Thoughare
quite infatuated with one another, I would say thatis more passionate aboutthan she is about
him. Let's consider the circumstances for the titular characters at the open of Romeo
and Juliet. Romeo is heartbroken and listless because Rosaline does not return his
affections. We learn that Romeo is "in love with love," and wishes to be so. Juliet,
on the other hand, is not really interested in love, but certainly does not care to be married
to the man her mother is planning for her to meet.
When Romeo and Juliet
meet, I think that they are falling in love with the idea of one another rather than the people
they are. The two hardly speak more than a handful of words to one anotherthough physically
attracted to each otherwhen they begin kissing and wooing! Juliet is quick to be in love because
it provides an alternate to her mother's arranged marriage- maybe she can marry Romeo instead!
(At this point, she does not know he is a Montague.) Romeo is perhaps quicker to fall in
loveentranced by Juliet's beauty, Rosaline is entirely pushed from his mind.
It may sound harsh, but I think that Romeo and Juliet are using one another. It is
difficult to say whether they manipulate each other, but they definitely
exploit their perceptions of each other to achieve their own desires. Who's to say whether their
love was genuine? If they did not truly love one another, they must have loved the idea of each
other because they were willing to become married and even commit suicide rather than face a
life "out of love" or in an undesired marriage.
Regardless of
whether any manipulation or using occurred, I think that Romeo was more passionate in his
affections for Juliet or the idea of her. Consider the famous balcony scene of Act II, Scene II.
When Romeo speaks of Juliet (to himself) he goes on and on about how she is more beautiful than
the moon, as beautiful as an angel, and how he wishes to stroke her cheek. In contrast, Juliet
(speaking to herself) only ho-hums that she wishes Romeo was not a Montague. Even when the two
begin to address each other directly, Romeo seems to not care that Juliet is a Capulet, but he
does feel sorrow that he is a Montague and her sworn enemy. Couldn't he just as easily be angry
at her for having been born a Capulet?
Later, in Scenes III and V of Act II,
we can sense this difference in passions when Romeo and Juliet speak of each other to their
confidantes. In Scene III, Romeo has come toto ask him to marry him to Juliet. Fair Juliet, who
he professes to love with all his heart, and who he is certain he really loves and wants to be
with. When Juliet speaks to Nurse, she is all business. She does not speak so fondly of Romeo
and instead plainly asks whether he had anything to say about their marriage. Even with her most
trusted friend, Juliet has the opportunity to gush about how much she likes and loved Romeo, but
she doesn't.
To me, it seems that Juliet is really only in love with the
prospect of being married and taken away from her mother's designs onas a husband. Romeo, at
least, focuses his love on Juliet as a part of being "in love."
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