Romeo is a rash and emotional young man. He feels deeply and acts quickly, often without thinking through his actions. Case(s) in point - he charges into Juliet's garden, even though he could be killed; he rushed to marry her; he rushed to attack Tybalt after Mercutio's death; he rushed to kill himself.
His attitude towards love is over-enthusiastic. Romeo believes that love is what makes life worthwhile - which is why he is so desperate to be in love. He stays in love with Rosaline, even after she rejects him, up to the point when he falls in love with Juliet. He is in love with being in love.
Romeo also believes that love is combined with hate. After the quarrel in Act 1, scene 1, Romeo has this to say:
- Here's much to do with hate, but more with love:--
Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O anything, of nothing first create!
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!
Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!--
This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
In this speech, he lists many oxymorons (contradictions): brawling love, loving hate, heavy lightness, etc.. This shows that in order to hate anything, you must also love it - otherwise, you can have no emotion for it.
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