Romeo is a young boy who originally does not seem to understand the concept of love. We see the hero of the play linked to two different girls. While initially Romeo is depressed and distraught after his rejection from Rosaline, his instant change of character after meeting Juliet proves his ‘first love’ to be superficial and his second love to be ‘real’. Romeo’s love for Juliet is pure and passionate and ultimately conquers all although the highest price is paid in the “star-cross’d lovers” sacrificing themselves in honour of their devotion to each other.
Romeo as we are first introduced to him, seems depressed and dejected. On his entrance, he immediately lowers the tone of the scene with his “sadness” of “being out of her favour”. His oxymoronic terms prove that he is more in love with the idea of being in love than actually loving Rosaline. Romeo associates love with “heavy lightness”(Act 1, Scene 1, line 169) and “cold fire” (line 171) and in the case of true love, it is assumed that a lover is generally happy than miserable. Romeo’s unrequited love is more an infatuation than true love.
Romeo uses rhyming couplets showing the formality of his language regarding the idea of love.
“O brawling love, O loving hate/ O any thing of nothing first create!”
(Act 1, Scene 1, lines 166-7)
He personifies love and curses it making it seem more of a nuisance than the treasure that it is normally perceived to be.
The irony of Romeo’s ‘love’ for Rosaline is that he immediately falls for Juliet despite earlier declaring that his
“tears (would turn) to fires..and be burnt for liars.!”
(Act 1, Scene 2, lines 88-91)
if he saw someone more beautiful than Rosaline. He goes to the Capulet party because he realises that his ‘love’ Rosaline will be there but is unaware of what destiny holds for him. The dramatic irony that Shakespeare uses in this scene describes Romeo’s eventual death and Romeo associates his “untimely death” (line 111) with events that will happen at the party where, of course, he falls in love with Juliet. The fact that Romeo’s death is associated with Juliet shows how it is a selfless love from the beginning where he will forfeit all to be with his beloved – whether it be in life or death.
The dramatic change in Romeo’s nature occurs when he sees Juliet for the first time, although his language is still rather forced initially and Juliet accuses him of kissing “by th’book”(Act 1, Scene 5, line 109), the sincerity in Romeo’s tone of language and his passion is evident. It may seem initially that Romeo’s love for Juliet is artificial as it was with Rosaline, considering how quickly he forgot her. However, the change in his personality proves that this is something quite unlike anything he has previously experienced.
Shakespeare uses religious imagery to depict the respect Romeo immediately feels for Juliet.
“If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine…
My lips, two blushing pilgrims..” (Act 1, scene 5, lines 93-5)
This gives their love a ‘divine’ aura – one of innocence and purity where love no longer seems a curse or a nuisance and is true, one that conquers all.
The fact that Juliet is a Capulet, daughter of his family’s most sworn enemy, is further proof of Romeo’s sincerity in his love for her. Despite the dangers of going to visit her, he risks all to catch just one more glance, to “touch that cheek” (Act 2, scene 2, line 23) for just a short moment. In the most famous scene of the play, Romeo and Juliet mutually agree that it is not the people who are the enemies, but their names, – they are willing to overcome the obstacle of discrimination against individuals based on their names.
It may be argued that these actions arise from a childish desire for adventure and the secrecy and prohibition of such a relationship adds to the couple’s thrills. However, the way Romeo behaves after meeting Juliet illustrates a newfound maturity as he even seeks to make peace with his rival, Tybalt.
Nevertheless, he gets caught in the crossfire of an argument involving his friend Mercutio who consequently dies and Romeo avenges his death – this leads to his banishment from Verona. Regardless of his ban on returning to Verona, Romeo returns in haste as he hears of Juliet’s ‘death’ and shows no regard of his own life. Romeo’s life is at this stage of the play with Juliet and it is evident that he can see nothing without her – he does not care for his life or his future any longer and this is the ultimate testimony of his change in character and the truth in his love. The ‘old’ Romeo would probably have preferred to wallow in self-pity than to risk his life to be with the corpse of his beloved.
Romeo made the greatest sacrifice in the name of love. He knew he could not be with her in the living world he chose to commit suicide and therefore chose to be with her after death – he took his own life so they could die together. I believe Romeo’s love for Juliet to be true and the ‘love’ he claimed to feel for Rosaline, superficial. Romeo was in love with the idea of being in love during his infatuation with Rosaline whereas his undying love for Juliet cost him his life. There is no bigger price that can be paid than life itself. Romeo’s love for Juliet is sincere and all-conquering because it overcame all hatred. This is proved in the final scenes when it is revealed that the Montague’s and Capulet’s have resolved their problems, united in the mourning of their innocent children and erected statues in their memory. It may be said therefore, that there is no truer love than Romeo’s because it defeated all loathing and showed what lovers are prepared to do in order to be together. This gives reason for why “Romeo and Juliet” is seen as one of the greatest love stories and demonstrates the power of love.
