Romeo and Juliet was written in 1594, years after the tragic plays were performed in Greece in the late 6th century. A lot of the earliest tragedies came from Greece, their plays were based on Greek mythology and only had one actor with a speaking part. Tragedies are horrible events that cause a lot of […]
Family dynamics are an often cause of teenage behaviors, but in Romeo and Juliet, this occurrence is taken to a new extreme. In the tragedy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the main characters made poor decisions, leading them to their doom. Their parents being the main reasons for this drastic turn of events, and […]
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Get startedPeople every day hide their true self from society to be like everyone else. In the 1600s all people wanted, was to get married and have kids. In Romeo and Juliet, there are several instances when characters are pushed to act a certain way. People during Shakespeare’s time had to cover up their true identity […]
Romeo and Juliet: possibly the most popular play in the world, but many people overlook the true cause of Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. Looking into the story’s plot, two teenagers meet and fall in love. However, due to their families’ rivalry, Romeo and Juliet get driven into suicide. There are many factors in their deaths, […]
Love is deadly if misused. In the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet faced many trials in their growing patience with love, however in the end, love killed them due to their poor decision making. Parenting styles and the teenage brain affected Romeo and Juliet’s decision making altering a reader’s perspective on how […]
We cannot alter our destiny, it cannot be shaped, we can only learn to accept it…or so they say. What is fate really? Can we control it? Does fate determine our lives? Fate is a supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events, beyond human control. The idea that that you can’t avoid what happens […]
Romeo and Juliet is known worldwide as a tragic love story between two star-crossed lovers which ends in impulsive suicide out of pure love, but many don’t know that these deaths were purposefully orchestrated by an unmasked killer. Throughout the story the reader falls in love with Romeo and Juliet, two teens in desperate love, […]
Romeo and Juliet is one of the plays that has been extensively watched and reenacted across the world. Perhaps it is one of the most adored plays fall time, and much of the attention that the play has received is linked to the impact that it has had on the lives of many audiences. It […]
“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear; Beauty too rich for sure, for earth too dear!”(Shakespeare Act 1 Sc.5) Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, chronicles the life of two fictional characters known as Romeo and […]
At the point when Tybalt murders Mercutio, Romeo quickly turns towards Tybalt and pronounces, ‘Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.'(3.1.27). In this statement, Romeo is revealing to Tybalt that he will either slaughter him, himself, or the them two for Mercutio. Romeo at that point continues to murder Tybalt without thinking […]
Until the 1900s women were forced to be of ownership to men, and men were to only work and marry, this seems insane to us now, but this was norm back then and it affected many teens in the process, including Romeo and Juliet. Women and men in the 1600s had extremely high expectations set. […]
In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet he utilizes the sonnet form to tell the story of two star crossed lovers while challenging and defining different concepts of love. The manipulation of the sonnet highlights the deeper meanings hidden within the work by romanticizing his questioning of love. Shakespeare’s cast of characters personify various viewpoints […]
Romeo and Juliet, were raised to loathe each other, but could not because of either their love for each other or because of their need to rebel. The way Romeo was raised, was not normal in any way. Juliet was raised not ideally, which could have led her to take the actions that she did. […]
Play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, tells the story of two-star-crossed lovers whose love causes many fatalities including their own. Romeo and Juliet come from the houses of Capulet and Montague; these two houses clash violently. Many die as a result of a conflict between the two houses. The two attempt to be […]
Shakespeare is effortlessly one of the finest British writers of all time. Many of his works are focused on life, love, death, revenge, mystery, and tragedy, and after almost four-hundred years since his death, they are still celebrated all around the world. Specially Romeo and Juliet, which between tragedy and comedy, the transition is often […]
In Romeo and Juliet’s times sexism was popular, leading them to a senseless and corrupt society. Romeo and Juliet lived in Verona during the Italian Renaissance. This time was full of trends that left people in the twentieth century scratching their head. Their civilization had very strict gender roles. Gender was a deciding factor in […]
