Romeo And Juliet
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At the beginning of the play, Romeo pines for Rosaline, proclaiming her the paragon of women and despairing at her indifference toward him. Taken together, Romeos Rosaline-induced histrionics seem rather juvenile. Romeo is a great reader of love poetry, and the portrayal of his love for Rosaline suggests he is trying to re-create the feelings that he has read about. After first kissing Juliet, she tells him “you kiss by th book,” meaning that he kisses according to the rules, and implying that while proficient, his kissing lacks originality (I.v.107). In reference to Rosaline, it seems, Romeo loves by the book. Rosaline, of course, slips from Romeos mind at first sight of Juliet. But Juliet is no mere replacement. The love she shares with Romeo is far deeper, more authentic and unique than the clichйd puppy love Romeo felt for Rosaline. Romeos love matures over the course of the play from the shallow desire to be in love to a profound and intense passion. One must ascribe Romeos development at least in part to Juliet. Her level-headed observations, such as the one about Romeos kissing, seem just the thing to snap Romeo from his superficial idea of love and to inspire him to begin to speak some of the most beautiful and intense love poetry ever written.
Yet Romeos deep capacity for love is merely a part of his larger capacity for intense feeling of all kinds. Put another way, it is possible to describe Romeo as lacking the capacity for moderation. Love compels him to sneak into the garden of his enemys daughter, risking death simply to catch a glimpse of her. Anger compels him to kill his wifes cousin in a reckless duel to avenge the death of his friend. Despair compels him to suicide upon hearing of Juliets death. Such extreme behavior dominates Romeos character throughout the play and contributes to the ultimate tragedy that befalls the lovers. Had Romeo restrained himself from