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Charlotte Wakefield

Meyer

English I

15 January 2020

Does Romeo have Bipolar Disorder?

Have you ever considered that a fictional character could deal with a personality or

psychological disorder? Bipolar disorder, commonly known as manic depression, is a personality

disorder in which a person has episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic

highs. (Purse). Romeo is a young man who is intelligent, handsome, and emotional towards a

young girl, Juliet. His love relationships can get tangled up in his emotions often. After meeting

and believing that Juliet should be the girl to marry, he figures out that he is in the midst of a

feud between his family, the Montagues, and his lover’s family, the Capulets. Throughout the

play, he shows signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder based on how he reacts to events that

occur in the play.

Romeo is a victim of bipolar disorder based on his range of emotions that occur in a short

period of time, and the symptoms he portrays. In Act I, Scene I, Romeo says “... This love that

thou hast shown, Doth add more grief to too much of mine own, Love is a smoke made with

fumes of sighs; Being vexed, a sea nourished with loving tears…, Tet, I have lost myself. I am

not here. This is not Romeo. He’s some other where.” (Shakespeare 23). Romeo expresses his

feelings of feeling empty inside with love for Benvolio. He talks about how love can be such a

beautiful thing, but how love can also hurt many people's hearts. Romeo is upset that Rosaline

cannot marry him which leaves him feeling very sad. At this point in the play, Romeo doesn’t
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know what he’ll do or where his heart is set at. This is an example of the symptom of sadness

that Romeo expresses in the play. In Act II, Scene II, Romeo begins talking to Juliet to discuss

ideas of becoming married and says, “I know not how to tell thee who I am. My name, dear

saint, is hateful to myself, Because it is an enemy to thee. Had I it written, I would tear the

word.” (Shakespeare 73). He knew that he went to a Capulet party, but didn’t expect Juliet to be

the daughter of Lord Capulet. He expresses how he wishes there wasn’t such a large family feud

between the Montagues and the Capulets. This makes Romeo sad once again from having his

true love dreams crushed because of something he cannot control. During the play, Romeo

expresses prolonged sadness/ depression when he finds out that he cannot be married to the

people he loves the most.

Romeo shows symptoms of bipolar disorder including sudden happiness and delusions.

(Purse). In Act I, Scene V, Romeo takes Juliet’s hand at the Capulet’s party and says, “If I

profane with my unworthiest hand, This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two lushing

pilgrims, ready stand, To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.” (Shakespeare 57). Romeo

completely forgets about his sadness with Rosaline and immediately moves on to Juliet at the

party. Romeo is introducing himself to Juliet and offering his love in marriage. He wants to

dance with Juliet and says how his lips are ready to kiss her. At this moment, Romeo is no longer

sad because of Rosaline, but happy to feel like he found his true love and has a great chance at

marriage. In Act II, Scene III, Romeo goes to Friar Lawrence to discuss wanting to plan a

wedding for Juliet and him. Romeo expresses his feelings towards Juliet saying, “ Then plainly

know my heart's dear lover is set on the fair daughter of rich Capulet, As mine on hers, so her is

set on mine,” (Shakespeare 87). Romeo is no longer sad about his relationship with Rosaline and
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moves on from her once he meets Juliet at the party. Knowing that Juliet is a Capulet, which is a

family feud, he decided to marry Juliet even though they have only met at the party. He believes

he has found true love and goes to Friar Lawrence to plan a wedding, despite what goes into the

family feud. Romeo is so happy that he makes a decision that will alter how he interacts with

Juliet. He explains how much he loves Juliet to the Friar so that he will believe that this is the

decision (maybe not the smartest) that Romeo wants to make. Before the party, Romeo had given

up on love, but suddenly he believes that he can get married to Juliet, daughter of Lord Capulet.

In conclusion, based on Romeo’s mood swings ranging from depression, and happiness, with

delusions. Romeo shows symptoms of bipolar disorder through the play.

Despite the evidence demonstrating Romeo having bipolar disorder, many people

believe Romeo suffers from depression, but they fail to see that Romeo is only sad when he is

separated from Juliet and not the moments where he has delusions of Juliet. Those who believe

that Romeo is always sad to think of when he is happy when he is with Juliet or how he

completely moves on from Rosaline to Juliet. Depression can easily be diagnosed with signs of

symptoms including a persistent feeling of sadness or loneliness, thoughts of death or suicide,

and difficulties with attention. (Grohol). In Act I, Scene I, Romeo says “ She hath, and in that

sparing makes huge waste, For beauty, starved with her severity, Cuts beauty off from all

posterity. She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair, To merit bliss by making me despair. She hath

forsworn to love, and in that vow, Do I live dead that live to tell it now.” (Shakespeare 25).

Romeo tells Benvolio how he is sad that Rosaline hasn’t returned with his love. He tells

Benvolio that Rosaline has decided to become a nun, thus not allowing her to marry any kind of

lover, as it is a sin. This leaves Romeo feeling helpless towards the idea of love and very upset.
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Romeo shows feelings of sadness and loneliness during this part of the play. In Act II, Scene II, “

She speaks. O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art, As glorious to this night, being o’er my

head, As is a wingèd messenger of heaven, Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes, Of

mortals that fall back to gaze on him, When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds, And sails upon

the bosom of the air.” (Shakespeare 71). Romeo is confessing his love to Juliet, telling her how

beautiful she is comparing her to an angel. This is a prime example of how Romeo’s emotions

swing from sadness and helplessness to happiness and delusions of marrying Juliet despite

knowing that she is a Capulet. This shows how Romeo experiences sudden mood swings from

manic highs to depressing lows. He completely forgets about his sadness with Rosaline and

moves on to considering marriage to Juliet. Although aspects of this argument are enticing, it

ultimately fails to be a stronger argument because Romeo does in fact show that he is sad, but

bipolar disorder shows him when he is sad, but also when he is full of life and when he marries

Juliet and he has delusions towards her. Romeo is sad when he finds out that he cannot marry

Rosaline, which does show his prolonged sadness. However, Romeo gets happy when he meets

Juliet at the Capulet’s party and immediately plans on marrying her. He is not sad at the moment.

In conclusion, Romeo does not have depression because he is only actually sad when he is

separated from the love of his life, Juliet.

Romeo has been affected by bipolar disorder as he experiences many changes in

emotions ranging from depression to happiness frequently as the plot unfolds. This diagnosis is

important to see because many other characters that are found in books about also live with a

personality or psychological disorders and it is important that people recognize these disorders in

order to see how the disorder affects them personally as a character. Romeo's character is built
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upon bipolar disorder as it makes him who he is. Have you ever considered that many other

characters that you read about may have other disorders that affect the way they behave and

think? How could these disorders affect the outcomes of the plot?
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Works Cited

“Depression Symptoms & Types.” ​WebMD​, WebMD,

www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-symptoms-and-types.

Grohol, John M. “Bipolar Disorder: Symptoms, Types & Treatments.” ​Psych Central,​ 19

June 2019, psychcentral.com/bipolar/.

Library, Folger Shakespeare, and Michael Witmore. “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet .”

Romeo and Juliet,​ Folger Shakespeare Library,

www.folgerdigitaltexts.org/html/Rom.html.

Purse, Marcia. “These Are the Most Common Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder.” ​Verywell

Mind​, Verywell Mind, 2 Aug. 2019,

www.verywellmind.com/bipolar-disorder-symptoms-and-diagnosis-379962.