will not stay the siege of loving terms", whatever charm
Romeo throws at her, she is not going to be seduced. This is a
perfect example of Romeo exaggerating about his "love" for Rosaline.
Romeo seems to be irrational because although he believes he is in
love with Rosaline, his speeches in Scene 1 would appear to indicate
that he in fact lacks certainty. Benvolio tries to make Romeo forget
about the girl by persuading him to look for other women: "By giving
liberty unto thine eyes. Examine other beauties." This shows that
Benvolio is trying to encourage Romeo to be a little more broad minded
with his views and rather than falling in love with one woman so
hastily, Benvolio is motivating Romeo to consider that another woman
might be better suited to him. Romeo replies by saying that if he
looks at other beautiful women, all it will do will remind him of
Rosaline. Again Romeo contradicts himself here. When he sees Juliet,
his decision not to look at other women came to no avail because he
decided to look at other beautiful women anyway. Again Romeo is not in
love with Rosaline, he is just in love with the idea of being in love;
perhaps it merely a fantasy.
Romeo's speeches in Act 1 scene 1 must be taken superficially. This
is because of the way that he expresses his supposed feelings for
Rosaline in an exaggerated way and in a way that he contradicts
himself. Romeo describes Rosaline as "rich in beauty...she is too
fair". Romeo describes her beauty only; he does not describe anything
but this. For instance he mentions little about her intelligence
(except that she is wise enough not to be promiscuous). This is
illustrated when he says: "...nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold."
Romeo only seems to be in love with her body. This makes it very
difficult for the reader to believe that he may have any genuine
feelings for Rosaline.
Romeo's love seems more genuine for Juliet because of the fact that
the story continues with the two getting married. When Romeo first
saw Juliet, he instantly fell in love with her, despite saying that he
was deeply in love with Rosaline. Romeo's love for Rosaline appeared
entirely imaginary and unrealistic. Romeo's attitude to love in Act 1
scene 1 is rather childish as he was not in love, but he was in love
with an idealistic fantasy.
The main theme in Romeo & Juliet is the theme of love. This theme is
present throughout the whole play especially in Romeo's speeches in
Act 1 scene 1 & 5.
In Act 1 scene 1 Romeo talks of his love for Rosaline. Shakespeare
communicates the idea of love at first sight through Romeo. He does
this by characterising Romeo in such a way as to allow him to fall in
love with haste and lack of clarity. Shakespeare further allows Romeo
to develop loving feelings for Juliet despite having confessed his
feelings for Rosaline only earlier on in the same Act. Shakespeare
makes it clear that Romeo is truly in love with Juliet through the
contrasts he makes against `light and dark.' For example, this can be
shown by: "a shining jewel in an ethiop's ear". Shakespeare creates a
simile to convey to the reader the vision of beauty in which Romeo
beholds Juliet. He describes her as emanating light in such a way
that he compares it to a shining jewel in the ear of a black African.
The colour black may have been used to symbolise the blackness of the
night set against the light and the beauty that he is trying to
describe.
This contrast helps to form another sub-theme in the play: that of
light and dark. Romeo frequently refers to Juliet as being the light
that emblazons his life which to him, seems to be surrounded by
darkness and discontent. Shakespeare uses this technique in Romeo's
speech in Act 1 scene 5, when Romeo first sees Juliet. The language
used in the scene emphasises how powerful Romeo's love is for Juliet.
"For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." Romeo asks himself if
he had ever loved before and whether he had ever seen such beauty
until now. This may encourage the reader to doubt his feelings for
Rosaline.
The final theme in the two speeches is the theme of religion.
Shakespeare conveys this message of religion because it reflects the
religious nature of most Elizabethans. Romeo refers to Juliet as
being some kind of `holy shrine' as he says "If I profane with my
unworthiest hand the holy shrine...gentle sin". Romeo then asks if
lips could do what hands do; i.e. to pray and worship. This shows
that he would look upon Juliet as some kind of goddess and worship
her. The contrasting symbolism is apparent in the language because he
wants to express his love for her as if he worshiped her. He then
kisses Juliet for the first time. The theme also emphasises the
spirituality of their love by incorporating some religious metaphors
used by Romeo when describing pilgrims and Juliet. This can be shown
when he says: "...my lips two blushing pilgrims ready stand...."
The language is a main part of the whole play. Shakespeare
communicates most of his thoughts, ideas and actions through the
language he presents through the characters in the play.
Shakespeare uses many oxymorons through Romeo to describe his love for
Rosaline to great effect. His choice of words with opposite meanings
creates a strong image of what Romeo's love is. This can be shown by
the various oxymorons Shakespeare uses in Romeo's speech in Act 1
scene 1: "O heavy lightness, serious vanity...feather of lead, bright
smoke, cold fire, sick health". This linguistic technique allows
Shakespeare to negate Romeo's professed love for Rosaline. Romeo has
a confused feeling of love, because his love (as the oxymorons show),
makes him wonder how he will win Rosaline's heart. Romeo also fails
to express his love in a genuine way which is illustrated by: "cold
fire, sick health" showing how badly his mixed emotions are affecting
him.
