Romeo's Understanding of Love in Act I of Romeo and Juliet

How does Romeos understanding of true love develop in Act 1

Shakespeare’s play 'Romeo and Juliet” explores the Romeo’s understanding of love in Act 1. This is done through the juxtaposition of Romeo’s infatuated love towards Rosaline and the true love to Juliet. In Act 1 Scene 1 Shakespeare introduces us to Romeo’s passionate desire towards Rosaline through the use of binary opposition, soliloquy and vivid imagery. In contrast with Act 1 Scene 5 when Romeo is addressing Juliet, his language shifts through the use of, religious and Personification to reflect his romantic love to Juliet.

At the centre of Act 1 Scene 1 Shakespeare explores the infatuated and unsettling love of Romeo towards Rosaline. Romeo expresses his confusion of emotions through the use of binary opposition. ‘O brawling love, O loving hate’ this shows a juxtaposition of strong contrasting images “love” and “hate” suggesting that not only does Romeo find the intensity of his emotion towards Rosaline destabilising but also a burden with which Romeo has been “brawling” to carry stopping him from reaching peace. The further development of a series of oxymorons throughout Romeo’s speech exemplifies the complexity of his emotions such as “heavy lightness” or “cold fire, sick health” this shows the protagonist is so overwhelmed by feelings that he loses the sight of his common sense and spins into a mad love towards Rosaline.

Shakespeare further reinforces Romeo’s bewildered state of mind through fragmented syntax of the protagonist’s soliloquy. The repetition of ‘O’s’ gives a sense of Romeo’s disintegrated chain of thought. Romeo does not structure his sentences in an ordinary fashion but rather he spews out streams of consciousness intoxicated with vivid imagery of Rosaline

Shakespeare explores Romeo’s love to Rosaline through vivid imagery. The comparison of Rosaline to Diana reinforces the sense that the protagonist’s love is doomed from the start. For Romeo believes ‘She’ll not be hit with cupid’s arrow: she hath Diana’s wit, And, in strong proof of chastity well-armed, From Love’s weak childish bow she lives unharmed.” The resounding images of archery, ‘cupid’s arrow’, ‘childish bow’, forces the reader to visualise cupid (Roman god of erotic love) shooting through lover’s hearts to seed passionate emotion. However, this imagery is quickly juxtaposed with comparison of Rosaline to Diana, goddess of chastity suggesting that Romeo’s impassionate emotions are not reciprocated. The words ‘chastity’ and ‘childish’ further signal that Romeo’s love is not welcome by Rosaline. His desire can be reduced to an adolescent infatuation for a matured beauty in which she is oblivious.

In contrast, in Act 1, Scene 5, Romeo’s attitude to love shifts from an infatuated love towards Rosaline to a more true and youthful love he feels for Juliet. Shakespeare uses literary devices such as religious and romantic metaphors to portray this change. The sharing of a fourteen-line sonnet, using stichomythia, implies the strong intertwined purity of Romeos love with Juliet. This is further exemplified when Romeo compares Juliet to a “holy shrine”. For Romeo views Juliet as a saint who has brought brightness into his life highlighting the clarity of Romeo’s feelings and underlines to the reader the powerful force of love with which Romeo is entangled in.

Romeo’s syntax becomes more structured and less broken down by the constant repetition of ‘o’ and is replaced with fluidity of verse “touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!” Through change in syntax, Shakespeare signals to the reader Romeo’s changed attitude to love; he is no longer bewildered but he is ascertained in his strong and passionate feeling to Juliet.

Shakespeare use personification to symbolize Juliet’s beauty to that of a star that "hangs upon the cheek of night". The overwhelming image of a “star” suggests that Juliet is an unavoidable beauty in night that shines over Romeo. This draws for the point that for Romeo, Juliet is a attainable transcendence on the earth telling the audience that Romeos concept of love has changed as it juxtaposes his original interpretation where by Rosaline’s love was an unachievable goal.

Consequently Romeo’s love towards Rosaline is an infatuation that consumes him. Shakespeare focuses on this conveying Romeo in a bewildered and confused state ultimately portraying the protagonist as being in love with the ideologies of love. His constant rejection by Rosaline further establishes the unattainable goal of Rosaline’s approval however Romeo is persistent regardless of her vow of chastity. This juxtaposes Romeo’s love for Juliet for it is a spontaneous inflamed feeling in which both protagonist share. Romeo and Juliet are intertwined one completing the other this encapsulating the true concept of love. The development of their love further brings clarity to Romeos thoughts as his syntax become more fluid and less scattered. Romeo now believes that he can find transcendence through his love of Juliet this contrasting the unreachable love of Rosaline.