Shakepeare’s famous Romeo may be a courtly lover according to Andreas Capellanus’ “Art of Courtly Love” book because he wants a hard to get girl and seems to have a new one every other day but this “courtly love behavior” does not make him the perfect love interest people seem to think he is. While good characters (and love interests) have flaws, his personality would be considered fickle in today’s society. Romeo and his name have historically been compared to and used to describe noteworthy love interests, which makes sense when reading Romeo and Juliet. Romeo is considered to be a highly romantic character who is in such deep love with Juliet that he constantly compares her to a religious shrine. “If I profane with my unworthiest hand / This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: / My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand / To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.” (1.5.92-95). …show more content…
It would be even more romantic if he hadn’t said almost the same thing about his long-time crush that very morning. The translation of that section says that Romeo instructs Benvolio to burn his tears and eyes in sacrifice if he ever stops worshiping (loving) Rosaline. Both of these declarations compare the Capulet girls to shrines and worship, which is like a guy going on a date after using a certain pick-up line, then mid-way through dinner, leaving the table and using the same pick-up line on his date’s cousin. Not only did Romeo go from one girl to another in the span of less than 12 hours, he’s in “love” for all of the wrong reasons. Every love confession and/or reasoning as to why he’s in love is that she is pretty and that makes these unattainable girls seem even more desirable. In modern terms, he wants a pretty girl who plays hard to