Final answer:
Romeo personifies death in Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' through various instances. By giving death human qualities, Romeo expresses his despair and accepts his doomed fate, enhancing the audience's emotional experience and deepening the themes of love and mortality.
Step-by-step explanation:
In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Romeo frequently personifies death, attributing human qualities to it and addressing death as if it were a person. One instance occurs when Romeo, upon learning of Juliet's apparent death, says in Act V, Scene I, 'Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight. Let's see for means - O mischief, thou art swift to enter in the thoughts of desperate men!'. Here, Romeo suggests that death is a partner he will join in the afterlife.
Another instance is found in Act V, Scene III, when Romeo stands over Juliet's body and says, 'O here Will I set up my everlasting rest, And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars From this world-wearied flesh.' He speaks of death as a restful place where he can finally be free from the 'inauspicious stars' or the unfortunate fate that has hounded him.
Finally, in his last moments in the tomb, Romeo says, 'Here's to my love! O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.' In these last words, he addresses death as if it were the ultimate cure administered by the 'true apothecary,' which will help him join Juliet in death.
Romeo personifies death to express his profound despair and acceptance of his fate. This trope serves as a dramatic device facilitating the audience's emotional engagement, and adds to the play's exploration of the themes of fate, love, and mortality.