‘Bid a sick man in sadness to make his will
A word ill-urged to on one that is still…’ He thinks because he is in love he mustn’t do anything else except mope.
Also the use of oxymorons like ‘ brawling love’ and ‘loving hate’ show that Romeo thinks that love is something that is supposed to make you morose and feel tormented. Later he will find his earlier views to be wrong. Romeo’s infatuation with Rosaline distorts his vision of the world around him. This is in keeping with the Elizabethan view that any kind of extreme of passion makes people ‘out of humour’ or ill.
In the opening scenes the audience notice that Romeo actually isn’t acting like himself. Romeo admits ‘I have lost myself I am not here this is not Romeo he is some other where’ so the audience get the idea that we will see a different side to him later in the play.
At the Capulet’s party, Romeo’s language becomes rich, positive and credible because the imagery he now uses is more uplifting than before. This is all due to him only seeing Juliet. This already shows the intensity to come in their relationship. Romeo becomes motivated enough to grab Juliet’s hand, as with before he seemed to be cowardly in that fact we never saw him talk to Rosaline. The love now becomes more believable as before we never saw Rosaline, which made it hard to believe Romeo’s love for her. Also the fact that Juliet reciprocates his love through the sonnet shows the true passion in their love.
‘Thus from my lips by thine my sin is purged
Then have my lips the sin they have took
Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged…’
After meeting Juliet, Romeo again goes to her house to see her. He risks being killed and climbs the high orchard walls.
‘With loves light wings did I o’erperch these walls
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
A what love can do that does love attempt’
Romeo is now full of life. Which is a drastic improvement from when he used to lock himself up in his room. Juliet has had a great impact on Romeo, one that Rosaline couldn’t because fate wanted Romeo and Juliet to be together.
Still Romeo is immature. This new life that Juliet has given him has made him impatient. He wants to marry Juliet tommorrow. Even Juliet says
‘It is too rash too unadvised too sudden too like lightning.’
Romeo is depicted here as an impetuous and unthinking being. His character is often associated with haste and speed.
Friar Lawrence is surprised at Romeo’s haste to marry Juliet ‘What a change is here’ he is amazed how quickly he fell out and again in to love in a matter of a day. ‘Is Rosaline that how dids’t have so dear so soon forsaken’. He cannot believe it; he remarks that ‘young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts but in their eyes’
To convince The Friar Romeo proves his love for Juliet by saying’ I pray thee chide not she whom I love now doth grace for and love for love allow the other did not so’ He admits his love for Rosaline was not true love.
Nevertheless the Friar agrees to marry them believing it will resolve the feud. The Friar later proves to be impractical in his plans, by going along with Romeo’s unthinking plans.
At the begining of act 2 sc4 Benvolio and Mercutio call Romeo things like ‘mad’ and ‘dead’. He soon enters and proves them wrong by joining in with their bawdy pun duelling. Mercutio notices the change in Romeo and comments ‘Now art thou sociable now art thou Romeo’. Romeo is now portrayed as a more positive character. Romeo’s new found happiness now proves his love for Juliet to be even more believable. This happiness will not last long. When the Friar is marrying them his tone of voice says something is going to go wrong. ‘These violent delights have violent ends.’
In act 3 sc1 Romeo meets his violent end. He enters in good spirits but Tybalt (Juliet’s cousin) is not. He has challenged Romeo to a sword fight. Tybalt provokes him by calling him ‘Villain’ Romeo resists and claims ‘I never injured thee but love thee better.’ Romeo says to Tybalt ‘good Capulet which name I tender as dearly as mine own be satisfied’ Romeo is unknowingly further insulting Tybalt. Mercutio thinks Romeo is being a coward ‘oh calm dishonourable vile submission’. Honour is big theme in the play and to defend Romeo’s honour Mercutio fought Tybalt. Unfortunately Romeo interfered and Mercutio was stabbed under his arm. Mercutio dies while punning everyone think he is joking. When he actually collapses everyone realises. When Romeo realises Mercutio is dead he says ‘thy beauty has made me effeminate’. He is trying to say his love for Juliet has made him soft and less masculine. Juliet has made Romeo’s character less agressive and careless for his honour.
Romeo’s behaviour suddenly changes at this point of the play he becomes infuriated when his best friend dies ‘…. fiery eyed be my conduct now.’ Romeo wants revenge and is now going to kill Tybalt. After being successful in killing Tybalt. Romeo returns to his natural state of mind and says ‘I am fortunes fool.’ This shows he believes in fate. Also he believes that every time something good happens to him, he does something bad.
