What is the nature of romanticism in Romeo and Juliet?

If romanticism means romantic love in this case, the nature of romance in Romeo and Juliet is twofold. It is both dark and light, dangerous and powerful. Romeo initially pines over Rosaline and laments the pains of love: “O brawling love! O loving hate!” Juliet echoes the closeness between love and hate after she realizes that Romeo is a Montague, her enemy: “My only love sprung from my only hate!”

Love can also be fickle...

If romanticism means romantic love in this case, the nature of romance in Romeo and Juliet is twofold. It is both dark and light, dangerous and powerful. Romeo initially pines over Rosaline and laments the pains of love: “O brawling love! O loving hate!” Juliet echoes the closeness between love and hate after she realizes that Romeo is a Montague, her enemy: “My only love sprung from my only hate!”

Love can also be fickle and shallow, as Friar Laurence points out when Romeo wants to marry Juliet:

Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.

The friar also observes the dangers of overwhelming passion: “These violent delights have violent ends.” Indeed, Romeo and Juliet undergo much suffering for their love and ultimately die.

Love is impatient and violent, but it can also be beautiful. Romeo and Juliet love each other before they realize that they should hate one another, which doesn’t make sense to them. Juliet points out that it is only Romeo’s name that is her enemy, thus her famous statement, “What's in a name? that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” She loves Romeo for who he is, in spite of his name.

Romeo also strives to make peace with the aggressive Tybalt for Juliet’s sake, telling Tybalt he loves him. Even the series of deaths that make up the tragedy lead to “a glooming peace.” The Capulets and Montagues reconcile because they realize that their feud led to Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths: “See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate, / That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.” It is love that finally breaks the cycle of violence--pure, ardent love.