ntrol the development of the play and its ultimate tragic ending. Romeo and Juliet are refined and shaped by their love for each other. It is love that informs and creates their characters.
Let us examine sections where this idea can be demon-strated. In the beginning of the play, Romeo is suffering from an infatuation for the fair but disdainful Rosaline. This kind of love does not produce enthusiasm or beauty, however. Instead, it feels and acts like a dead weight on Romeo's breast:
Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast,
Which thou wilt propagate, to have it prest
With more of thine. This love that thou hast shown Doth add more grief to too much of mine own.
Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs;
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