Two fathers together, for the first time, wept for the deaths of their children as their grief-stricken faces shone in the dusty light inside the tomb. Pain seared equally through all hearts of the Capulets and Montagues, both distraught by the unexpected death of their beloved children. The star-crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, recklessly fall in love despite their families’ raging feud. The couple’s newlywed lustful attitudes get them both, and many others, wistfully killed in William Shakespeare's incredible 16th century play, Romeo and Juliet. Due to the brilliant script of the play many question who is truly to blame for these abominable deaths.
1. Shakespeare was truthful and accurate in the play Romeo and Juliet. During the time of the play, there was a bubonic plague. This plague was killing millions of people, destroying families, and causing there to be many fights amongst families of wealth. During the final Scene of the play Friar Lawrence caught the plague and he ended up not being able to transfer Romeo a message about the faked death of Juliet.
Have you ever wondered how life was like when schools were only for the privilege and Kings still ruled over cities. Well Romeo and Juliet tells of just that. In the story a man and a woman meet and instantly fall in love, but both of their families are in a fued which causes plenty of bloodshed and ultimately the death of the two lovers, now the question is who is to blame for the blood loss and tears shed for them? The first thing that came to mind was the feud between the two families.
One of the most asked questions about the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, is “Who is to blame for the untimely deaths of these young lovers?”. The play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is filled with very influential emotions. The tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet were brought about by many characters such as Lord Capulet, fate and a feud between two families. One of the most substantial characters in Romeo and Juliet is fate. There are many times where Shakespeare leads us to believe that fate is involved with the hapless deaths of Juliet and Romeo.
Even though fate and destiny bear some responsibility for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, the impact love had on their brains is to blame since it possessed them and made them take more risks. When Romeo and Juliet first fell in love with each other, their love possessed them, which influenced them to make the decisions that led to their deaths. For instance, in a TED Talk titled “The Brain in Love,” Helen Fisher explains how romantic love can cause one to lose their “sense of self” and not be able to “stop thinking about another human being” (Doc C). This describes how romantic love can possess one, causing them to make poor decisions they wouldn’t normally make.
Romeo and Juliet’s Juliet: How Being a Wealthy Teenage Girl Leads to a Reckless Lifestyle In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Juliet’s identity affects the actions and decisions she makes. Juliet is one of the members of the Capulet family which naturally makes her wealthy, even though she is only a young, teenage girl. These elements cause Juliet to make multiple rash decisions including marrying Romeo, sneaking behind her families’ back, and also faking her own death.
In modern day culture, women are rarely expected to get married at 14 and have children immediately. In The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the characters Esperanza and Juliet struggle to break these expectations. Shakespeare and Cisneros utilize tone to convey that one is only able to realize one’s true identity after defying the expectations of others. Juliet and Esperanza’s caretakers and cultures have expectations for them that they do not follow, leading to the realization of their identity.
In beautiful Verona, where our story takes place... A longstanding hatred between two families, Montague and Capulet, two unlucky children of their enemy families become lovers...and take their own lives. (prologue page 2) From Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. In Verona lays Juliet, a young lady age of 13, who is daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet. She is secretly married to Romeo, house of Montague and son of Lord and Lady Montague.
Adolescent brains and young love are the most to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, ultimately leading to their demise. Even though it may seem like the rivalry between the families was the leading cause of their death, it was rather a small piece to a cornucopia of issues for these star-crossed lovers. Identifying the ages of maturity levels in Romeo and Juliet is a significant element in the story that can help us understand important themes and morals of the story. Romeo and Juliet are still children, as stated by the drama. And children are generally incapable of viewing things from the perspectives of others.
Romeo and Juliet’s deaths are caused due to the scientific nature of love, and its ability to change someone as well as being young and reckless. Being in love can cause fully developed adults to forget who they are and what they stand for. As the author of Doc C states, “Romantic love is an obsession, it possesses you. You lose your sense of self.” (Doc C).
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Arthur Laurent’s West Side Story were both tragic, romantic, works. West Side Story was a close variation of the play Romeo and Juliet, but the author of West Side Story changed characteristics of Tony to differ from his Romeo and Juliet equivalent, Romeo. Tony became more of an introverted, optimistic, and innocent character. On the other hand, Romeo was outgoing, seemingly bipolar, and violent. These changes in character between Tony and Romeo altered the themes from societal expectations, fate over free will, and complicated families to societal expectations in the 1950’s, inevitability of fate, and gang rivalry due to racism.
Throughout the history of Shakespearen literature, Shakespeare tends to develop the characters in to a way that complements the story. For an example, in Macbeth, he shows the digression of the main character by an internal conflict residing from a mental condition, if he did not explain every detail of his thought process then the story would be bland and not a literature masterpiece. Another key example is the story of Romeo and Juliet, even though it is a romantic piece, he still assigns different personality traits to each character. Which makes them a key asset to how the story concludes and the theme the reader is left to discover. One of the biggest colliding character interactions is Benvolio and Tybalt.
Interpreting Juliet ’s quote, she talks as if she had already been willing to get married with him. However a few quotes back she was talking about whether she should trust Romeo. This shows her indecisive characteristic, which shows that she is untrustworthy. To add on, Juliet can be seen impatient and irrational when waiting for the nurse to bring news.
Author Stieg Larsson once wrote, “Impulsive actions led to trouble, and trouble could have unpleasant consequences.” In the play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, each characters have a flaw that are used against their circumstances. Very rarely does a character in this story thought about the consequences of their actions before they did something, resulting in devastating outcomes. Granted, the main characters of the story have a noticeable weakness that contributes to their tragic ends. Romeo and Juliet both have a fatal flaw of being too impulsive when it comes to love and decisions.
Tara Jahns Ms. Zita Szigeti Language and Literature Advanced 9 9th of March 2015 English Essay Summative Assessment of Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is such an interesting play because even now, five hundred years later we are still talking and learning about this play. It is so relatable till date because people fall in love now as Romeo and Juliet did, families fight, as the Montagues and Capulets did. We can relate to each character in some. Which is what makes this play so compelling and lets it live, five hundred years later. Romeo and Juliet is a tragic tale of two lovers, separated by an epic feud of their two houses (Romeo a Montague and Juliet a Capulet.)
