Character Characters and Parenting in Romeo and Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet many decisions are made through their nature and how they were raised, these are what made the story until the tragic end. Romeo and Juliet was written and directed by William Shakespeare in the late 1500’s, and is about the characters Romeo and Juliet and: how their families are enemies, how their love is forbidden, how their ideas are produced, and how their lives are ended. The nature of the characters and how they were raised in Romeo and Juliet largely affected the story because they influenced characters decisions, and without their unique decisions the entire story would be entirely different.

In the text Romeo and Juliet, the characters are raised or nurtured by a feud which influences their decisions making the story entirely what it is. In the text, a character named Tybalt wants to fight Romeo and kills another character named Mercutio, angering Romeo causing him to kill Tybalt. Tybalt decided to fight Romeo because of the feud causing the entire rest of the story to be what it is and without this fight the story and its tragic ending would be different. And without the characters being raised by a feud no one would have been killed, which would thereby not cause the events later in the story.

Also, a character named Friar Lawrence agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet together to try and end the feud they were raised with even though the Friar knew Romeo was just in love with Rosaline. Likely the only reason Romeo and Juliet were married was because of the feud they were raised with. Without being raised by the feud Tybalt and Mercutio would not have been killed and Romeo and Juliet may not have been married causing the entire story to be different. So, without the feud the story would be different and even then, that is not the only thing that would change the story completely.

Not only that but in the story Romeo and Juliet also “fall in love” however it might just be the nature of their teenage brains’ quick decision making that causes this and the story to be what it is. In an article called “Developing Brain Connections make Teenagers Impatient and Impulsive” it says,” There are numerous studies showing impulsivity in adolescents and this often results in them partaking in high-risk behavior”(Hannah Osborne). This shows that it is in a teenager’s nature to make decisions on the spot like when Romeo and Juliet decided to get married; which made the story what it is.

Also, Romeo’s decision to kill Tybalt after Tybalt killed Mercutio is another example of this because his decision was impulsive and instead waiting for Tybalt to get punished, Romeo decides to kill him the next time he sees Tybalt; prompting the rest of the text to happen. In Romeo and Juliet Friar Lawrence thinks that their decision to marry was too quick and that this was because of their young minds. This means that he thinks they are getting married impatiently and that the nature of teenagers causes them to be irrational and impulsive. What these details show is that their decisions are made because the nature of teenagers and their brains. Them having made the decisions because of this causes the story to happen as it does.

Also, in the story the characters were raised differently because of their gender causing them to take different actions then they would if were not. In the text Romeo was raised with more freedoms than Juliet because he is a male, and that greatly effects his decisions in the story. Romeo did not kill himself after he got banished because the Friar said that it would be womanly to do it and that there was still a chance of Romeo being with Juliet. This means that if Romeo was not raised with the thought of having to be a man then the play would have ended right there before its more tragic ending.

Also, Juliet was forced to marry Paris, another character, because women were raised to have to listen to their fathers and their husbands. If this was not the nature in which things were done the whole fake death potion would not be needed and therefore the story would be changed. All of this shows that if the characters were not given gender roles and raised with them the story would be different. So, if none of these examples were a thing then the entire story would be completely changed from the one it is now.

Lastly, Romeo and Juliet were raised by parents with two different parenting styles which upaffects the decisions they made because of their parents. In the play Juliet’s parents are most likely uninvolved or authoritarian parents since her mother didn’t know how to speak with her well and her dad almost disowned her for not listening. Throughout the text Juliet’s parents do not really know how to speak with her and constantly need Nurse there to help them with Juliet. This adds up later in the play when she tries to refuse to follow their wishes to marry Paris; which then finally ends up causing her to go to Friar Lawrence.

Romeo’s parents are most likely permissive parents because they are not really seen through the text except at the beginning of the play when they were worrying where he was. This gives Romeo more freedom over himself and eventually causes him to bump into Juliet because they really did not set any rules for him.

What that does is it puts less obstacles in Romeo’s decision-making process in marrying Juliet. This all effectively leads to the story that is known, loved and criticized by many.

Some people might say that Romeo and Juliet made these decisions because they were in true love, however this is not the case. In the text Romeo and Juliet Friar Lawrence says that young minds change quickly meaning that he doesn’t think they are in love and it is just the nature of their brains to think that. This means that because of their youth the way their brain works naturally is not rational in its decisions. Though they do seem in love the truth is that they only seem like that because the nature of their brains.

In the text only the Id of Romeo and Juliet is apparent meaning the reality of the situation isn’t considered so they do not think of what they really want. Since Romeo wants love from someone when he sees Juliet his Id is prompted forward without his Ego, making this more of a repression for Rosaline. What these show is that the nature of their brains was causing them to make decisions impulsively making the story what is. Without their brain’s impulsive decisions Romeo and Juliet would be a completely different story. Without their brain’s impulsive decisions Romeo and Juliet would be a completely different story.

Overall the story and plot of Romeo and Juliet was made by the character’s nature and how they were raised into who they are. This is effectively shown by that without being raised on a feud, without the nature of their brains, without them being raised by gender roles, and without the type of parents they had the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet would be different. Many stories and references come from Romeo and Juliet and without the story being exactly as it is the world would change.

Cite this page