Romeo's love and confusion has mixed the two ideas of love and hate
together. Again oxymorons bring out Romeo's love and confusion when
Romeo says: "O brawling love, o loving hate", Shakespeare describes
Romeo's love as being blind and causes Romeo to be confused about
whether his love is true. This shows that Romeo's love towards
Rosaline is of a childish nature.
Romeo's soliloquy in Act 1 scene 5 presents a contrast between light
and darkness. Juliet is said to be, a light in dark surroundings and
that she is a `holy shrine.' Romeo contrasts light and darkness: "O
she doth teach the torches to burn bright." Romeo is so stunned by
her beauty and he goes on to contrast her as being a "rich jewel in an
ethiop's ear", a "snowy dove" surrounded by crows and he gives Juliet
divine qualities. The idea of purity brings clear, white images into
the reader's mind. Shakespeare's language in Act 1 scene 5 proves that
Romeo's love for Juliet is much more realistic and much more devoted.
Imagery is strong in both scenes 1 & 5. There is powerful imagery
when Romeo describes Juliet after first seeing her. The way that
Shakespeare has portrayed Juliet gives the effect as though Romeo has
never seen such beauty in all of his life. Romeo questions and asks
Benvolio if his "heart loved till now...For I ne'er saw true beauty
till this night." This again makes the reader think that Romeo has
changed and his nature has become more mature towards women. The
reader can clearly see and can conclude that Romeo is deeply in love
with this woman and not in love with the idea of being in love.
Through Romeo, Shakespeare uses many metaphors to describe Romeo's
love for Rosaline. "Love is a smoke made of a fume of sighs." Romeo
describes love in many different forms; this shows Shakespeare's use
of imagery. Romeo continues to describe love as: "a fire sparkling in
lovers' eyes...a sea nourished with lovers' tears." Further more, he
says: "A choking gall and a preserving sweet." Romeo's love appears
to lack integrity because Rosaline does not take any notice of him.
Romeo struggles and tries so hard to win Rosaline's love, but "She
will not stay the siege of loving terms." Romeo describes his love as
a battle to win her love at any costs.
Romeo's thoughts and feelings have been put together in a confused
way. Romeo seems to express his thoughts out loud when talking to
Benvolio. Romeo confides in him all thoughts about Rosaline without
mentioning her name. There is no rationale to what he says; Romeo's
confusion about his idea of love causes this. "Here much to do with
hate, but more with love." Romeo has no idea of the fighting between
the two feuding families; he only has ideas of his love from
Rosaline.
Romeo uses sexual innuendo when describing how he cannot attract her
to him. Romeo refers to cupid; he describes Cupid as not being able
to win Rosaline's heart because she is `immune' to Cupid's arrows and
Romeo is upset about this. He continues to talk about her chastity
and how she wishes not to lose it. Romeo describes her to be "well
armed" and this use of colloquial language conveys to us the
impression that all he is interested in is taking her virginity.
Romeo makes this clear throughout his speeches in the first scene of
Act 1.
The style of writing used in scene 1 & 5 are significantly different.
Romeo's thoughts and feelings are illogical and unrealistic in scene
1. In scene 5, the difference in his logic is almost instantly
noticeable. Romeo also becomes more mature and his visions become
more realistic. The language Shakespeare uses in scene 1 is powerful,
when displaying Romeo's confusion over his love and the use of
linguistic devices such as oxymorons complement this style of
expression. Also the metaphors he uses when describing Romeo's love
are sophisticated and powerful; they show that Romeo's love for
Rosaline is negative and unrealistic. In scene 5, the contrast
between light and dark over Juliet's beauty is strong and the language
used shows Romeo is truly in love with Juliet.
Romeo is an indecisive character and very hasty. In scene 1 he
purports to love Rosaline. His language is unrealistic and
inconsequential. As a result, his confusion over love and hate
restricts his ability to see beyond his love and is blind to take help
from his cousin, Benvolio. In scene 5, the language and order of the
text is so much more logical and clear. Romeo also seems to become
more mature and from looking at his speech and the language he uses,
the reader can identify that Romeo is really in love with Juliet.
The nature of Romeo's feelings for the two women is very different.
Romeo acts in a childish way in Act 1 scene 1. This because he is not
actually in love; he is in love with the idea of being in love.
Therefore this causes Romeo to behave like this and say things he does
not mean. For instance, he said he would only ever be in love with
Rosaline and looking at other beautiful women would do nothing but
remind him of Rosaline. In scene 5 Romeo becomes an entirely
different person. He speaks in an appropriate way; he becomes more
mature and does not say things unnecessarily. His language becomes
more sophisticated and he describes Juliet with a contrast between
`light and dark' with powerful imagery. He also describes Juliet as
being `holy.' The reader is given the idea of her being pure and
beautiful.
Romeo was not in love with Rosaline as at that time, he did not know
the meaning of love and he was in love with the idea of being in love,
so behaved in a childish manner. Romeo's love for Juliet is clear and
distinguishable. Lastly, Romeo is a quick and indecisive character at
the start of the play; he acts childish and talks in an illogical way.
During the play, when he first sees Juliet, he becomes more mature
and begins to act like an adult.
