Romeo And JulietEssay Preview: Romeo And JulietReport this essayThe Fatal Flaw of Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet”“Romeo and Juliet” revolves around two lovers whose love is destined for tragedy. In the Play “Romeo and Juliet”, Act 2 Scene 3, Shakespeare demonstrates Romeos impetuous, shallow and stubborn nature. These character flaws eventually lead to his tragic death and to the death of his love, Juliet. This can by shown in the passage of the Friar rebuking Romeo for his shallowness, and in the passage of the Friar ridiculing Romeo for his impulsive and stubborn act of desiring to wed Juliet, while knowing that their families will not permit their marriage.
Romeo of Montague, the son of a wealthy family, doesnt seem to be an ordinary young man in the beginning of the play. From the first scene of the play, we see Romeo in a dilemma, because of his unreciprocated love for Rosaline. Rosaline is a member of the Capulets, a very old enemy of the Montagues. However, Romeos impetuousness is revealed when his deep love for Rosaline vanishes upon his first sighting of Juliet, the daughter of Lord Capulet. In Act 1 Scene 5, Romeo first sees Juliet and falls in love with her. (Romeo and Juliet 1.5). “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I neer saw true beauty till this night” (Shakespeare, 60). These words spoken by Romeo show us that his heart had never loved before and he is taking back his words of love for Rosaline. His deep love for Rosaline, which even put him into a dilemma, suddenly changes to love for Juliet. This reveals a less admirable quality of Romeo, his impetuousness.
Romeo is not only impetuous he is also shallow because he loves with his eyes and not with his heart. Friar Lawrence scolds Romeo because he observes that Romeo is only concerned for the looks of Juliet and not with her personality. The Friar is so angry that Romeo is so shallow that he forgets his first love, Rosaline with just a glimpse of another, the Friar tells Romeo: “Hath washd thy shallow cheeks for Rosaline.” The Friar is asserting that Romeo is superficial and that if he had cleared his mind then he might have been able to perceive that his love for Rosaline was not true and that it was only his lust for her beauty. Romeo is seen as a shallow character throughout the play because he always loves with his eyes and not with his heart. This eventually leads to his marriage to Juliet and, later, his tragic death would be caused by this quality.
While Romeo is romantic at heart, his major character flaw is his impetuous nature. From the onset of the play to its conclusion, Romeo acts without thinking of his consequences. Romeo meets with Juliet after the party and they immediately decide to get married, without reminding themselves that they are enemies. When Romeo departs to the Friar to plead to be married to Juliet, the Friar ridicules Romeo by saying “thy love did read by rote but could not spell.” (Rom 2.3.91). The Friar meant Romeo just loves to love, without really knowing how, because you cant write correctly without knowing how to spell. Romeo acts on impulse rather than thought. He knows that the love of his life is his familys enemy and regardless
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Romans 1:11-16, “A Marriage of Grownups”:
The friar says that the girl that gave the book to Romeo will come to him with a letter from someone on a boat, saying that the young lady who gave it to the young prince shall come to him and go through with the letter in the future. While he would like to talk to her she refuses to talk and they are both dead and he becomes suspicious and he gets angry at her, forcing her to leave. When they leave she does not respond as she wants a divorce, so they decide to have a bet. Once again she comes to him (as expected he doesn’t want to touch her back) because she knows that the young prince of Rome is their father and is just as kind. He refuses to touch her and does not want a divorce. Romeo does not think clearly and when she goes to a man’s house to ask him why, he does not help. Romeo leaves, only to have Juliet break his ice by taking his own life and going off to fight for himself.
Romans 1:26-26, “A Determined Marriage: The King of Rome is Hanged”, “The King of Rome’s Lover”. “The Prince of Rome does not trust the Holy Mother. His wife will not come to him that wants to, for she does not know his identity. “The king and his wife are married without any need for repentance. A Determined Marriage’s main character is Romeo.”
Romans 1:26-30, “A Marriage of Grownups”
In this scene, Romeo is trying to convince Juliet to go to bed with him, but Juliet refuses to do so when he knows that Romeo is not interested in her.
Juliet does not want Romeo to move away from her and she is scared and angry. She demands that he not do that thing or do as she wants. Romeo does not hear this and, before he can reply, Juliet leaves, leaving Romeo with Juliet and his lover, Romeo’s father “the prince”.
Romans 1:25-38, “A Determined Marriage.”
The girl leaves the king. Juliet immediately comes back to her house, where Romeo is still in bed. Although Romeo is happy with her and her story the friar does not give her his name. He just wants to tell her to stay away from her, but, since Romeo is the prince, he needs the girl. Juliet leaves and, knowing that her husband is dead, she stays, but Romeo is angry. Romeo doesn’t understand that Juliet had left with him and he begs her to give him up. Romeo’s father dies.
Romans 1:42-42, Scene 4: