The main four themes in the play are ”love”, “death and violence”, “star-crossed lovers” and “the individual versus society” I think that Romeo fits in very well with each and everyone of these themes and by doing so summarizes the play. The following explanations are how I think he fits into these themes.
We learn that Romeo is upset and not being himself before we even meet him in the play. Just before Romeo enters, the play Benvolio and Romeos father Montague are talking about him not saying what is wrong with him but giving. They say that he has been acting very strange for example they say he has concealed himself in his room, that he has been crying. and also setting up the next scene they say things like “away from light steals my heavy son,” and “my noble uncle do you know the cause?”, “I neither know it, nor can learn of him” meaning that he doesn’t know what is wrong with Romeo and that he cant work out what is wrong with him either. This sets up the next scene and leaves the audience guessing and thinking about what is going on in the play, which also keeps them concentrated on the play and thinking that they are almost part of the play.
The first time that Romeo speaks, he is talking about his love/infatuation for Rosaline and that she will not return his love, he is frustrated by this and says that she sworn a life of chastity. Within this speech, it becomes apparent that Romeo is confused, Shakespeare uses complex language to show this, and in this particular piece, he uses oxymorons “o heavy lightness, serious vanity, misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms,” he then goes on to say “this love feel I, that feel no love in this”, this is an example of Shakespeare using pun which was very common in Elizabethan times, meaning that is love is misplaced because there will never be a returned love. The oxymoron’s that Shakespeare uses are not just about Romeos supposed love for Rosaline, they sum up the whole play so far. As the oxymorons, also represent the opposites of the Capulet and Montague households. Another way to describe Romeos infatuation towards Rosaline would be described as courtly love, which is a modern term, used to describe a set of medieval concepts regarding the nature and conduct of love relationships, in which members of nobility engage in love affairs according to specific rules. The language that Shakespeare has given Romeo to say also says a lot about the character and his values. For example, his use of religion is a very strong thing to put to someone to say and by doing that makes sure that Romeo does come across to have very strong feelings and mentality towards different things. An example of this would be “[To Juliet] If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this, My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss” I think that this is a very good example of Romeos language as it has aspects of everything that he stands for, on the most part love and religion in a combination that is very effective in seducing Juliet which was his goal.
I think that Mercutio and Benvolio are good loyal friends of Romeo especially Mercutio, he was the one that was there when Romeo was upset and was the only one that cheered him up enough to get hi to come out of his room an get on with his life. Romeo is not in a party mood and he tells us thus by saying, “Give me a torch, I am not for this ambling” and “I have a soul of lead”. The first quotation is saying that he wants to go home, as he doesn’t feel like the bother of gate crashing a party; the second quotation is that he is feeling downhearted and is certainly not in a partying mood. Mercutio tries to cheer up Romeo becoming fanciful until Romeo can take no more and he stops him by saying “peace peace Mercutio peace! Thou talkest of nothing”. Mercutio was successful in trying to cheer Romeo up and eventually Romeo reluctantly agrees to go to the party. Before Romeo agrees to go the party, he reveals that he has had a premonition that he will die a premature death
Other people in the play do respect Romeo and this is best shown through Capulet (the head of the Capulet household), as he says, even being the head of the opposite rival house that Romeo says that “A bears him a portly gentleman; and to say truth, Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well governed youth”. A “portly gentleman” is someone who is dignified. In that quotation, it also explains to us that the city of Verona think very highly of him as well this is possibly because he is one of the only people out of the two families who doesn’t necessarily agree with the fighting. Although Capulet was being very nice about Romeo this was probably influenced a great deal by the situation that he was in, if any fights broke out between the households it would be his head on the line by declaration of the death penalty.
