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Romeo is almost brainwashed by his obsession of loving other girls way too easily. Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet, Romeo falls deeply in love with two girls, who cause him to make extreme and unthought of actions. Romeo changes the whole world around him based on the love he is or is not receiving. He drains out the happiness and good things in his life from not having enough. But, when he receives just a taste, he becomes overly optimistic and blinded by it.
Romeo is desperate for love; therefore, deeply controlled by it, this causes him to act in dramatic ways.
In the very beginning of the play, Romeo has major depression and a negative look on the world; because, he is heartbroken the woman he loves does not love him back. Because Romeo is not receiving the love he wishes to, he feels as if time isn’t passing fast enough. He states, “Is the day so young? Ay me! Sad hours seem so long.
Was that my father that went hence so fast .” In other words, Romeo thinks that life is sad, and going by too slow. This could be further explained as Romeo wants the day to be over because he does not want to live in it anymore. Perhaps, he does not want to live at all anymore, only because Rosaline wants to stay a virgin. But in contrast of time going too slow, he thinks that his father has gone away too fast. As in, he believes that his own father is trying to get away from him.
This is all in Romeo’s head in effect of the mindset he is choosing to put himself into, and he does not intend to leave it. When Benvolio invites him to a party with the intentions to help him forget about his sorrowful position with Rosaline, he responds, “Farewell. Thou canst not teach me to forget.” Not only is Romeo refusing to attend this party with Benvolio, whom has the greatest intentions, but he is accepting the fact that he may not ever get over this. In fact, he is trying to convince Benvolio that he cannot be helped, so that Benvolio will just stop trying. However, Romeo eventually accepts his invitation; but, he does not go because he wants to move on. “I’ll go along, no such sight to be shown, but I rejoice in splendor of mine own.” Romeo admits to Benvolio that the only reason he is going, is so that he can see Rosaline, not so that he can get over this. Even though Romeo is aware that she does not love him he still wants to go to the party. This is proof that he wants to continue to stay in this depressed and negative mindset.
When Romeo enters the party, he is still thinking negatively; however, when he meets Juliet, his mood quickly changes to a completely opposite and positive mindset. Entering the party, Romeo states, “With nimble shoes: I have a soul of lead. So stakes me to the ground I cannot move.” He is literally saying that he has a sad soul that is holding him down, and he cannot leave that state. Romeo believes that he will stay this way during the party, especially because he is still feeling the same way about Rosaline. He describes her as the following, “One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sun ne’er saw her match since first the world began” Romeo believes that Rosaline is the most gorgeous and perfect girl in the world. He states that there has never been a match to her beauty. But when he lays eyes on Juliet, he proves himself wrong. “So show’s a snowy dove trooping with crows as yonder lady o’er her fellow show. Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” Now he is saying that he has never seen anyone as beautiful as Juliet. He describes her as true beauty and believes that she outshines every other girl. He forgets all about Rosaline by just looking at another girl. This proves how blinded he is by beauty and how desperate he is for love. One moment he is in deep sorrow because of Rosaline. Now from one look, has completely forgotten about her and is now in love Juliet. Because he is in love with a new girl, Romeo is not depressed anymore. His mindset has changed so easily and dramatically from just looking at a new girl, whom he is now in love with.
By just meeting someone new, Romeo’s look on love has turned around from a horrible thing, to now a wonderful thing. Before meeting Juliet, Romeo explained how love affects him, “Under love’s heavy burden do I sink.” He explains it as something heavy, weighing him down, and as a burden. Obviously the reason for his negativity. After meeting Juliet he states, “With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls, for stony limits cannot hold love out.” Now he describes love as something light and lifting. Strong enough to get past stone walls. He describes love opposingly with each girl, because of how consumed he is by it. How quickly Romeo can change the way he feels about love proves how desperate he is for it. When he doesn’t receive love, it is a bad thing. When he does receive it, it is an amazing thing. Romeo’s positive outlook on love will cause him to act positively in effect.
After knowing Juliet for only a day, Romeo goes through extreme measures to please Juliet and to have her love. The day after the party, Romeo goes to Juliet’s window, and begs, “Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized. Henceforth I never will be Romeo.” Romeo is saying that is Juliet calls him her love, he will never be Romeo again if she does not want him to be. In other words, Romeo is willing to change his name just so that Juliet will love him. He then goes to even more extreme measures to say, ”And but thou love me, let them find me here. My life were better ended by their hate than death prorgued, wanting of thy love.” He tells Juliet that he would rather be murdered by her relatives, than live without her love. This is an exapmle of how desperate Romeo is for love. He will literally die for it, and he did. Because of the confusion in Juliet’s plan, Romeo thought that she was dead and killed himself. “Here’s to my love! (drinks the potion) O true apothecary, thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” Not only did Romeo kill himself because he did not want to live without Juliet, but he talks as if he is doing it for her. He drinks the potion and dedicates it to her. He also does with a kiss, this could even mean that his dying wish is her love. Romeo is so determined to live for love, that when he does not have it, he doesn’t want to live anymore.
However, Romeo is pushed to get out there and find love, back then it was normal for children to be married at a very young age. During this time, Juliet was getting ready to be married, as were many girls her age. It may not have been ordinary to die for love at this time; but, it was normal in society to advance this quick in relationships at such a young age. In the beginning of the play Mercutio tells Romeo, “And to sink in it, should you burthen love- too great oppresion for a tender thing.” He is telling him that he shouldn’t be so depressed about love because it is such a great thing. Furthermore, this could be Mercutio’s way of attempting to convince Romeo to go out and love again. As for Juliet, she feels just the same as Mercutio about love. After meeting Romeo for the first time she states,“Go ask his name- if he be married, my grave is to be my death bed.” She is saying that if she cannot marry Romeo, she would rather die. Which is still not a norm during that time. While it was normal to advance this quick in a relationship, it is not normal to commit suicide instead of living without the one a person may love.
In conclusion, Romeo is feels frantically for love, and it drives him to do crazy things like committing suicide. He changed the way he felt about life and love so easily in just a few minutes. Being out of love cause him major depression and negativity. However, falling in love caused him to feel so passionately for someone, that it was too much, and resulted in his own death. It seems as if Romeo finds a way to get a negative outcome with love and without love. So, because Romeo was in such a bad state of mind before Juliet, maybe he would have ended up the same way.
Love That Drives Romeo To Do Crazy Things. (2024, Feb 12). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/love-that-drives-romeo-to-do-crazy-things-essay
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