Character Analysis of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo
Of the many tragic heroes of Shakespeare, Romeo continues to exercise
a peculiar fascination over the minds of young men and women. He
stands out as the emblem of youthful love, its disappointment, and its
possibility for tragedy.
Romeo is the only son of Lord Montague, the head of a reputed and rich
family of Verona that is plagued by its long-standing feud with the
Capulet family. In the first scenes, Romeo appears indifferent to his
family's feud. His only concern is his love for Rosaline, a love,
which is overwhelming, but artificial. Romeo is really in love with
the idea of love. When he does not receive love in return, he grows
melancholy and brooding. Even his friend Benvolio cannot distract him.
At the Capulet dance, Romeo meets the beautiful Juliet. Rosaline is
quickly forgotten, and Romeo is transformed from a brooding youth that
talks about love to a young man who is capable of quick, decisive
action. In truth, "the gentle lamb" turns into a "passionate lover".
Romeo's deep feelings for Juliet, who ironically and tragically is a
Capulet, are very different from the shallow love he has felt for
other woman, including Rosaline. This genuine love makes him bold, and
he is prepared to take any risk for Juliet. He bravely goes into her
garden after the party, even though he chances being caught and
punished. His risk is repaid when he hears Juliet express her love for
him as well. They pledge themselves to one another and make plans to
marry the next day. Friar Lawrence performs the marriage ceremony for
the couple, hoping in so doing to unite their two families.
Romeo's love for Juliet softens him towards all Capulets. In fact,
when Tybalt insults him, Romeo keeps his cool and does not respond.
Instead, Mercutio is provoked to fight Tybalt and is killed. Romeo
feels he has no choice; his friend must be avenged. He fights Tybalt,
kills him, and flees to take refuge in the cell of Friar Lawrence.
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet portrays Tybalt as a pugnacious fighter who is often quarreling with his opponents, the Montagues. At the dawn of the book a fight breaks out between a couple of low standing Montagues and Capulets. When Benvolio tries to step in and keep the peace Tybalt attacks him. “What, draw, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee” (I,i,80). Tybalt, even through Benvolio’s insistence on peace, attacks him for his hatred of his foe is strong. Later in the act Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio are attending the party put on by Lord Capulet. Tybalt eventually spots Romeo dancing with Juliet, and makes to end Romeo for it. It fits, when such a villain is a guest: I’ll not endure him” (I,v,698).
Both the Capulet and Montague’s families are wealthy, noble and even founding families of Verona. Evidence of the family’s wealth is displayed when the Capulet’s have a classy party and Romeo meets Juliet for the first time. Proof of the two rival families superiority is even shown in the opening Prologue where the families are described by the line “Two households, both alike in dignity.” In the Elizabethan Era the word “dignity” can be interpreted to “Elevated rank, office,” or “station”. Hence both families are of high social status and in a position of power. Additionally in the prologue the families are described as ancient with this line “From ancient grudge break to new munity”. We can then determine that the Montague and Capulet families were Ancient and influential and the upper class in the social hierarchy of Verona. The Montages and The Capulet’s reputation and high values were the only thing the families and the people working for the houses cared about and their servants would never consider betraying their masters, the house they worked in was like their family. Servants working in the houses were considered normal when Shakespeare wrote Romeo And Juliet, in the Elizabethan Era most powerful or rich people had people of a lesser class working for them. An example of hierarchy in Romeo and Juliet is the Nurse and Balthazar the servant
Who would be willing to die for their loved ones? Romeo and Juliet would and did. Romeo and Juliet’s love and death brought two families together who could not even remember the origin of their hate. When the parents saw what their children's love for each other, they realized that their fighting had only led to suffering and insoluble conflict. Romeo and Juliet loved each other to an extent that they killed themselves rather than live apart. They did it with no hiatus. Juliet says before she kills herself, “O happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die.”( 5, 3, 182-183) demonstrating how she would rather die than not be with him.
himself that since Romeo is a Montague he will cause trouble. A few quotes from the
Romeo Montague, son of the arch rival to the Capulet's. Therefore, Juliet pleaded to Friar
“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name;” (Shakespeare, 536). In the book, ‘Romeo and Juliet”, by William Shakespeare there is a deeper meaning that Shakespeare is trying to portray other than parents cannot control their children’s hearts. He is trying to portray that a name is only a name and it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things and that even with a different name that person will still be the same person they have always been. Shakespeare is using the characters: Juliet, Romeo, Lord Capulet, Friar Lawrence, and the Nurse to get this message across to the reader or the viewer.
a friend of Romeo, who is a member of the Montague family, and he is
In act one scene three of Romeo and Juliet Lord Capulet states “…She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” This means that Juliet is not quite fourteen years old and her father is not sure if she is ready to become a wife and mother. There are many differences between how people marry today, and how they married in the time of Romeo and Juliet. Some of the differences are when the people marry, why people marry, and also the level of maturity people marry at.
by my own”. Lady Montague is the mother of Romeo and she loves her son
of a book a person may want to know what’s the basic outline of the
Romeo Montague is the quite possibly the most flawed character in all of literature. His own selfishness seals others and his own fate. He even goes on a selfish farewell speech before he kills himself over “love.” Romeo’s farewell speech illustrates this fate that is decided by his actions towards others as demonstrated by Tybalt, Mercutio, and most of all Romeo himself. Romeo is the character with the most fateful consequences throughout the play. Romeo's eventual fate is predictable and caked in Romeo's vivid personality traits made clear throughout the play. Mercutio and Tybalt’s fates are defined by their actions toward the Capulets and Montagues respectively. Which was leaving dead by the hands of the rival family in are scenes that
In Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt. Right away, we get an idea of who these characters are and what kind of role they will play throughout the story. Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt share many distinctive characteristics and personalities in the story. We learn that Romeo is the romantic and handsome son of the Montagues. In the beginning of the story, he was depressed, but his mood quickly changed as the story went on. We also learn that Mercutio is Romeo’s closest and good friend who tries to make Romeo forget about his first love, Rosaline. He is a great entertainer and he’s very sarcastic too. Instantly, we learn that Tybalt is a Capulet and Juliet’s cousin. He is very hot-headed, aggressive, and violent. He loathes the Montagues very much. Finally, in Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet three characters, Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt and we directly get an idea of what the characters are like.
Through the flaws in the characterization of his characters, Shakespeare allows their weakness to manipulate and cloud their judgment. This fundamentally leads to the outcome of Romeo and Juliet, with each weakness presenting a conflict that alters the characters fate. Being especially true with the star-crossed lovers, William Shakespeare leads their perfect love into tragedy with these conflicts. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt all contribute to conflicts that enhance the plot. From destructive flaws in their characterizations, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt are all consequently controlled by their weakness, therefore affecting the outcome of the play.
J.B Priestley and William Shakespeare’s world-renowned plays ‘an inspector calls’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ discuss the importance of: class, gender and materialism. Both Shakespeare and Priestley use different emotions to present the relationship between children and their parents. In both plays, it is evident that parents use emotion as a way of communicating with their children.
A Psychological Analysis of Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet was obviously not written to fit the psychoanalytic model, as the theories of Freud were not developed for centuries after Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote about Renaissance England, a culture so heavily steeped in Christianity, that it would have blushed at the instinctual and sexual thrust of Freud’s theory. However, in order to keep literature alive and relevant, a culture must continually reinterpret the themes and ideas of past works. While contextual readings assure cultural precision, often these readings guarantee the death of a particular work. Homer’s Iliad, a monument among classical works, is currently not as renowned as Romeo and Juliet because it is so heavily dependent on its cultural context.