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Essay: How Romeo changes over time

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  • Subject area(s): Literature essays
  • Reading time: 4 minutes
  • Price: Free download
  • Published: 10 February 2022*
  • Last Modified: 1 August 2024
  • File format: Text
  • Words: 972 (approx)
  • Number of pages: 4 (approx)
  • Tags: Romeo and Juliet essays

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This page of the essay has 972 words.

It is proven that humans do indeed change over time without a detailed notice or even with basic foreshadowing. This causes humans to be very unpredictable. The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is about two star-crossed lovers who must hide their relationship due to an on-going family feud which makes the two family rivals. Shakespeare made sure to share that people/characters can change overtime successfully disrupting the plot that everyone hoped for. Throughout this play one of the main characters, Romeo, changes a lot, this man changes from a teenager in love with Rosaline to causing drama with the Montagues and leaving out of this world with one of them. Some more of the evidence of Romeo changing the most throughout the play would be the way his feelings change way too often throughout the play. This proves that anyone can change over time, even the child of your rival.

In this play, the author has portrayed Romeo as a lustful teenager who has been falling in and out of “love” quite often. This relates to this point because Romeo switched up on the woman he liked in a matter of hours. Romeo was described as depressed in the quote where Benvolio was talking to Lady Montague about his discussion with Romeo where he realized that Romeo wanted to be alone. Benvolio talks about how he tries talking to Romeo in the following quote, “Madam, an hour before the worshipped sun Peered forth the golden window of the east, a troubled mind drove me to walk abroad. Where, underneath the grove of sycamore that westward rooteth from this city side, So early walking did I see your son. Towards him I made, but he was ‘ware of me And stole into the covert of the wood. I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, is one too many by my weary self, Pursued my humour not pursuing his” (i.i pg.7). Moreover, another example is when Montague was also part of Benvolio’s and lady Montague’s conversation about Romeo’s “depression”. In this conversation Montague mentions him checking up on Romeo only to find out that Romeo has been in devastation after getting rejected once again by his thought to be a lover at the time in this following quote, “Many a morning hath he there been seen, With tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew, adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs. But all so soon as the all-cheering sun. should in the farthest east begin to draw. The shady curtains from Aurora’s bed, away from light steals home my heavy son.” (i.ii pg.7). A final example of Romeo being depressed would be when Benvolio asked Montague if he has tried to poke answers out of Romeo. Montague replied with something about Romeo keeping his thoughts to himself. He also talks about how Romeo is a flower bud that only and hopefully opens to himself in the following quote “Both by myself and many other friends. But he, his own affections’ counsellor, is to himself—I will not say how true, but to himself, so secret and so close, so far from sounding and discovery, as is the bud bit with an envious worm” (i.ii pg.8). In conclusion to this point, Romeo has been jumping from feeling to feeling way too often.

Similarly, Romeo first being stuck over someone who doesn’t love him back while falling into a pit of depression, and then a few hours later, he comes back to love someone. The first example of Romeo switching up is when he “fell in love” with Juliet when he was looking for Rosaline. This action of his takes place when Romeo sees that Juliet is visibly associating with someone, even after seeing that Juliet is taken he still proceeds to ask one of the Serving men about her in the quote “what lady is that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight” (i.v pg.5). Another example would be when Romeo shows up to Juliet’s backyard to sneak up on her and eagerly listens to all the nice things Juliet has to say about him. This is so because he secretly and publicly likes the little affection he’s been getting from Juliet since he didn’t get the attention he wanted from his other love Rosaline. “Should I listen for more, or should I speak now?” (ii.ii pg.2). Finally, this following quote proves the point of Romeo liking the attention he’s receiving because he subtly teases Juliet for praising him since he never got these kinds of compliments from Rosaline. In the same act, Juliet asks Romeo about how he found his way to her and he simply replied with love finding its way to her in the quote “ By love, that first did prompt me to inquire” (ii.ii pg.4).

The final change with Romeo is about how he disrupted the capulets and now he is the one that’s taking someone that belongs to that same family instead of learning a lesson and moving on. This is proven in the quote “ Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe, A villain that is hither come in spite To scorn at our solemnity this night.” (i.iv pg.3). Tybalt was talking to his uncle, Capulet, on how Romeo is here at their party to mock them. Another proof that Romeo backstabbed the family instead of feeling sorry that he crashed the Capulet’s party is when he goes to Friar Lawrence to ask him if he can marry him and Juliet in the quote “And all combined, save what thou must combine by holy marriage. When and where and how” (ii.ii pg.3).

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