Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a literary classic that introduces characters who can be interpreted in various ways. Shakespeare, through the use of literary devices, creates some very complex characters who represent different aspects of Elizabethan values, one of which is Romeo Montague. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare positions the audience to see Romeo as a passionate man with a complex, evolving relationship with love and masculinity. Shakespeare carefully crafted Romeo to represent a figure whose masculinity is challenged by Elizabethan normalities. The audience is manipulated to dislike Romeo during the early stages of the play due to his immaturity. Then, as he matures, they will begin to see him as a genuine and passionate lover. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Shakespeare carefully positions the audience to see the development of Romeo's maturity and ideas of love through his interactions with other characters. At the beginning of the play, Mercutio refers to Roma's sincere love for Rosaline by stating that "now it is for the numbers in which Petrarca flocked". Petrarch being a famous poet of the time, Mercutio alludes to the fact that Romeo's words to Rosaline are euphuistic with a lack of depth and passion. The fictitious nature of Romeo's chosen words in describing Rosaline implies that his feelings for Rosaline are also artificial. This encourages the audience to see Romeo as insincere and immature. However, Romeo's maturity begins to develop when he begins to fall in love with Juliet. When Romeo and Juliet first interact, Juliet comments on Romeo's kissing "according to the book". With this observation Juliet suggests that Romeo's kiss is generic and expresses little authenticity or passion. However, as the play progresses, Romeo begins to become a more expressive and genuine lover, speaking with substance and depth. This is shown in the quote “Heaven is here, where Juliet is…”. Through this use of blank verse poetry, Shakespeare portrays Romeo's love as becoming more authentic without needing Petrarch's structure. As Romeo's ideas of true love develop, the audience begins to see that his feelings for Juliet may be more than just puppy love. Has Romeo evolved? The relationship with love influences the audience to see his feelings for Juliet as genuine. Shakespeare created a dramatic contrast between Romeo and Mercutio, two of his key male figures, to help the audience see Romeo as a love-struck and passionate character. Mercutio is portrayed to see love as lust. This contrasts with Romeo's tendency to confuse lust with love, as he did with Rosaline. Mercutio's advice to “Sting love by sting and defeat love” suggests that he is thinking in obscene terms. This quote contrasts with Romeo's words of love that he speaks for Rosaline saying, “Love is a smoke raised from the smoke of sighs.” Mercutio also tends to speak about love rather cynically, proclaiming “…for this foolish love is like a great natural [fool], that runs rocking up and down to hide his trinket.” This quote once again refers to love in more sexual terms and in context aims to ignore Romeo's feelings. These two opposing characters were created by Shakespeare with the intention of giving light to the actions of both characters and showing a juxtaposition. Throughout the play, Shakespeare refers to the questionable.