Romeo follows Rosaline to a party hosted by the Capulet family, sworn enemies to his own. However, while there, he sulks moodily and refuses to partake in the festivities. He isolates himself from the merrymaking both socially and physically in his refusal to dance and banter with Mercutio. Romeo spends his time, not pursuing Rosaline, but despairing: "Under Love's heavy burden I do sink" (I, iv, 22).
Despite Romeo's great declarations of love for Rosaline, his feelings are actually fleeting, as shown by his behavior when he spies young Juliet. He is smitten at first sight, describing her as "Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!" (I, v, 49). This language is in direct contrast to how he speaks of Rosaline. Rather than objectifying Juliet as he does with Rosaline, he holds Juliet in reverent awe, "Did my heart love till now? For swear it, sight! / For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night (I, v,54-5). With this, Rosaline is forgotten and Juliet becomes Romeo's focal point.
Realizing that their interest in each other is both reciprocal and sincere, Romeo presses Juliet for vows of love. After they agree to get married, Romeo rushes to Friar Lawrence to ask him to marry the young couple. To a surprised Lawrence, Romeo says that he has forgotten Rosaline and "That name's woe" (II, iii 46). At this point in the play, Romeo and Juliet have only just met and Romeo is already taking steps to ensure their union. No such intentions for Rosaline are expressed or pursued.
After marrying, Romeo's relationship with Juliet becomes even complex and involves many factors other than themselves. An important moment occurs when Romeo encounters his old enemy Tybalt, who he is now related to by marriage. The impulsive Romeo attempts to restrain himself in the face of Tybalt's taunting, because he considers the new connection that they share. Unfortunately, Romeo eventually responds to Tybalt's challenge and kills him in a fight.
For this murder, Romeo is banished to Mantua and separated from his new bride. When he receives word, mistakenly, that Juliet is dead; Romeo is devastated and immediately decides to join her. Romeo finds Juliet's seemingly lifeless body in the tomb and says, "I will stay with thee and never from this palace of dim night/ Depart again" (V, iii 106-7). With that, Romeo kills himself by ingesting poison. Committing suicide is Romeo's final and most profound act in his pursuit of Juliet
Romeo truly is a tragic and romantic figure. However, he begins as a young man entangled in his own superficial notions of love. His interest in Rosaline is fleeting, passive, and non reciprocal. It is through his relationship with Juliet that Romeo becomes a more active character who is capable of being involved in a complex romantic relationship.
Friar Laurence a Franciscan friar, he is also an expert of plants and natural remedies. At the beginning of the play, we learn that he is very close with Romeo and considers Romeo to be his pupil. Romeo considers Friar Laurence someone he can confide in, and therefore tells him about his newfound love, Juliet, as soon as possible.
Juliet, one of the main characters in Shakespeare's play, is of the House of Capulet. She is still a young girl when the play begins, not yet fourteen, as we learn in Act I, Scene iii, by the Nurse: "Even or odd, of all days in the year,/ Come Lammas Eve at night shall she be fourteen"(18-19).
The Nurse knows this date very well because she had a daughter that same day that was killed at birth; therefore, she raised Juliet perhaps as she would have raised her own child. Juliet sees the Nurse as a friend, confidante, and in some ways a mother. Throughout the play, Juliet relies on and trusts the Nurse in most of her endeavors. Each time Juliet needs to get in touch with Romeo the Nurse is there, helping her in any way she can.
Lady Capulet, Juliet's biological mother only tells her what to do, and has never been personally close with Juliet. When Juliet comes of age to get married, Lady Capulet wants her to marry Paris, and does not care how Juliet feels about it. Juliet tries to talk to her mother about it, and tell her that she does not want to marry Paris, but Lord Capulet walks in and angrily tells her that she will go and marry Paris even if he has to drag her there. Juliet again pleads with her mother to delay the marriage even for a week, but Lady Capulet only responds with, "Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word./ Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee"(III.v.214-215).
Juliet's relationship with Romeo is far different than any other she has ever had. When Juliet sees Romeo at the Capulet's party, she instantly falls in love with him. (Act I, Scene v). Within a matter of hours, Romeo becomes the single most important person in her life. She decides that she wants to marry Romeo, but she knows that he is a Montague, and Montagues are hated among the Capulets. She knows that a relationship between a Montague and a Capulet could never realistically work out, but her immediate infatuation for him far exceeds any line of logical thinking. Therefore, thinking with her heart, not her mind, she decides to meet Romeo at Friar Laurence's cell, and subsequently marries Romeo. Upon marrying Romeo, Juliet is quite joyous and believes her troubles are over; however, her hasty decision actually becomes the beginning of many troubles to come.
Juliet is completely devoted to Romeo the entire play in many ways. First, she says that if did not lose his name as a Montague, than she would give up her own. Also, when her parents tell her she has to marry Paris, she vows that she would rather die than be apart from Romeo: "I'll to the Friar to know his remedy./ If all else fail, myself have power to die"(III.v.255-256). The only moment in the entire play that Juliet feels against Romeo is when finding out about Romeo killing Tybalt, her cousin. She says, "O serpent heart hid with a flow’ ring face!/Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?"(3.2.80). But this is felt only momentarily before she realizes that she is on Romeo's side throughout anything, as long as they are together. She says, "My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain, / And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my/ husband. / All this is comfort"(115-118). Juliet realizes that she would rather have her husband Romeo alive, if she had to choose between the two.
