Hyperbole In Romeo And Juliet Essay

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare portrays Romeo as melodramatic which ultimately leads to Romeo’s downfall by having all of his actions illogically ruled by emotion. Romeo is the son of the Montague family, a wealthy and powerful family in Verona, Italy, that has a violent feud with another, similar family, the Capulets. In the beginning of the play, Romeo is in love with a girl named Rosaline who does not return his affections, so Romeo becomes depressed and shuts himself away from other people. Romeo is then persuaded to attend a party at the Capulet house where he sees Juliet, the Capulet's’ daughter, and immediately falls in love with her without knowing anything about her. Romeo, being melodramatic, says, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight,/ For I ne’er saw true …show more content…
Romeo knows nothing about Juliet but her appearance but can easily fall in love with her; this shows his exaggerated emotional state. Romeo, being illogical, also marries Juliet after knowing her for only a few hours - this shows how dramatically his emotions dictate how he makes his decisions. Later in the play, Romeo gets into a fight with Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, after Tybalt, a Capulet, kills Mercutio, a friend of the Montagues. The fight started because Romeo attended a party at the Capulet house, where he met Juliet, but no one but Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Lawrence, the man who married them, knows about Romeo and Juliet’s elopement. Soon after Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo throws away all logic in the situation and professes, “Alive in triumph - and Mercutio slain!/ Away to heaven, respective lenity,/ And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now.-”(3.1.127-129) which displays that Romeo is ignoring the mercy he could have for Tybalt and letting rage guide his