In many noteworthy pieces of classic literature, teenage characters are often portrayed in archetypal themes, which are perceptions of life that are shared among a variety of diverse cultures. A renowned example of an archetypal-themed play is The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, first written and performed in the 1590s during Queen […]
Love at first sight: an idea that many wish for, however it can lead to or have unforeseen consequences, like those presented in Rome and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare telling the story of two children who have fallen in love. The story, surprisingly, ends in a tragedy with […]
a tragic love story between two protagonists that come from different families. Romeo and Juliet met at a banquet and immediately fell in love, wanting to get married after knowing one another for less than a day, which led to their demise, and that of many others. Friar Laurence is the cause of Romeo’s death, […]
There have been many great writers throughout time, but none can compare to the wise-minded and classical writer, William Shakespeare. He is highly regarded to be one of the greatest poets in history. No other writers works have been reprinted as many times as his. His plays have been made into movies, reenactments, and even […]
Romeo and Juliet’s parents and society caused their deaths. In Romeo and Juliet two teenagers from families with long-standing bad blood fall in love. Through brief interactions and meetings without their parents’ approval, they strengthen their relationship and dedicate themselves to one another. In a frenzy of impulsive decisions, the teens get married and die […]
“My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy.” (1.5.137-140) Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy and romance of a forbidden young love between a Montague and a Capulet, written by William Shakespeare. […]
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 […]
If parents are too strict with raising children, they may become more rebellious than if the parents were laid back. This is seen in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in which, because of their strict parents, Romeo and Juliet end up dead because of forbidden love. Romeo and Juliet would live longer if they were raised […]
As we can see In The Odyssey by Homer and in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare even though men are supposed to be the ones in control it seems that these authors wanted the women to be also empowered rather than the just the men. Penelope and Juliet play significant roles and help guide the […]
West Side Story is a 1961 film adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical, which is a modern (for the time) retelling of Romeo and Juliet, in which the feud between the Capulets and Montagues is replaced with a feud between two rival gangs, the white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. The song “America” sung […]
This is me, ten years later. Now this blog isn’t going to be about that David Copperfield kind of crap, because I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. This is about what I have done for the past ten years of my life. After I wrote a book […]
The classic quote, “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;” is from the famous Shakespearian play “Romeo and Juliet” connecting the couple’s devastating conclusion to their destiny (Shakespeare Prologue 5-8). This Shakespearian play is a tale of a longstanding family feud along with forbidden, unabiding […]
“Think before you act” is a common phrase told to youth in today’s society. Impulsively deciding on an option before thinking about the consequences of choosing it is a bad thing to do. Over the course of time, many myths and stories have been created to show this piece of advice. Notably, stories of mythology and stories from the bible show how not thinking before acting can come back and badly hurt someone. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s theme that young lovers, and ultimately all youth, are often impulsive and make illogical decisions that end up hurting them is supported with allusions to Roman mythology and Christianity.
First, Shakespeare uses allusions to the Roman goddess Fortune and Phoebus’ son, Phaeton. The Roman goddess Fortune is the goddess of good and bad luck. Immediately after Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo feels he should have been able to stop their fight, though he feels his love for Juliet has made him weak. He acts out of impulse and goes back to fight Tybalt, and kills him. Romeo, realizing what he has done, says “O, I am Fortune’s fool” (III.i.142). The allusion to Fortune is how Romeo expresses how much bad luck he has gotten, which shows how he would be Fortune’s fool. Romeo kills Tybalt out of impulse, without thinking of what could happen to him or remembering that he would be killed if he fought. He could have avoided making the quick decision, but his actions without thinking have put him in a tough situation. He must leave Verona, which is what ends up causing the untimely death of both himself and Juliet.
