Romeo and Juliet The tragic story that unfolds in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is known all over the world. Although Shakespeare was not a teenager when he wrote the story, he seems to have a good understanding of the adolescent brain, and how it is constantly growing and developing. Nowadays, there are many studies that have been done to find out how the teenage brain works, but Romeo and Juliet shows that Shakespeare was ahead of his time in his knowledge of how teenagers think and act. There are many examples within the play that show how Romeo and Juliet’s developing adolescent brains could have caused them to be more impulsive, have heightened emotions, and engage in more risky behavior. Romeo and Juliet’s actions in the play Romeo …show more content…
When Juliet drinks the vial given to her by Friar Lawrence, she does not know if it will work and just make her fall asleep, or if it has the possibility to make her never wake up again. Her venturesome behavior is clear when she says “What is it be a poison which the Friar subtly hath ministered to have me dead, lest in this marriage he should be dishonoured,”(4.3). Romeo takes a risk when he goes to the apothecary to get the poison that will end his life. This is dangerous, because both him and the apothecary could get in serious trouble for being in possession of the drug. After the apothecary sells Romeo the poison Romeo says “I sell thee poison, thou hast sold me none farewell, buy food, and get thyself in flesh”(5.1). Romeo is aware that he has put himself and the apothecary at risk by buying the poison, but he does not care, because he says that money is more of a poison. He is willing to take the risk of buying the poison if it will bring him to be with Juliet. In the article by NIMH it says that “Such a changing balance might provide clues to a youthful appetitive for novelty, and a tendency to act on impulse-without regard for risk.” Romeo and Juliet both acted on impulse and engaged in risky behavior and in the end it resulted in both of their
In the Ted Talk, “The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain” Sarah-Jayne Blakemore even said, “The limbic system, have been found to be hypersensitive to the feeling of risk taking in adolescents compared with adults,” (Doc A). This quote really explained how Romeo and Juliet's adolescent brains are the ones to blame. Their brains caused them to do all the unsafe things due to their hypersensitivity to risk. Another example of how their brains caused their deaths was when Helen Fisher stated that, “The brain system-the reward system for wanting, for motivation, for craving for focus-becomes more active when you can’t get what you want,” (Doc C). This quote does a good job explaining how Romeo and Juliet not being able to be together prompted their brains to crave it even more.
As Friar and Juliet are talking about a plan to be with Romeo he says, “I do spy a kind of hope, / Which craves as desperate an execution” (Shakespeare 4.1.68-69). Friar does have a plan for Juliet but only someone extremely desperate would do it. If he knows that it would take a desperate person to do it, he knows it is not a very good, well thought-out plan. Juliet is desperate and is willing to take risks to be with the love of her life. Before going through with the plan and taking the poison, Juliet says to herself, “What if this mixture do not work at all” (Shakespeare 4.3.21).
Romeo And Juliet Essay In the play Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet do not mature during the play. Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet continually make stupid and extreme decisions out of love instead of thinking rationally.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare explains that two different families which are enemy’s, cannot stop true love between Romeo and Juliet. The play is about two star crossed lovers, from different families that don’t like each other. Which later causes Romeo and Juliet to kill themselves in the end. Some of the modern theories of the teenage brain and the effects on behavior has shown a positive and negative growth. The bad thing about teenage brain is that it is under construction and it cause them to do dangerous things that can cause life or death.
Teenagers are unpredictable and emotional human equipped with an undeveloped brain full of hormones. Falling in love easily, doing dangerous things, and not preparing for the future, teenagers need to be taught the importance of responsible risk-taking. Two perfect examples of teenage actions and consequences are Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet’s behavior can be explained through the science of the teen brain and its development.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: An analyzation essay Communication of ideas has always been an important aspect of our society; it changes how we think, how we work, and what we do in life. One way we constantly communicate ideas about our society is through stories, read over and over again throughout history and passed down by families and culture. One of the most famous creators of such stories is William Shakespeare, the inventor of the first British play company and the creator of plays which have changed the course of theatrical history. One such outstanding play is The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Over the course of history, many people of all backgrounds have described Romeo and Juliet in many ways.
Similar to how the teenagers in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet make rash, ill advised decisions, modern day teenagers also make many impulsive and dangerous choices without really thinking. Throughout the entirety of Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, teenagers are portrayed as behaving hastily. There are many such examples of these being made, particularly by Romeo and Juliet themselves. One instance
First, Romeo acts on how he’s feeling at that moment. Then, Juliet is so self-conscious that she threatens to kill herself over a guy she barely knows and just met. Finally, they both take an irrational risk by going behind their parents backing by getting married, knowing the consequences. Adolescent brain development is explaining the way adolescents brains work and develop, “Romeo and Juliet” is just an example of how adolescent brain works and some of the things that it may
Romeo and Juliet, a tragic love play written by Shakespeare, circles two adolescents in lust, which some can say it can portray teenagers in real life. When watching or reading, it is common to see both Romeo and Juliet making shallow decisions, resulting to the end of their lives. Science can show the way human brains develop from the rear to the front, which can explain why teenagers are more prone to making illogical choices during this era. The outcome of Romeo and Juliet can be connected to the studies of the adolescent brain.
Even Juliet has multiple fears before she drinks the potion- she fears that the potion "which the friar Subtly hath ministered to have [her] dead" (4:3:25). Not only does Friar give a young girl such a powerful potion, but he makes very careless actions to make sure Romeo gets the letter that has a proper explanation of the plan he has come up with. Romeo being out of the loop, without a doubt, started the chain of events that led to the deaths of them
The characters Romeo and Juliet have faced many obstacles on their journey but none as grueling as their final loss of innocence. The final frontier of Romeo’s innocence begins in (Romeo and Juliet 5.1. 58_80). The lines start out with Romeo talking to the Apothecary about purchasing poison. Although the Apothecary deems it morally incorrect since buying and selling poison is illegal he gives in after Romeo convinces him that due to his poor financial situation he needs the 40 gold coins.
The Immaturity of Romeo and Juliet Immaturity can spread throughout things and people creating problems for the present and future. Similarly, Romeo and Juliet not only shows the development of love, but the loss of maturity that leads to tragedy. People develop maturity, but the amount of immaturity makes the process go backwards. From Romeo and Juliet’s fast evolving relationship to the hate between the two families, and the lack of thought in different characters is recurrent throughout the story. Therefore,the theme of Romeo and Juliet evolves around the idea of immaturity.
It is also yet another example of the impulsiveness of youth because Romeo didn't consider the danger he could get into at the party. One major example of the impulsiveness of youth in the play was when Romeo and Juliet got married (856-858) . They had only known each other for about 12 hours, and Juliet was only 14, too young for marriage in her dad’s opinion. Most older people of that time would know that marriage is a serious deal, but Romeo and Juliet treated it like a game because they were too young to know any better.
The impact of reckless decisions and the negative consequences are displayed many times throughout the novel. Harmful consequences occur from rash decisions that all characters in Romeo and Juliet make. William Shakespeare demonstrates how acting cautiously when making decisions is more suitable than being reckless.
Why do adolescents have a hard time understanding and interpreting things?Sarah Jayne Blakemore thesis on adolescents development sheds light on some of the decision making on romeo and juliet as characters certainly face unpredictable impulse control issues, self conscious and try to impress friends. Due to these situations 6 people died in the play “Romeo and juliet.” The characters in romeo and juliet have impulse control issues that cause them to make difficult decisions,that ultimately got them killed. Romeo killed paris just for getting in his way.