Romeo and Juliet
Jared Motley
Mr. Kerr
Honors English I
February 20, 2015
The real reason why Romeo and Juliet ended the way it did.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare about two lovers that are ultimately led to their untimely deaths. There are multiple factors that lead to this unfortunate outcome. Romeo and Juliet’s fate is caused by bad decision making and could have turned out much better with better judgement of the situations.
As soon as more information about the main characters is given, it is easy to see that they are not going to make the best decisions. The most noticeable is Mercutio, who has a fiery temper and is made angry very easily. Right away, it seems that he would be the one that would make a decision that could ruin everything. Romeo is also extremely passionate, but he doesn’t seem as dangerous as Mercutio. He is more desperate for love and might rush into things too quickly, which is exactly what happens.
Romeo and Juliet fall in love as soon as they see each other. They immediately start talking and kissing, even though they are still complete strangers. At this point they do not even know each other, or more importantly, each other’s names. They barely even talk before they decide they love each other and kiss. Their first meeting only lasts for a few minutes and none of this is spent learning about each other’s personality or background. On top of this, they are both coming to the party depressed, upset, and desperate since Romeo has just found out that Rosaline cannot be with him due to her becoming a nun, and Juliet is fighting against marrying Paris.
Romeo and Juliet get married the very next day after they meet. At this point, they are fully aware that they are from feuding houses. This is a bad decision for anybody to marry this soon, but especially in Romeo and Juliet’s case. They have only spoken to each other a few times now and they are already think that they are perfect for each other. The few times that they have talked to each other were all in secret since they don’t want anyone to find out and break them apart. Almost nobody knows about their relationship and the people who do are telling them that it is a bad idea. Instead of taking their advice, they decide that they want to be together for life, and get married. Now they have not even known each other for a full day and they have already completely devoted themselves to each other.
Everything is moving way too fast. Starting even before Romeo and Juliet meet, there is foreshadowing in a quote by Romeo that sums up the rest of the play.
I fear, too early; for my mind misgives
Some consequence, 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.
But he that hath the steerage of my course
Direct my sail! On, lusty gentlemen!
(I.v.115-121)
In this short passage, Shakespeare shows that Romeo thinks that he is moving on from Rosaline too soon and he feels that something terrible will come from it. From the moment Romeo and Juliet meet they are trying to make everything happen before it should. The entire play’s timeline from start to finish takes place in less than a week. As soon as they first see each other, they started kissing and are instantly completely obsessed with each other. They are forced to part after only a short while at the party but Romeo runs back that night to spend more time with Juliet and to propose marriage. Romeo then goes straight to Friar Laurence to ask if he will marry them. The friar gives Romeo about the same warning that the nurse gave to Juliet, which is that they are moving things along too quickly and that they should not fall in love with someone from an enemy house anyway. Just like Juliet, Romeo completely ignores the advice and proceeds with his plan.
Shakespeare’s use of figurative language really helps show exactly how everyone feels about each other. When Romeo and Juliet are expressing their love for one another, they are nearly always using some type of figurative language. This shows their strong love for one another but it also shows just how fast everything has been going. They already feel so incredibly in love with each other after such a short period of time.
Mercutio and Romeo fight Tybalt. This happens very soon after Romeo and Juliet’s wedding. In the first scene of the play, the prince says that any Montagues and Capulets found fighting will be given the death penalty. This alone should be enough to keep any of them from fighting. However, when Tybalt insults Romeo and Mercutio in the street, Mercutio loses his temper and draws his sword on Tybalt. They then engage in a fight that leads to Mercutio’s death. Romeo, instead of stopping now and letting Tybalt face the law for his crimes, fights and kills Tybalt to avenge Mercutio. Now, Romeo loses his chances of ever being able to tell others about his marriage and has to flee immediately to try to escape his punishment, which ends up being a banishment instead of death. Now he has gotten himself into a situation where he may never be able to see Juliet again.
Juliet takes a potion that puts her in a death-like state. Juliet has heard all that has happened recently and is extremely shaken. She has just found out that her husband has killed her cousin and he is now banished from Verona. Also, her father has set up plans for her to marry Paris. She immediately gets desperate and goes to Friar Laurence for a solution. He gives her a potion that will trick everybody into thinking that she is dead so the wedding with Paris can be canceled and Romeo can take her to live with him. However, the Friar’s plan has problems, the first of which is what causes Romeo’s death. This is the fact that there is only one chance for Romeo to find out the entire plan and this is Friar John that goes to tell him. Unfortunately, Friar John was not able to get to Romeo and the whole plan was ruined. Instead of Romeo going to the Capulet’s grave to rescue Juliet, he is going so he can die with Juliet. The plan was too hastily thought out and reckless and there surely could have been a safer option.
Romeo and Juliet are completely devoted to each other and ready to die for one another. If Romeo wasn’t so quick to kill himself and be with Juliet, everything could have still worked out decently. After Romeo makes his way into the tomb where Juliet lays, he drinks the poison right away. He doesn’t take any time to do anything to Juliet’s body or even make sure that she is completely dead before he kills himself. This then leads to Juliet’s own suicide when she awakes minutes or possibly even seconds later and sees Romeo’s lifeless body. This also goes along with the characters rushing into things too quickly.
The biggest fault of the characters in Romeo and Juliet was making things happen too quickly. If they took more time to try to work things out instead of doing everything in secret, and just making better decisions in general, everything would have turned out much differently.