Therefore, his decision ended up hurting him greatly, and if he had thought about what he was doing before he killed Tybalt, he would have most certainly ended up with a different fate. The bad luck Romeo receives from Fortune is a direct consequence for his impulsivity that ends up hurting him largely. Another allusion Shakespeare uses is to the god Phoebus and his son Phaeton. Phoebus is the sun god in Roman mythology, and every day he would drive the sun across the sky in his chariot. His son Phaeton desperately wants to drive the chariot, but his father would not let him. Phaeton wants this so bad that he goes behind his father’s back, and drives the chariot.
He loses control of it and the chariot whips all around, with Phaeton dying. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is waiting for the night to come so the nurse can bring her news from Romeo. While she is waiting for the night to come, she alludes to Phoebus and says “such a wagoner/as Phaeton would whip you to the west/ and bring in cloudy night immediately”(III.ii.2-4). The comparison to Phaeton losing control of the chariot conveys how badly Juliet wanted to see Romeo, with him being the only thing she cares about.
Phaeton never thought of the consequences of his quick actions, much like Juliet. Her impulse to see Romeo causes her to make bad decisions, shown many times throughout the play. When her parents turn on her, Juliet runs impetuously to Friar Lawrence and gets a sleeping potion because she will do whatever possible to see Romeo. She never really thinks about how it could affect Romeo, as he ends up killing himself because he thought she was dead. Again, Juliet’s impulsive decisions, personified by Phaeton, are made out of her love for Romeo and end up hurting her and also Romeo and others, which supports Shakespeare’s theme that young lovers are impulsive and make decisions that end up hurting them.
Also, Shakespeare supports his theme by using allusions to Christianity which include baptism and worshipping God. On the first night Romeo sees Juliet at the Capulet’s party, he jumps the wall and speaks to her from under her balcony. Juliet is upset that Romeo is from her enemy family, and Romeo tells her to “call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized/Henceforth I never will be Romeo” (II.ii.54-55). In Christianity, baptism is usually done on young children and accompanies a “new life” and also naming (Source 2). On the first night Romeo meets Juliet, he is spontaneously willing to throw away his family name, as well as his old love Rosaline, for Juliet.
This is the start of when things move fast and quick for Romeo and Juliet. They fall so deep in love that they are willing to make imprudent actions for each other just out of love. Once both of them found out they were from enemy families, they should have stopped where they were, but instead went on to go against the rules and build a relationship. They never thought about how the fact that they were supposed to be enemies could hurt them and quickly decided to love, something that hurts them both at the end of the story. Additionally, Shakespeare alludes to the worship of God.
On the same night that they meet, Romeo wants to swear his love for Juliet upon something. Juliet tells him she does not want him to, or if he must swear than “swear by thy gracious self, which is the god of my idolatry” (II.ii.119-120). Idolatry is the “worship of something as a god,” which means Juliet says Romeo is her God (Source 2). Juliet, in addition to Romeo, is jumping the boat on the night that they first meet and swears to love him forever and worship him as if he was her god. If Juliet had taken it slower and gotten to know Romeo first, many of their problems could have been avoided. If Juliet was not as attached to Romeo when he was exiled, she wouldn’t have taken the sleeping potion. But again, her impulsive decisions she makes because she loves Romeo end up causing her more harm than making her love better.
In conclusion, Shakespeare’s allusions to Roman mythology and Christianity support his theme that young lovers and all youth make impulsive decisions that will come back to hurt them. He alludes Fortune to show how quick thinking can turn bad and Phoebus’ son Phaeton to show how impulsive decisions can lead to harm. The allusions to Christianity convey how love took over Romeo and Juliet’s lives and caused them to make spontaneous decisions which hurt them both. As Friar Lawrence said, “they stumble that run fast” (II.iv.101). Avoiding impulsive decisions is a simple strategy that could solve many problems in today’s society. Many people think stopping and thinking before actions could take hours, when in reality it can be done in a matter of seconds or minutes.
