What Sadness Lengthens Romeo's Hours

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Shakespeare looks at love from many angles, from a love between a man and a woman to a spiritual bond between friends. He does this through change in atmosphere, character development and events that happen throughout the play. At the start of the play, Romeo is always thinking about Rosaline, but she doesn’t feel the same about him. When Benvolio asks “What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours?”, Romeo replies with “Not having that, which, having, makes them short.” meaning that he knows that Rosaline has no interest in romeo, but he still continues to pursue her anyway. At this point, Romeo is not actually fallen in love, rather he is obsessed with the idea of being in love with someone. Romeo then compares Rosaline to ‘Diana’, the goddess of…show more content…
This quote proves to us that Romeo really was not in love with Rosaline, but just the thought of being in love. This could also mean that Romeo striving for Juliet is nothing but inconsequential infatuation due to the fact that he feels so strongly about Juliet even from the start, the affection that he displays towards Juliet seems at it’s peak even from the point of their meeting. Romeo’s understanding of love is just from…show more content…
When Romeo aimlessly walks around the garden of the Capulets he notices Juliet. Juliet then starts talking to herself, calling out Romeo’s name “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” and starts talking about how she is willing to drop the name of a Capulet as long as Romeo promises his love for her. Shakespeare here starts to explore the forbidden love between two houses, “'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.” shows us that the only hesitation that Juliet has to love Romeo is his house, Montague. When Juliet finds out that Romeo was eavesdropping, she becomes shy and worried due to the fact that if they find Romeo, he’s dead for trespassing. “How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore? The orchard walls are high and hard to climb, and the place death, considering who thou art, If any of my kinsmen find thee here.” tells us that Juliet is aware of the fact that Romeo is putting himself in great danger just by doing this. That quote also supports the idea of forbidden love. Juliet finds Romeo’s words and actions very cliché and book-like as he decides to “swear by the moon” when she asks if he loves
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