A play which I have recently studied is William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." The central character of a play is often a mixture of good and bad points. Some features of the main character Romeo we admire, and other features we dislike. I intend to show how Shakespeare creates these two contrasting sides to Romeo's character throughout his play by referring closely to the text. One aspect of Romeo's personality that I found rather irritating was his immaturity. This immaturity was particularly obvious when his character was introduced into the play. Romeo says:
"Out of her favour where I am in love" and:
These words from Romeo describe his belief that he is in love. However Romeo had never properly met the girl he speaks of, nor did she love him back. This conveys Romeo's immaturity in that he does not yet fully understand what being "in love" is, also his naivety is hugely obvious here as he has fallen "in love" so quickly and is letting it affect him in a big way:
Here, Shakespeare has made Romeo speak in deliberate oxymorons. The contrasting ideas are set side by side to emphasise the sheer confusion in Romeo's mind as a result of his being "in love." This confusion makes the reader aware that Romeo still very young and naive, and he appears here to be lost in reality, as a result of his immaturity. Romeo's immaturity is furthermore evident when he is describing Rosaline, the girl he believes he is in love with:
"The precious treasure of his eyesight lost,
Show me a mistress that is passing fair,
What doth her beauty serve, but as a note
Where I may read who passed that passing fair?"
Romeo's continual focus on Rosaline's looks, hint to the reader as to why Romeo believes he is so "in love" with her and so makes them further aware of his immaturity. As Romeo has little to say about the personality of his supposed love, yet can not talk enough about her beauty and good looks, the immature side to his character is ...