Mr. Kerr
Honors English I
February 20, 2015
The real reason why Romeo and Juliet ended the way it did.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare about two lovers that are ultimately led to their untimely deaths. There are multiple factors that lead to this unfortunate outcome. Romeo and Juliet’s fate is caused by bad decision making and could have turned out much better with better judgement of the situations.
As soon as more information about the main characters is given, it is easy to see that they are not going to make the best decisions. The most noticeable is Mercutio, who has a fiery temper and is made angry very easily. Right away, it seems that he would be the one that would make a decision that could ruin everything. Romeo is also extremely passionate, but he doesn’t seem as dangerous as Mercutio. He is more desperate for love and might rush into things too quickly, which is exactly what happens.
Romeo and Juliet fall in love as soon as they see each other. They immediately start talking and kissing, even though they are still complete strangers. At this point they do not even know each other, or more importantly, each other’s names. They barely even talk before they decide they love each other and kiss. Their first meeting only lasts for a few minutes and none of this is spent learning about each other’s personality or background. On top of this, they are both coming to the party depressed, upset, and desperate since Romeo has just found out that Rosaline cannot be with him due to her becoming a nun, and Juliet is fighting against marrying Paris.
Romeo and Juliet get married the very next day after they meet. At this point, they are fully aware that they are from feuding houses. This is a bad decision for anybody to marry this soon, but especially in Romeo and Juliet’s case. They have only spoken to each other a few times now and they are already think that they are perfect for each other. The few times that they have talked to each other were all in secret since they don’t want anyone to find out and break them apart. Almost nobody knows about their relationship and the people who do are telling them that it is a bad idea. Instead of taking their advice, they decide that they want to be together for life, and get married. Now they have not even known each other for a full day and they have already completely devoted themselves to each other.
Everything is moving way too fast. Starting even before Romeo and Juliet meet, there is foreshadowing in a quote by Romeo that sums up the rest of the play.
I fear, too early; for my mind misgives
Some consequence, 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.
But he that hath the steerage of my course
Direct my sail! On, lusty gentlemen!
(I.v.115-121)
In this short passage, Shakespeare shows that Romeo thinks that he is moving on from Rosaline too soon and he feels that something terrible will come from it. From the moment Romeo and Juliet meet they are trying to make everything happen before it should. The entire play’s timeline from start to finish takes place in less than a week. As soon as they first see each other, they started kissing and are instantly completely obsessed with each other. They are forced to part after only a short while at the party but Romeo runs back that night to spend more time with Juliet and to propose marriage. Romeo then goes straight to Friar Laurence to ask if he will marry them. The friar gives Romeo about the same warning that the nurse gave to Juliet, which is that they are moving things along too quickly and that they should not fall in love with someone from an enemy house anyway. Just like Juliet, Romeo completely ignores the advice and proceeds with his plan.
Shakespeare’s use of figurative language really helps show exactly how everyone feels about each other. When Romeo and Juliet are expressing their love for one another, they are nearly always using some type of figurative language. This shows their strong love for one another but it also shows just how fast everything has been going. They already feel so incredibly in love with each other after such a short period of time.
Mercutio and Romeo fight Tybalt. This happens very soon after Romeo and Juliet’s wedding. In the first scene of the play, the prince says that any Montagues and Capulets found fighting will be given the death penalty. This alone should be enough to keep any of them from fighting. However, when Tybalt insults Romeo and Mercutio in the street, Mercutio loses his temper and draws his sword on Tybalt. They then engage in a fight that leads to Mercutio’s death. Romeo, instead of stopping now and letting Tybalt face the law for his crimes, fights and kills Tybalt to avenge Mercutio. Now, Romeo loses his chances of ever being able to tell others about his marriage and has to flee immediately to try to escape his punishment, which ends up being a banishment instead of death. Now he has gotten himself into a situation where he may never be able to see Juliet again.
Juliet takes a potion that puts her in a death-like state. Juliet has heard all that has happened recently and is extremely shaken. She has just found out that her husband has killed her cousin and he is now banished from Verona. Also, her father has set up plans for her to marry Paris. She immediately gets desperate and goes to Friar Laurence for a solution. He gives her a potion that will trick everybody into thinking that she is dead so the wedding with Paris can be canceled and Romeo can take her to live with him. However, the Friar’s plan has problems, the first of which is what causes Romeo’s death. This is the fact that there is only one chance for Romeo to find out the entire plan and this is Friar John that goes to tell him. Unfortunately, Friar John was not able to get to Romeo and the whole plan was ruined. Instead of Romeo going to the Capulet’s grave to rescue Juliet, he is going so he can die with Juliet. The plan was too hastily thought out and reckless and there surely could have been a safer option.
Romeo and Juliet are completely devoted to each other and ready to die for one another. If Romeo wasn’t so quick to kill himself and be with Juliet, everything could have still worked out decently. After Romeo makes his way into the tomb where Juliet lays, he drinks the poison right away. He doesn’t take any time to do anything to Juliet’s body or even make sure that she is completely dead before he kills himself. This then leads to Juliet’s own suicide when she awakes minutes or possibly even seconds later and sees Romeo’s lifeless body. This also goes along with the characters rushing into things too quickly.
The biggest fault of the characters in Romeo and Juliet was making things happen too quickly. If they took more time to try to work things out instead of doing everything in secret, and just making better decisions in general, everything would have turned out much differently.