My Favorite Character in Romeo and Juliet: Benvolio

     My favorite character from Romeo and Juliet is Benvolio. He is from the Montague. He is Romeo’s cousin and good friend to Romeo. Literaly, Benvolio means “good will”. His role in this play is very significant. His important role makes me pay my respect to him because he has many skills and good personality.

Benvolio’s skills are peacemaker and problem solver. The first, he is peacemaker. In the first play, Benvolio tries to break up the fight between the servants of the Montague and the Capulet. “Part, fools! Put up your swords. You know not what you do” (A1. S1, L54-55). This line shows his first character that he appears as the peacemaker. The second, he is problem solver. Once, Benvolio advises Romeo when he was sad because his love to Rosaline unrequited. He said “Be ruled by me, forget to think of her” / “By giving liberty unto thine eyes; examine other beauties” (A1. S1, L216-218).  Benvolio gives this advise to Romeo to help him take his mind off the problem and to make his feelings better again.

Benvolio’s great personality is honest. His honesty can be seen after the fight between the servants of the Montague and the Capulet. “Here were the servants of your adversary, and yours, close fighting ere I did approach. I drew to part them. (…) till the Prince came, who parted either part” (A1. S1, L96-105). Here, he shows his honesty to the Montague that when he explains the information of the fight between their servants, he tells it without biased. Again, in the same situation, there is another fight. This fight is between Mercution and Tybalt. Eventually, the fight leads to the death of Mercutio (Romeo’s friend). His death causes Romeo to kill Tybalt. Then, he describes this fight to the Prince, “Tybalt here slain, whom Romeo’s hand did slay (…) / This is the truth or let Benvolio die” (A3. S1. L114-137). By his frankness, the Prince changes Romeo's punishment to banishment. If were not, Romeo would be sentenced to death.

In short, Benvolio is an important character in Romeo and Juliet. His scenes and speeches lead the action of the play in significant ways. In every conflict situation, he always takes it peacefully. He is also widely known for his honesty. That is why Benvolio is my favorite character in Romeo and Juliet. I feel like I have the same personality with his characters and it should be an example for people nowadays to avoid all the conflicts, and be a peace and honest person.

REFERENCES

Aranitasi, Mimoza. 2017. “Benvolio: An Honest Peacekeeper”. Source: https://medium.com/@mimozas1176/benvolio-an-honest-peacekeeper-188546 a6994d. Accessed: 20 Mei 2018 at 20:00

Romans, Jule. 2018. “Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet”. Source: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Benvolio-in-Romeo-and-Juliet. Accessed: 20 Mei 2018 at 20:30.