Male Costuming In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

The male costuming in the play appropriately demonstrates how their love is fabricated because it shows the overcast of their lives interfering with relationships. The darkness in the characters is addressed through the dark clothing in the trailer. After Mercutio attempts to convince Romeo to dance, Romeo says, “Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes / With nimble soles, I have a soul of lead / So stakes me to the ground I cannot move” (I.iv.14-16). Romeo’s love for Rosaline loiters in his mind because he cannot find love, which leads to forcing Juliet into a relationship to get over not having Rosaline. Therefore, Romeo’s teenage depression brings him to be a love hungry fool, which sparks the relationship in the first place. The costumes
reflect this idea since all the male costumes are all dark colored jackets, which represents Romeo’s first love.

The darkness and depression she left him with lingers throughout the play, so wearing all black shows the darkness that endures in Romeo’s relationships with not only females, but with other males as well because of his deep sadness, which is why all of the male characters are wearing black. After Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo says, “And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now / Now, Tybalt, take the ‘villain’ back again” (III.i.127-128). Romeo’s decisions are rash and not thought out because he is trying to follow the teenage rebellion motif, which makes his decisions all the more rigid. His willingness to be daring and adventurous shows in how certain Romeo is in his decisions. By having all of the male characters wear suits, it shows the confidence they portray in themselves and in their choices.
Suits are associated with businessmen, who are seen as powerful and strong, which shows the power and strength that the men try to prove to others through their decisions. Romeo continues to demonstrate the idea of the everyday teenager, which puts a damper on his relationships with other people. The idea of being a depressed and lonely teen carries throughout the play, along with the idea of being rebellious, which causes him to be more closed off and rigid towards other people. The dark and stiff suits on all of the male characters demonstrate the idea of their love being real because it shows the traits of the everyday teen, which shows the romantic advances of Romeo in the play are the result of him trying to fulfill the need to be a wild teen in love. The suits are on all of the male characters in the tragedy since it shows how Romeo’s emotions affect other people in the play, like the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. Ultimately, the dreariness and firmness of the male costume portrays Romeo’s overall persona and represents how his teenage decisions affect the people around
him.