Romeo: O, teach me how I should forget to think.
Benvolio: By giving liberty unto thine eyes;
Examine other beauties." (I; I; 222-225)
At the end of act I, scene I, Romeo shows up love sick. He has fallen in love with a woman that does not love him back. Benvolio, Romeo's friend, is trying to cheer him up by saying that there isn't just one woman for him and that he should forget about her and move on to another woman. This scene demonstrates two aspects of Romeo, one that remains and one that becomes contradicted when he is with Juliet. The first aspect is his dramatic and romantic emotions. A woman that he fell in love with does not return his love, for that he is love-sick and depressed. His mind is dominated by the thoughts of his depression. He feels that without her love, it is the end of the world. This control that love has over him brings out the second aspect shown in the first act, his depressed character. He is unsociable, as his friends say, and boring. Later when he is with Juliet, he becomes more lively and full of love. When the two of them married, he was so full of love that he even had love towards his enemy Tybalt. It might seem good that he is no longer depressed, but the audience notices how quick he makes such drastic transitions, and he makes them too quick. One moment he is mourning over his unrequited love for Rosaline, the next, when he sees Juliet, feels as if he had "ne'er saw true beauty till this night" (I; V: 53). Even Friar Laurence noticed this quick transition when Romeo ask the Friar to Marry them. He advises Romeo to take it "wisely and slow [for] they stumble [those] that run fast" (II; III; 94). This line by Friar Laurence is dramatic irony - character doesn't realize that what he said is true - for because Romeo is rushing so much, making quick and rash decisions that his characters makes a downfall - the tragedy of the play. When Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo's friend, Romeo snaps and kills Tybalt in revenge. Because he killed Tybalt, he is banished, meaning he can never see Juliet. His depressed and torchered character comes out again when he hears the news. Romeo's banishment lead to Juliet faking her death to get with Romeo again, but Balthasar brought the news of her "death" before Friar Laurence could warn Romeo that it was only a set-up. Romeo quickly makes the decision to follow to the grave. He buys a poison then takes to die lying beside his late wife. His tragic and dramatic romantic emotions flesh out to the furthest extent. He gave love the ultimate sacrifice; his own life.
