Romeo And Juliet Character Traits

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Romeo Montague is one of the main male characters in Romeo and Juliet. At the beginning of Act 1, it can be seen immediately that Romeo possesses a romantic and moody character trait. Although he lives in the middle of a violent relationship between his own family and the Capulets, he is not at all interested in violence and his only interest is love. He states, "O me! What fray (fight) was here? - Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all. Here's much to do with hate, but more with love" (1, 1, 185-189). As the play begins, he is sad and mourning because of the fact that Rosaline, a girl he is in love with, does not want to marry him. When Benvolio finds him on his own, he asks about where he has been and Romeo starts into a lyrical description…show more content…
Forswear it, sight! / For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night" (1, 5, 52-53). This makes the reader think he is fickle, but it also shows that Romeo is very much in love with the idea of being in love. Romeo's exaggerated language characterizes him as a young and inexperienced lover who is more in love with the concept of being in love than with the woman herself. His immediate love for Juliet shows Romeo as fickle and insincere and as soon as he sees Juliet he says “If I profane with my unworthiest hand / This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:” (1, 5, 92-94) suggesting that he forgets about Rosaline instantly. From this, he is not only lovesick but is also impulsive, changing his mind extremely quickly from being eternally in love with one girl one moment to a different girl in another moment. Another way to look at Romeo’s early love for Rosalind is to see that he is eager to be in love and to learn what real love is like; he is an especially sensitive young man; before going to the ball with his friends, he looks to the stars and contemplates his fate. Later in Act I, when Romeo meets and falls in love with Juliet, he discards his moody attitude and becomes elated and joyful because his love is
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