Suffering In Romeo And Juliet

Suffering is an innate part of the human condition. Despite age, race, gender, and social standing everyone experiences the trauma. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, some characters such as Romeo and Tybalt serve as instruments of suffering for others. Among the many characters in this story two stand out, Tybalt Capulet and Romeo Montague. Tybalt is a hot-tempered Capulet who is known for his hatred toward the Montagues. Romeo is known as relatively calm but lets his emotions run wild. While these two characters are vastly different, one thing stays the same. They both play into the theme that people are the biggest cause of their own suffering.

In Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt’s actions contribute to the theme that people are the biggest cause of their own suffering. An example of this is his behavior which can be seen in the quote “Romeo the love I bear thee can afford No better term than this: thou art a villain”. Tybalt is calling Romeo (a person who has done nothing wrong) a villain. The second example causes misfortune to spiral out of control. Tybalt decides to fight Mercutio. During their quarrel, Tybalt ends up killing him. The death of

Romeo allows his emotions to guide him down a destructive path toward others and himself. This is shown in his fight with Tybalt, which leads to his exile from Verona. As a result of exile, Romeo became depressed and said things like "Ha Banishment! Be merciful, say death. For exile hath more terror in his look." This quote demonstrates my theme. Romeo's own actions have made him plead for death instead of living in exile. Romeo's emotions led him to make decisions that while negative for others, hurt him as well. His exile from Verona was the result of his own impulsive behavior, and it caused him immense pain. This illustrates how Romeo is an example of the theme that people are the biggest cause of their own