Act 1 Scene 4

A masked Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio, another of Romeo’s friends, are on the way to the Capulet party. Benvolio, wary of the fact that they should not be in attendance at the party, says that they will only stay for one dance. Romeo, brooding, states that his heart is too heavy, and he will not be participating in any dancing. Through the use of dialogue between Romeo and Mercutio, and the use of metaphor, two different opinions on love are shared. To Mercutio: “to sin in it, should you burthen love – Too great oppression for a tender thing.” It is clear that Mercutio feels that Romeo is taking his love too seriously and such an emotion does not need to be marred by such unhappiness and depression. Romeo on the other hand questions “is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous and it pricks like a thorn.” Through the repetition of negatively connoted adjectives, it is clear that Romeo believes that love is not a tender emotion and that it can toy with the heart just as a thorn toys with human skin. After this exchange, Mercutio continues to tease Romeo to cheer him up and lighten the mood, but he is not successful as it is clear that Romeo had a real sense of foreboding about the night’s activities, fearing that his “mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date.”