Romeo's Character Analysis: A Tattoo Design Exploration

This English assignment presents a creative exploration of Romeo's character from Shakespeare's play, using a tattoo design as a symbolic representation. The design incorporates four key elements: a wolf, a heart with flowers, the sun, stars, and a nectar feeder bird, each representing aspects of Romeo's personality and emotional state. The assignment delves into Romeo's impulsive and brave nature, his romantic tendencies, his fears, and his unstable emotions. The analysis supports these interpretations with direct quotes from the play, effectively illustrating how the chosen symbols reflect Romeo's persona and character traits. The assignment successfully uses visual and textual elements to create a comprehensive understanding of Romeo's character.

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Introduction
The tattoo design is created to represent the character of Romeo. Using all the necessary
elements, the design incorporates the use of four elements and four different symbols that
address and reflect Romeo’s character. The use of colours that represents his persona, feelings
and moods; use of symbols that represents challenges Romeo faces in life and use of symbols
and word that describe his character, his interests and hobbies. The tattoo design elaborates the
character of Romeo using symbolic approach, and supporting quotes from the play, presenting
the image of Romeo as reflected through imagery and design and as supported by the quotes
from the play.
The first element in the tattoo design represents Romeo’s impulsive and brave nature. The
charged wolf, ready to pounce on an enemy or a prey is a symbol of Rome’s impulsive nature
which drove him to do extraordinary things out of anger and bravery and sometimes which on
numerous occasions exposed his weaknesses. This is demonstrated after his best friend Mercutio
is killed by Tybalt, as he told Benvolio, “This day’s black fate on more days doth depend. This
but begins the woe, others must end.” Additionally, his bravery is topnotch. Despite knowing
that Tybalt was a very skilled sword fighter, he did not fear him and decided to fight him in
seeking vengeance after the death of Mercutio; saying, “Alive in triumph and Mercutio is dead!
Away to heaven respective lenity, and let fire-eyed fury be my conduct now! Now Tybalt, take
the villain back again, that late thou gavest me for Mercutio’s soul is but little way above our
heads staying for thine to keep him company: either you or I or both us must go with him.” A
wolf is a very brave and angry animal. It can defend itself under all circumstances and do not
hesitate to attack when irritated. In this case, it represents Romeo’s brave and impulsive nature,
he exhibited throughout the play.

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The second element signifies Romeo’s romantic nature. A heart with plenty of growing and
blossoming flowers is a symbol of romantic prowess and loving nature of Romeo which he
exhibited throughout the play first to Rosaline and then secondly to Juliet. But he seems
infatuated by Rosaline, who is not interested in him. His unstable and weak emotions are evident
as they lead him to abandon Rosaline for Juliet, and this is confirmed by Friar Laurence who
pointed this to him, “Holy saint Francis, what a change is here. Is Rosaline, who you used to love
so dear so soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies not truly in their heart but in their eyes.” A
tender and emotionally weak people tend to develop “love” feelings quickly and the heart
growing with blossoming flowers represents Romeo’s tender and fertile heart ready for love to
sprout without hesitation.
The third element in the tattoo design symbolizes Romeo’s fear and personal insecurities about
his future. A combination of the sun and stars and darkness is a symbol of fears Romeo had over
the possibility of ending up with his lover Juliet. His fears are evident when he stated, “I fear, too
early, for my mind misgives some consequences yet hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his
fearful date with this night’s revels, and expire the term of a despised life closed in my breast by
some vile forfeit of untimely death.” Romeo and Juliet constantly see each other as light. Romeo
refers to Juliet as the sun and Juliet refers to Romeo as the stars. Therefore, the symbol of the sun
and the stars represents the complicated nature of Romeos relationship with Juliet, as they have
to constantly meet in the “privacy” of darkness while they see themselves as the sun and the
stars. The symbol represents Romeo’s fears over his relationship’s fate with Juliet.

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The fourth element of the tattoo design signifies Romeo’s unstable emotional state. Romeo is
ruled by his emotions. The symbol of a nectar feeder bird on top of a flower shows how
temporary his emotions are; because, the nectar feeder does not feed on a single flower but rather
wanders everywhere looking for sweeter nectar. This is illustrated in his emotions towards
Rosaline by stating his feelings, “Well, in that hit you miss. She’ll not be hit with cupid’s arrow.
She hath Dian’s wit and in strong proof of chastity well armed, from love’s weak childish bow
she lives unharmed. She will not stay the siege of loving terms, nor bide th’ encounter of
assailing eyes, nor ope her lap to saint seducing gold.” He later goes for Juliet the moment he see
her. Romeo also expresses his weak emotions when he threatened Balthasar, “But if you are
jealous, dost return to pry in what I further shall intend to do, by heaven I will tear thee joint by
joint.” The nectar bird symbol therefore, signifies Romeo’s unstable emotional state.
In conclusion, the tattoo design has touched the most fundamental character traits that defined
Romeo, summing up his naturally volatile and impulsive nature in everything that he did,
whether in his expression of his love feelings, reacting to different situations and expressing his
anger, excitement or fears. The tattoo design has therefore brought out the symbolic picture of
Romeo’s persona, effectively using the different symbols and expressions to knit together his
broader character image.