Romeos attitude towards Juliet is very different from that of his feelings for Rosaline. His use of language towards Rosaline was depressive and downhearted for example “out of her favor where I am in love” and “This love feel I, no love in this” which is not something that you would expect from someone who apparently says they are deeply in love with them. On the other hand, when he meets Juliet he is much happier and determined too get her, where he just gave up with Rosaline. He says things about Juliet like “sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again. [kissing her again]” and “it is my lady, o it is my love: o that she knew she were!”. When Romeo is speaking about Juliet, he uses rhyming couplets, in Elizabethan times rhyming couplets were identified as being something important and so when Romeo starts to use this, the audience pay closer attention, as they know a key part of the story is being spoken. This helped Shakespeare get his plays across, as it was often hard to keep everybody concentrated at a play. Examples of these rhyming couplets in his speech are “bright and night”, “ear and dear”, “crows and shows” and stand and hand”. When Romeo first says this, the audience may be shocked as they thought that he was devoted to Rosaline and to suddenly change his mind to Juliet would have seemed odd. As well as rhyming couplets, Shakespeare uses a lot of imagery in his plays to make the audience feel more involved and let there imaginations take over which helps them to understand the play more. Examples of this would be in Romeos speech about Juliet, he says things like “as rich as a jewel in an Ethipos ear” which means she stands out from the crowd. All of this helps the audience imagine what she looks like and just from this Romeo is telling us that she really is beautiful.
When Romeo does speak with Juliet Shakespeare uses another form of poetry but this time it is a sonnet, this also signifies to the audience that something important is being said but is a little more specific. Sonnets were generally associated with love, and so by including a sonnet as they speak allows the audience to know that love is becoming an issue between these two characters. In addition, Shakespeare uses words like “shrine, pilgrim, sin and purged” which all have a religious meaning. By using these sorts of words, Shakespeare is telling the audience how Romeo and Juliet feel for each other but not in a blunt straightforward sort of way. The use of religious words may signify that they are devoted to each other just as people are devoted to a certain religion. This would have worked a lot better in Elizabethan times as there was much more religious belief and people were generally associated with religion more and so would cotton on to these hints with a lot more ease and effect.
There is a certain amount of dramatic irony in this play. The audience already knows that Romeo is a Montague and that Juliet is a Capulet, whereas the characters themselves do not. The audience already knows about the ancient and on-going feud between the two families and can therefore see the trouble that is obviously going to be caused from the two characters supposedly loving each other. When Romeo eventually does find out that Juliet is a Capulet he does not change his feelings for her, as many would assume, he does not take to the news well as it is a major burden but he does not give up faith. He says “O dear account! My life is in my foes debt” this means that he does love her but his fate remains in the arms of the Capulet’s. Juliet’s reaction could be another of Shakespeare’s’ clues that Romeo an Juliet do feel the same way as Juliet did not change her opinion of Romeo as soon as she found out the news her reaction was “my only love sprung from my only hate” which shows that she does have very strong feelings for Romeo as it has overcome her hatred of the Montague’s. At this point, the audience will be feeling very sympathetic towards the two characters especially because of their troubled love being spawned between the close and very competitive rivalry between the houses. At this time, the future of the couple is looking very bleak, and in the minds of the audiences, it may seem to be a pointless relationship that will only bring more fighting and violence, whereas other people may be thinking that this is just what the households need to bring them together. Romeo is in and out of love very often in this play and the love that he has is often violent, ecstatic and an overpowering force. It seems that all Romeo ever thinks about is his love problems, which distances him from the other violence that happens around him. “Death and violence” play a big part in the play and I don’t think that Romeo fits in with this as much as he did the “love” aspect of the play. However, in saying that Romeo’s love is one of the main reasons that there is an enticed anger and violence between the two houses. In saying that he loves Juliet, Tybalt vows that he will kill him. “Star-crossed lovers” is the third theme of the play and is maybe the most important of all four of the themes. The inevitability of the fate of the two characters (not necessarily the death of) as a very big part of the play and it was the build up to the end, which actually made the play even though everybody knew already what was likely to happen. The scene was set with the ancient grudge between the two households and as soon as the audience found out that, the love of Romeo and Juliet was between Montague and Capulet they all knew that it was going to be a tragic and interesting story that inevitability ends. Sympathy towards the two characters is what Shakespeare is trying to make you feel throughout the whole play and I think that he achieves this with a great deal of success.
Romeos individuality thorough-out the play is very important. He is always trying to stop the feuding between the families whether this is through not taking part in the fighting or trying to defy the conflict by having a love affair with a member of the opposite house, either way Romeo is creating conflicts though maybe inadvertently for example by not fighting Tybalt the untimely end to Mercutio and Tybalt comes about as Tybalt gets very frustrated and tries to fight and cause conflict anyway.
