Romeo and Juliet

1. Choose a character from a play you have studied. (a) What was your first impression of your chosen character? Support your answer with reference to the play. (10) (b) To what extent does your impression of your chosen character change as the play progresses? Explain your answer with reference to your chosen play.


Romeo is the character I have chosen as my first impressions of him were quite distinct and unusual. Romeo at the start of the play is romantic, jealous and engrossed in his own very solitude, hiding away from society and his very own family.Romeo loves but is not loved. He is taken by Rosaline and rather obsessed , he feels she is the one and is desperate for her to feel the same way. Romeo is a romantic,he is constantly thinking of ways to sweep Rosaline off her feet and for her to fall in love with him, as much as he is with her.This love however is physical as her appaearence is what is drawing him.

My first impression of Romeo changed  when he became more and more violent as the play progressed. He showed his violent ways when he slays Tybalt,  after Mercutio was killled. Romeo drew blood again when he kills Paris near Juliet's tomb in a disagreement out of their grief for their beloved Juliet. Romeo changed constantly and was easily changed by women and situations, predominately  by Juliet. Romeo became hysterical after the fight with Tybalt as he feared exile and being away from his beloved Juliet.  Romeo is however not as scared and fearful as when he slays Paris. He just grants the dying wish of Paris which is to put his body beside Juliet's, before he takes his own life.  He talks, then drinks the poison and quickly dies leaving a waking julliet in horror. Romeo's death was caused by fiery, passionate love and a knowledge of his own that he could not live without Juliet.  This caused Romeo's death and  shows how intense and passionate he is about anything to do with something that he cherishes. Romeo at first is passionate but more aware of himself than others by the end of the play, He still has the passion but has gained violence, more hysteria and a sense of grittiness. Romeo is interestingly not the same character by the end of the play as at the start his life  is full of solitude and by the end it is full of people and drama. It was a passionate start for Romeo at the start of the play and was a very passionate ending for Romeo at the end of the play and his life.