Romeo and Juliet: Romeo As The Protagonist

In our lives we are all protagonists and can dictate our story. With every action we can change the end result. In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is the protagonist because he shows growth as a person, always plays a role in the main events and faces obstacles throughout the play

First, Romeo is the protagonist because he undergoes noticeable growth from adolescence to adulthood. These changes are seen from his first feelings of “love”, that being Rosaline and the progression to his feelings for Juliet.

At the beginning of the play you see a more adolescence boy who believes he’s in love with a girl, but the feelings aren’t felt from both sides. Through this heartbreak, both his friends and parents notice something off about him, but he keeps them both in the dark, showing his lack of maturity that he can’t even talk to his friends or parents about his feelings for her.

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This immaturity leads to Benvolio becoming an informant for Romeo’s parents to discuss how he truly is a feeling. The next time Romeo is seen is at the Capulet’s ball where he meets Juliet. When he lays his eyes on Juliet at the ball, he realizes the false love he had for Rosaline: “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight!/ for l he’er saw true beauty till his night. Through this actions is how he grows as a boy to a man.

Second, Romeo is the protagonist because he has a pivotal role in the main events that take place in the play.

Romeo crashes the Capulet’s party and is where the two star-crossed lovers lock eyes and fall in love with each other. Even in this first meeting, Juliet tries to avoid getting involved when she said, “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much' but Romeo stays persistent because he sees something in her that he hasn’t seen in a girl before. After their evening together, he continues to think about her and watches her from the bushes at her home. He engages in a conversation with her and doesn’t end up leaving until she agreed that he could have her hand in marriage. The next day he rushes to Friar Lawrence and begs him to marry him and Juliet which he does because he believes it will end the feud between the two families. After finally marrying Juliet, he encounters Mercutio and Tybalt arguing. He tries intervening and stop the bickering, but they break out in a sword fight. Trying to intervene again he causes Mercutio to be killed by Tybalt. Furious with what Tybalt had done, they begin to fight and ends up with Romeo killing Tybalt, resulting in his banishment from Verona. Through these examples it shows how Romeo’s actions propel the play forward.

Third, Romeo is the protagonist because of the many obstacles thrown at him throughout the play. One of the early obstacles faced is that Romeo and Juliet’s families are feuding with each other and both sides would not agree with them getting married resulting in their romance having to be hidden. O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?Deny thy father and refuse thy name,Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,And I'll no longer be a Capulet.This quote shows the conflict of Juliet on her balcony after meeting Romeo and knowing he is her families enemy. Only few people know of their romance and marriage. This was very hard for them both to overcome and the obstacle was only ever lifted after their deaths because both families realized after seeing their children dead, that their family feud is responsible for the deaths of their kids. Had there been no feud to start, their love for each other would have never been had to be hidden and the plan thought by Friar Lawrence that resulted in their deaths would have never been done. Another obstacle faced was the banishment of him from Verona from the aftermath of the fight between the Capulets and Montagues. This banishment keeps him away from Juliet and foils her plan to tell her father about Romeo who is now banished form Verona. Even with his banishment he still sees Juliet because he can not stand to be without her even if is safety is at risk by entering the place is has just been banished from. The last obstacle is when Romeo finds out about the death of Juliet and never receives the note that was intended for him by Friar Lawrence that would have told him about the plan and that Juliet wasn’t dead. I could not send it—here it is again. Returning the letter. Nor get a messenger to bring it thee,So fearful were they of infection. This quote shows Friar John returning to Friar Lawrence to tell him that he was unable to give the letter to Romeo and here causing the obstacle. He’s never able to get past this obstacle because when goes to see her once last time and die with her she never wakes up and he ends up killing himself before she’s able to wake up from the potion.

In conclusion Romeo is the protagonist of Romeo and Juliet because he grows from an adolescent to an adult, always is a factor in main events of the play and facing obstacles throughout it.