Romeo and Juliet
Notes on Romeo’s Emotions Throughout Act 1

Act 1: Scene 1:
Romeo enters line 146:
• Romeo seems unhappy and quite lost. He is explaining to Benvolio that he is so in love Rosaline that time seems to be going really slowly.

• Romeo comes into the scene and is talking to Benvolio about how he is so in love with Rosaline but she isn’t in love with him.

• He is asking questions and answering them himself, showing that all these questions seem pointless to him, considering the love he feels. He is venting to Benvolio, he is going through his problems but seems to be talking to himself, as he never seems to listen to Benvolio.

• Romeo talks in oxymoron’s showing the chaos love s causing for him. He uses very contradictory words (lines 167 – 72) in Romeo’s speech. He uses opposites to show how love confuses and mixes up all kinds of things turning order into chaos.

• He confesses to losing himself when he fell in love, (line 188) “This is not Romeo, he’s some other where”

• The scene shows Romeo as a romantic and emotional man. Romeo says love is confusing “a choking gall” and a “preserving sweet”.

• In the end Romeo doesn’t seem to want to be in love with Rosaline, he would prefer to forget her completely than to have seen her beauty before.

• Benvolio tries to tell Romeo that there are other women in the world, but Romeo tells him that is easier for Benvolio to tell him to forget about a girl because he has never been in love. In Romeo’s speech (lines 219 – 228) he compares his situation to that of a blind man who has lost his sight, rather than a man who was born without his sight. If a man loses their sight they will never forget what it was like to see, but a man who has never been able to see does not know the feeling of sight so does not dwell on it. He compares this to his love of Rosaline, he is in love with her so it will be harder to forget than it would be for a man who has never loved a women.

• Romeo’s language is negative and glum, reflecting his mood; he uses a lot of images of darkness, like the blind man.

Act 1: Scene 2:
Romeo enters line 43
• Romeo seems sceptical about going to the Capulet’s party, but he wants to see Rosaline. He seems very excited (line 69) when he reads her name on the invite list.

• Romeo seems cross at Benvolio for suggesting there is going to be anyone as fair as Rosaline. (Line 88 – 91) he says his love for Rosaline was like a religion and if the love he felt for Rosaline changes because of such lies of there being anyone as fair as Rosaline, he would want his eyes to be turned to fire and eyes burned.

• Benvolio still tries to get him to go to the Capulet party and look at other women. Romeo seems reluctant but agrees to do so but only to prove himself right of Rosaline’s beauty.

Act 1: Scene 4:
Romeo enters on first line and starts the scene
• Romeo tells everyone he has had a dream, which makes him scarred to go to the party, as he knows something bad will happen.

• Mercutio comes in with a speech about how we make our own destinies, and Queen Mab, who brings dreams to sleepers. This makes the scene spooky, and seems to make Romeo even more frightened.

• At the beginning of the scene (lines 11 – 12) Romeo wants to carry the light to the party despite his sadness, which I think suggests he is feeling happier because he is going to see Rosaline.

• Romeo goes on to say he will not be dancing at the party as the burden of love is so heavy he is sinking rather than flying with cupid’s wings. He seems to