Romeo and Juliet Essay

Romeo and Juliet – Essay

By Holly Soar

Describe a character who changed during the course of your text.

Give reasons why these changes were significant in your character’s life.

Romeo and Juliet By William Shakespeare

The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a about a sickening and tragic love story between the characters Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, in which the pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life. Throughout the story you see characters change and develop into new people, including the heroine Juliet Capulet. As the play progresses, Juliet changes from a respectful young girl, into a love-sick, disobedient one, who chooses love over life. This change in Juliet’s character affects her life significantly and portrays the recurring theme depicted by the play - that love has an uncontrollable power over us and it can completely change a person’s personality and decisions.

At the beginning of the play Juliet is an obedient trusting daughter who respects her parents. Her early character is portrayed when she says “I'll look to like, if looking liking move / But no more deep will I endart mine eye / Than your consent gives strength to make it fly." In Act 1 Scene 3. Here we can see her sense of respect and obedience in the way she is responding to her mother's question. Her mother asks if she would consider marrying the character Paris, which can be interpreted as a veiled order.  To this question Juliet replies, with this quote, which can be explained as meaning: "But I won't be more interested or care about him more than you will allow me to be." Overall, we see here that Juliet intends to follow with the arranged marriage, even if it means trying to like Paris for her parents hopes of marriage. This shows her obedience and respect to her parents which, contrasts starkly with the way she acts towards the second half of the play. The way she changes from this early character is significant to her life because had she stayed this submissive, young girl her life would have been inconspicuously controlled by her parents and future husband.

When Juliet meets Romeo they are instantly attracted to each other. Juliet soon finds out he is a Montague (an enemy to her family), but that does not weaken their love. The love juliet has for Romeo soon takes over every part of her life. This changes her from an innocent child into a passionate, love-struck girl. In Act 2 Scene 6 we see how strong Juliet’s love for Romeo is by the quote “My true love is grown to such excess I cannot sum up half my wealth”, where she is essentially stating that her love for him is so strong she could not count it even if she wanted to.  We also showed how Juliet is new to this sort of thing as she is nervous to have her virginity taken, “Hood my unmanned blood bating in my cheeks.” Even though Juliet is nervous about this she is willing to do anything for Dear Romeo. She believes that if she does lose her virginity to him, it will unite them, and their love for each other will grow only stronger. This change from an innocent child into a passionate girl is significant because it shows how the power of love can change someone as drastically as it changes Juliet.