Romeo reacts negatively and immaturely to the news of his banishment from Verona. He says being banished is like being dead because he won’t be able to see Juliet. He fails to see the bright side that he is still alive and may one day see Juliet again. The Friar tries to convince him that he is lucky that his life has been spared. Still Romeo fails to see this and carries on in an immature manner, as we saw in the beginning of the play; being over the top and emotional can be typical of Romeo’s character at times.
‘In what vile part of this anatomy doth my name lodge? Tell me that I may sack the hateful mansion’ Romeo is offering to stab himself luckily the Nurse grabs the dagger. This shows how Romeo impetuosity could have done him wrong but fate will not let him die yet. Romeo is crying and wailing on the floor when the Nurse enters. The Friar describes him as being womanish ’Thy tears are womanish’ and says that he is pouting. After a lecture from the Friar and receiving a ring from Juliet, which the Nurse came to give, Romeo is able to redeem himself. ‘How well my comfort is revived by this’. He leaves by saying ‘That a joy past joy calls out on me’ He leaves in more mature manner that he entered. This is because he remembers Juliet. She is the reason for the determination we will later see in Romeo.
In the beginning of the final act. Romeo talks about having a dream in which Juliet finds him dead and revives him by kissing him. This adds to the theme of fate in the play, because what we later find is that, Romeo is soon going to find Juliet dead- at least that is what he is going to think.
When Romeo receives the news that his wife is apparently dead he proclaims ‘I defy you stars’. This is the point where he goes against his belief in fate. Though we have come to expect Romeo to react dramatically he reacts quite maturely and calm. . But we cannot expect him to lose his haste. The haste and fate is what leads him into the tragedy. Which is foretold in the prologue.
He asks for ink and paper to write a letter to his parents. This is one thing he did maturely. He asks Balthasar to ‘hire horses’ ‘I will hence tonight’. This is what emphasises his haste. Balthasar says ‘sir have patience’ Romeo doesn’t take his advice. He has now become one-minded and again unplanned but this time there is a determined passion driving his chastity. What exemplifies his determination is the fact he is going back to Verona even though he knows he may get killed, but at this point that is the last thing on his mind.
Towards the end of this scene in Romeo soliloquy he talks how he will ‘lie with thee tonight’ He believes if he commits suicide, he will reunite with Juliet in heaven. This is another Elizabethan view. He is going to buy poison from the apothecary. Again he is one-minded because he believes the only way to be with Juliet is to commit suicide. What the audience knows is that Juliet isn’t actually dead.
When Romeo gets to Juliet’s tomb he meets Paris. Another thing that proves Romeo’s determination is the fact he killed Paris, because he got in the way. Romeo doesn’t care about the consequences at this stage. If he had waited five minutes, Juliet would have woken up. His impulsive behaviour here has lead to the tragedy.
Fate is the main theme with this play. What happened was supposed to happen and happened for a reason. Romeo believed this but towards the end Romeo thinks he is taking fate in to his own hands by defying them and committing suicide. What he doesn’t know is that fate wanted him to die. Even if Romeo reacted in a different way to the news he is still ordained to die. Before he dies he says ‘and shake the yoke of inauspicious stars from this world wear flesh.’ This quote shows Romeo actually did believe in the stars up until he died. He says he wants to be free of the stars so he decides to kill himself.
Romeo’s rashness and impetuosity just speeds up the play. Still fate cannot be defied. As the Elizabethan audience would have believed. Romeo could be blamed for the tragedy because of his one-mindedness prevented him from taking different actions thus made him follow the course of fate. Throughout the play Romeo’s one-minded way of thinking didn’t change. When he is lovesick for Rosaline he fails to see any other way to live except morosely. When he receives news of his banishment he fails to see he is lucky to be alive. Again he is one –minded when he receives news of Juliet’s death but on this occasion he is mature because it is regarding his wife. Also he is not reacting in a hysteric way like the previous events. There is a strong determined passion driving him now to commit suicide to be with his wife, Juliet.
Fate is what caused the tragedy; right form the beginning it was by chance the servant did not know how to read and Romeo read the invitations and went to the party this is where he met Juliet. Then the prologue begins to come to life. Throughout the play they are subtle hints that there is a tragedy about to take place. For example when Romeo is leaving Juliet for the last time. Juliet has a premonition so does Romeo. Both think the other is looking pale .She says ‘now thou art so low, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb’. Again fate is talking.
Nothing that anyone did could have changed that. Still the lovers were destined to be together and they are. Even if Romeo did not commit suicide fate would have caught up with him later.