The Imagery In Romeo And Juliet By William Shakespeare

Shakespeare vividly showcases Romeo’s unpleasant emotions of sadness and rage through the use of visual and organic images in this excerpt and implies various aspects of Romeo that drive him into acting the way he does through his dialogues. He also reveals they dynamic character of Romeo as he transforms from being an enamoured and a lovesick fool blinded from the harsh reality about being in love, to an aggressive, enraged and impulsive man who conveys his appalling thoughts at the immediate moment.

Romeo, having no knowledge of what has happened to Juliet, is perceived as a dreamer, and an idealist lover rather than a realist who does not see the harsh extents to which he and Juliet may have to go in order to make their love survive; however, through Romeo’s dialogues, it may be said that he is slightly aware of the consequences of their relationship but has difficulty accepting it. Further, his uncertainty through the use of the word ‘If’ at the beginning of the scene foreshadows how they have left their love up to fate which shows their weakness and immaturity, hence leading to a vicious cycle of internal distress and turmoil experienced during the relationship. As a dreamer, he is not to sure whether or not to ‘trust the flattering truth of sleep’ adhering to him being a weak and purposeless person as he is not sure if he should trust his own dreams because his dreams ‘presage’, which literally means to sign or warn, ‘some joyful news at hand.’ This is a contrast in thoughts as you would warn or sign someone only if something bad was going to happen, hence showing the irony of Romeo talking about such uplifting things while everything at the moment seems to be leading to the end of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship which in turn emphasises on Romeo’s inner turmoil as he is lost and puzzled without Juliet as he sees her as the light in his life. Additionally, Romeo would ‘defy/ stars’ which evokes an image of him being imaginative and living in a world of fantasies as he tries to talk to the ‘stars’. This is an extremely striking imagery as he also addresses Juliet’s eyes as the two most beautiful stars in the universe, hence portraying how his love for her is based on infatuation as he only seems to notice her outer body and therefore, is unable to accept the strident truth and is in denial of Juliet’s eyes as though he is too afraid to accept it.

Shakespeare elucidates an image of Romeo being possessive, greedy and fickle through his dialogues, which convey the idea of Romeo being in love with the idea of being in love rather than being in love with Juliet; this attests to his exaggerated desire for love after encountering a heartbreak due to Rosaline’s unrequited love which unravels the reasons for his desperate and obsessive nature towards Juliet. The constant use of the possessive pronoun ‘my’ in the Romeo’s first monologue, suggests that Romeo believed Juliet was only his, and he was the only one who deserved her love as he also mentions how his ‘lady came and found’ him ‘dead’, alluding to how he feels she is only entitled to him and there should be no one for her other than him and foreshadowing the time when he finds her lying on her death bed. This illustrates an image of Romeo being selfish and greedy for love, and wanting love for his own well being and mental stability, almost as though he needs love to keep him going, revealing how he sees love as a religion rather than an emotion and feeling. To evince this portrayal of Romeo, Shakespeare also discloses Romeo’s longing for physical intimacy through his character as he says ‘breathed such life with kisses’ which manifests Romeo not only wanting, but requiring love to be metaphorically alive, lively and upbeat. Since he is afraid of losing her, he asks Balthasar ‘again’ to show how he is more importantly concerned about his feelings and feel being rather than her, depicting Romeo as a selfish man who considers Juliet to be his love but possesses her like some sort of treasure to him.

Romeo’s character from being a man in heavenly love to an outraged and selfish man changes over the course of learning about Juliet’s, as seen by the change in the choice of his words as well as the length of his dialogue; it makes him impulsive and aggressive, as though he was going to lose his purpose for living because she supposedly breathes life into him and fills it with purpose and meaning with her tender love. Before knowing about what has happened to Juliet, he talks carelessly and emotes his emotions of being in love with her and talks about life, joy and nature in their relationship, regardless of Juliet being an ‘unaccustomed spirit’ to Romeo as he barely knows her, and articulates his feelings in long sentences; however after hearing about Juliet, he becomes impulsive and starts to retaliate from the inevitable truth he encounters with, and hence the length of his dialogues is shorter when talking to Balthasar, implying his anger and desperateness to have her. Due to this his own loss, he does not show any form of feeling for Juliet as he does not even care to ask about how everything happened but only ‘I will hence tonight’ , showing his selfish nature once again. In return to what Romeo says, Balthasar is able to sense the unrepressed nature of Romeo, thus says that he looks ‘pale and wild’ and believes he may ‘import some misadventure’ which means he may hurt someone ultimately. This foreshadows the pain he causes himself by letting himself think and feel this way about Juliet, and the word ‘wild’ has connotations of something deadly and hazardous, just like the poison he is going to buy. Yet, he is short-tempered and believes all that he is doing is correct and wants to therefore be left alone as no one would then tell him what to do, and eventually claims ‘I will lie with thee tonight’ which also shows how their love is only in the dark and he is desperate for that love so he has to take drastic measure to be with her which results in their death eventually.

Romeo is distorted and now sees everything around himself as something damp and ugly, and is not able to see the beauty in it, therefore elucidating the effects of Juliet’s death on him. He is up to some ‘mischief’ with the thoughts of ‘desperate men’ which shows he is in pain and anger and is about to do something harmful, and therefore hints the following events of the play where Romeo buys the poison. ‘I do remember an apothecary’ implies that he remembers the worst possible ideas at the time when he must be rather calm and composed to let himself mourn his loss, but instead he remembers an apothecary which shows he is up to something dangerous. Romeo describes the pharmacist to be ‘in tattered weeds’; having ‘overwhelming brows’; ‘meagre with his looks’; in ‘misery’ which ‘had worn him to the bones’, depicting his feelings exactly for the pharmacist, although the choice of his words create an ugly and disgusting image of the pharmacist, giving an effect of dullness, hence showing how Romeo’s use of words towards anything was rather insulting and extreme and not subtle. Romeo says it was a ‘needy shop’ which implies that it didn’t have many customers and didn't make much money; however, it also implies how Romeo felt the need to mock everything about it because of his sadness, hence also using the word ‘beggarly’ to reiterate the poor pharmacist and his pharmacy. ‘Old cakes of rose’ also reflect the status of his relationship as rose is a symbol of love, their love which is now dead and rotten, which is why the word ‘old’ shows how it is rotten and shattered now, which is why he ‘need(s) a poison’ to free himself from the feeling of pain and rage so that he can be at peace once again. Attesting to this, he believes the ‘beggar’s shop’ is where he will find his remedy, which is rather ironic as a beggar would have nothing to give, also connoting the rurality of the shop and showing how its products may not be so safe to use, which is why Romeo remembers this pharmacist of all the others.

In conclusion, Shakespeare portrays Romeo’s various sides and colours which evince an effect of him being someone not to argue with and be in trouble with; he creates an image of Romeo being an impulsive and raging man due to his loss and also the only one who he believed to be a miracle of nature and to have changed his life for the better by giving it meaning. Romeo, however, in the eyes of the audience is a selfish man who desires love more than anything which shows why he sees love as a religion throughout the play and the absence of love takes him to a darker mindset and hence he sees the faults and ugliness in everything around him, whether or not he needs it. Lastly, Shakespeare conveys Romeo’s aspiration for affection, but implies that his selfishness and greed would cost him after all, and which may be the cause of their relationship’s ultimate downfall.