How Does Romeo Develop

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the main character of the name Romeo can be seen as an upward roller coaster of personalities. At the very start of the play, we could conclude that Romeo was depressed and wouldn’t tell anyone; based on dialogues between his father and Benvolio. When we first get introduced to Romeo however, he shows ego when he is talking with Benvolio. However, surprisingly we see a whole different side of Romeo when he gets introduced to Juliet at the party, his attitude, personality, and overall character completely changes, he becomes mature, humble, and charismatic all of a sudden. From the beginning, when he wasn’t introduced and we (the readers) had to form an opinion based on the dialogue between Benvolio and Lord

Once he arrives, it’s as if all his previous sorrow and ignorance disappear at a glance at Juliet; it’s apparent that at the party, Shakespeare presents Romeo’s character as more humble than before. The first words Romeo says to Juliet are " If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine the gentle sin is this;".It’s clear from this quote alone that Romeo had lost all prior love and ignorance. By using the word "unworthiest," Shakespeare is presenting Romeo as thinking he’s not worth the likes of Juliet. This shows great contrast as to when he is presented as talking in the third person or when we see him as depressed and unwilling to talk to anyone. As Readers, some may say that his forgetting about Rosaline is foolish, however to most, Romeo’s love for Juliet can be described as "colpo di fulmine" or “love at first sight” and that Shakespeare made them meant to be hence, his new-found humility and humbleness . Another example which establishes the fact that Shakespeare presents a change in Romeo is when he says "I’ll watch her place of stand, and, make blessed, my rude

As we see Romeo and Juliet talk, we see Shakespeare using a religious semantic field, an example of such is when Romeo says “ O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray; grant thou,lest faith turn into despair”. By using a semantic field of religion and using words such as “saint”, “shrine”,and ”pilgrim”, Shakespeare shows that Romeo is presenting his love in a mature way in comparisons to when he was moping around and presenting his love as if he would never see his lover again. In addition, it makes us as the audience question the change in maturity, it’s as if when he started talking to Juliet, he is presented as a whole new person with a new personality and character. As we go on, we see Shakespeare’s semantic field continue, Romeo later says “thus from my lips,by thine, my sin is purged” this is only one other example of Shakespeare’s 20 line religious semantic field between Romeo and Juliet that establishes the newfound maturity inside of