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Analysis of Romeo from Romeo and Juliet
AQA English Literature resource for GCSE A full 8 page character analysis on Romeo Includes quotes and analysis of Romeo from specific scene
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Analysis of Romeo as a CharacterQuotes are in red.
Notations of where each quote is from are in purple.
Links to context are in blue.
Romeo Basics:
Throughout the play Romeo matures from adolescence to
adulthood as a result of his love for Juliet and his involvement in
the feud with Tybalt.
The development shows his progression from a comic character to
a tragic hero.
Romeo is initially presented as a Petrarchan lover, a man whose
feelings of love aren’t reciprocated by the lady he admires and who
uses the poetic language of sonnets to express his emotions.
Romeo’s exaggerated language in his early speeches shows he is
an inexperienced lover.
There is a lot of focus on the eyes and the act of looking. In the
opening scenes, Romeo is presented as a blind lover. He doesn't
believe there could be a lady fairer than Rosaline.
Romeo denies he could be deluded by love.
He dismisses Benvolio’s advice to find another lover to replace
Rosaline, showing Romeo’s immaturity as a lover.
When he sees Juliet he realises his love for Rosaline was
insincere. “Did my heart love till now?” (Act 1 Scene 5)
Romeo and Juliet’s love exists in a world quite distinct from the
violence of the feud.
Throughout the play, their love flourishes at night- an allusion to
the forbidden nature of their relationship.
Romeo lives in a world defined by love rather than feuds.
Tybalt’s death brings about the clash between the private world of
the lovers and the public world of the feud.
After the lovers spend the night together and dawn breaks, the two
are forced apart to avoid being discovered by the Capulet
kinsmen.
When he hears about Juliet’s death, he is mature and composed
as he resolves to die.
His only desire is to be with Juliet; “well Juliet, I will lie with thee
tonight” (Act 5 Scene 1)
His name can be translated as “wanderer”, “roamer” or “Palmer”.
Left Roaming at the start of the play with his unrequited love for
Rosaline, he finds his love and purpose of life in Juliet.
, Tragic Hero
A tragic hero is someone who has a flaw, Romeo’s is falling in love
too quickly and deeply which is his main flaw throughout the play.
“Verona brags of him/To be a virtuous and well-governed youth”
(Act 1 Scene 5) Irony seems to be used here - he is the tragic hero
but his flaw contradicts the well-governed youth within him.
Romeo honours the love of Juliet but not the honour of defending
himself which results in Mercutio’s death.
A Tragic flaw can also be known as Hamartia, It’s the Friar who
outlines to Romeo his flaw and warns him against such behaviour.
The main flaw of Romeo’s is that he is irrational and emotionally
driven. We see this in his description of emotions towards
Rosaline.
Act 1 Scene 1
At the beginning of the play, Romeo pines for Rosaline,
proclaiming her the epitome of women and despairing at her
indifference toward him.
Arguably, Rosaline exists in the play to demonstrate Romeo’s
passionate nature and his tragic flaw. He uses clichés/oxymoron’s
to express his love for her “Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire,
sick health” (Act 1 Scene 1) Shakespeare chooses the language
that reflects youthful, idealised notions of romance.
The Oxymoron mixes the joys of love with the emotional desolation
of unrequited love. “O brawling love, O loving hate”.(Act 1 Scene
1).The fact that Romeo can express such extreme emotions for a
woman he barely knows demonstrates both his immaturity and his
potential for deeper love.
Romeo’s love for Rosaline seems immature. An alternative
interpretation suggests that Romeo’s love for Rosaline shows him
to be desirous of love with anyone who is beautiful and willing to
share his feelings, thereby ruining our understanding of Romeo’s
love with Juliet.
However, over the course of the play, the power of Romeo’s love
for Juliet seems to outweigh any concerns about the origin of that
love, and therefore any concerns about Rosaline.
Romeo’s use of traditional, clichéd poetry presents him as a
young, inexperienced lover who is more interested in the concept
of being in love, than actually loving another human being.
As the play progresses, Romeo’s use of language shifts as he
begins to speak in blank verse as well as rhyme. Through this
development, his expressions sound more genuine.
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