Romeo and Juliet Research Paper
Tuongvan Le
Ms. Johns
05/18/10
4B
Romeo and Juliet Research Paper
In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo’s character was undermined as a foolish, feminist, and untrustworthy man to the audience, which finally contributes to the tragedy of the play. He is foolish as he was completely defeated by love-sick, impulsively asked for marriage after seeing Juliet for one night, and blindly drank the poison. Also, Romeo was a feminist as he was crying on the floor like a woman after the Prince pronounced his banishment. Finally, he is shown to the audience as a potentially faithless man who only loves a woman based on her look and quickly forgets about his old love completely as he has a new one. All of these elements come together and convey a sense of the lack of strong masculinity character in Romeo, whose tragic flaw finally contributes to the tragic ending of the play.
Romeo shows his foolishness in the play through his impulsive, thoughtless actions, and inability to overcome love sick. According to Hager, Romeo’s love is more psychic rather than just usual sexual attraction (8), showing that Romeo isn’t a normal lover who can at least live on with life eventually after a problem in love. He’s way more extreme and can be considered as a blind lover. For example, Romeo said: “Tut! I have lost myself; I am not here; /This is not Romeo, he’s some other where” (Shakespeare 1.1.193-194), “She (Rosaline) hath forsworn to love, and in that vow/ Do I live dead that live to tell it now” (1.1.218-219), “Where I may read who pass’d that passing fair?/ Farewell. Thou canst not teach me to forget” (1.1.231-232). He can’t get over love sick with Rosaline, who already decided to remain chaste for life but was completely defeated by love-sick and foolishly announced that he “lives dead.” He didn’t try to forget her but is depressed and stressed over it. He blindly refused to listen to Benvolio’s advice to move on and look for another woman, insisting that no one is fairer
Ms. Johns
05/18/10
4B
Romeo and Juliet Research Paper
In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo’s character was undermined as a foolish, feminist, and untrustworthy man to the audience, which finally contributes to the tragedy of the play. He is foolish as he was completely defeated by love-sick, impulsively asked for marriage after seeing Juliet for one night, and blindly drank the poison. Also, Romeo was a feminist as he was crying on the floor like a woman after the Prince pronounced his banishment. Finally, he is shown to the audience as a potentially faithless man who only loves a woman based on her look and quickly forgets about his old love completely as he has a new one. All of these elements come together and convey a sense of the lack of strong masculinity character in Romeo, whose tragic flaw finally contributes to the tragic ending of the play.
Romeo shows his foolishness in the play through his impulsive, thoughtless actions, and inability to overcome love sick. According to Hager, Romeo’s love is more psychic rather than just usual sexual attraction (8), showing that Romeo isn’t a normal lover who can at least live on with life eventually after a problem in love. He’s way more extreme and can be considered as a blind lover. For example, Romeo said: “Tut! I have lost myself; I am not here; /This is not Romeo, he’s some other where” (Shakespeare 1.1.193-194), “She (Rosaline) hath forsworn to love, and in that vow/ Do I live dead that live to tell it now” (1.1.218-219), “Where I may read who pass’d that passing fair?/ Farewell. Thou canst not teach me to forget” (1.1.231-232). He can’t get over love sick with Rosaline, who already decided to remain chaste for life but was completely defeated by love-sick and foolishly announced that he “lives dead.” He didn’t try to forget her but is depressed and stressed over it. He blindly refused to listen to Benvolio’s advice to move on and look for another woman, insisting that no one is fairer
Cited: Gleed, Paul. How to Write about William Shakespeare. New York: Chelsea House, 2008. Hager, Alan. Understanding Romeo and Juliet. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1999. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Glencoe Literature. Ed. Beverly Ann Chin. Columbus: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2003. 560-691.