In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet,
Romeo is first portrayed as a love-struck adolescent. In a
conversation with Benvolio, Romeo complains that time is passing too
slowly.
Ay me,
sad hours seem so
long.
Benvolio asks why
Romeo's day moves so slowly...is it sadness? Romeo
responds:
Not
having that which, having, makes them
short.
Intuitively, Benvolio
asks if it has something to do with love; Romeo says:
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Out of her favor where I am in
love... (paraphrase and quotes of lines
157-164)
This conversation
relates to his infatuation with Rosalind who does not return his love, wanting to join a
convent instead. All Romeo is capable of at this point in the story is to sigh over
Rosalind's rejection.
It would seem that by Act One, scene
five, Romeo is changeable. When first he sees Juliet, thoughts of
Rosalind are gone:
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Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn
bright...For I ne'er say true beauty till this night. (lines 42 and
51)
Romeo can also be said to
fall in love quickly. When Romeo climbs the orchard walls to seek
out Juliet, she is speaking alone—to the night, about him. When he reveals himself and
makes himself known to her, she asks how he arrived: the walls are high, and he would be
killed if caught, since he is a Montague on Capulet land. His explanation, however,
speaks of "love;" though they have only just met that night, Romeo
speaks to Juliet of love:
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With love's light wings did I o'erperch these
walls. (II.ii.65)
Romeo could
be said to be impetuous: within hours of meeting her, he has
proposed to Juliet, and very soon he and Juliet will marry, with the help of Friar
Lawrence. Romeo meets Friar Lawrence to ask the holy friar to marry
them:
Then
plainly know my heart's dear love is set
On the fair daughter of rich
Capulet;
As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine,
And all
combin'd, save what thou must combine
By holy marriage. When, and where, and
how
We met, we woo'd, and made exchange of vow,
I'll tell thee as
we pass; but this I pray,
That thou consent to marry us to-day.
(II.iii.59-66)
Romeo and
Juliet have both pledged themselves in love and wish to marry that same day. Romeo tells
the friar he will explain how this all has happened as they walk and talk, but he wants
to marry immediately.
Finally, Romeo is an
honorable man, true to his love of Juliet, though it costs him
dearly. Once he is married, he refuses to fight with Tybalt because (unknown to the
fiery-tempered Tybalt) Romeo is now a part of the family—being married to Juliet. He
can't explain why, but Romeo only wants peace between them (though he has never really
been involved in the feud as far as the audience can tell), but Tybalt is in deadly
earnest of killing Montagues. Romeo addresses Tybalt:
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I do protest I never injur'd thee,
But love thee better than thou canst devise
Till thou shalt know
the reason of my love;
And so good Capulet, which name I tender
As
dearly as mine own, be satisfied.
(III.i.64-68)
(Of course,
this is when Tybalt reaches beyond Romeo, killing Mercutio, who is also related to
Prince Escalus. Romeo avenges the killing, and is banished from Verona, wherein the
tragedy moves along quickly, and the young lovers both end up
dead.)
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