Parenting in Romeo and Juliet

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. The difference in their upbringing or brain functionality could be a factor of why they went to the lengths they did for each other. Some may disagree to say that behavior is not affected by the nurture nor thought process of a child, but to say that it is simply their love story and feeling for one another. The upbringing of Romeo and Juliet seems to differ depending on their upbringing, intellectual thinking, and maturity levels which consequently led both children to their death at the ages of thirteen and fifteen, moreover, different genders have different decisions based on their upbringing, which can inform the readers the reasoning behind their suicides.

The Montagues had a distinctive way of raising Romeo, as they had a lot of authority in Verona and took that into consideration when running their household. Montague and Lady Montague would be known as authoritative parents from details stated in the article “Types of Parenting Styles and Their Effects on Kids: What’s Your Parenting Style?” lists that authoritative parents: “put a lot of effort into ensuring you have a positive relationship with your child, explain the reasons behind your rules, as well as enforce rules and give consequences, but take your child’s feelings into consideration.” This piece of evidence supports the claim that the Montagues had a contrasting way of raising Romeo compared to the way the Capulets raised Juliet. Romeo was not forced into a marriage, as Juliet was, which introduces the concept that the Capulets fall under the authoritarian parenting category. Another piece of evidence found in Shakespeare’s No

“Fear Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet,”states “ Both by myself and many other friends. But he, his own affections’ counselor, is to himself- I will not say how true, but to himself so secret and so close, so far from sounding and discovery, as is the bud bit with envious worm, ere, he can spread his sweet leaves to the air, or dedicate his beauty to the same, could we but learn from whence his sorrows grow, we would as willingly give cure as know.” With attention to that piece of Shakespeare’s writing, he shares that Montague wondered what saddened Romeo, yet Romeo declined to open up.

The conclusion that the Montagues are authoritative is supported by the previous piece of evidence supporting the detail that authoritative parents put effort into a positive relationship with their child, stated in “4 Types of Parenting Styles and Their Effects On Kids: What’s Your Parenting Style?” Romeo was nurtured in a uncommon way, as a result, might be a factor of the indecisive decisions made further on into the play, as well as actions taken that led up to their deaths.

The Capulets, raised Juliet in a not ideal way to society today, but was orderly at the time. According to the passage “4 Types of Parenting Styles and Their Effects on Kids: What’s Your Parenting Style?,” an authoritarian parent does the following: “believes kids should be seen and not heard, when it comes to rules, you believe it’s ‘my way or the highway,’ and you don’t take your child’s feelings into consideration.” This list of principles are examples of what the Capulet’s include in their parenting style. Capulet and Lady Capulet would be considered authoritarian due to the fact that, because of Juliet’s age, her parents forced Juliet into a marriage so she could become a wife and mother at the normal age, at the time.

In Shakespeare’s No Fear Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet, Paris presents “Younger than she are happy mothers made.” Juliet’s future husband agrees with Lady Capulet, that Juliet should be married and a mother by now. Juliet did not want to marry Paris after her greeting with Romeo, accordingly she told Capulet who was furious about her statement, and took action by escorting her out of their home. Furthermore, Capulet expected Juliet to follow his demands, without taking his daughter’s feelings into consideration. The Capulets raised Juliet in a more forceful way than the Montague’s raised Romeo in.

The way the Montagues raised Romeo may have been a monumental factor that affected Romeo’s decision to marry Juliet and could have potentially been a reason why he killed himself. The way the Montagues lightly cared about who Romeo ended up marrying, could have been a reason that he married someone who was the child of their enemy. From the article “One Reason Teens Respond Differently to the World: Immature Brain Circuitry,” states “We used to think that teens respond differently to the world because of hormones, or attitude, or because they simply need independence.”

A Frontline producer, Sarah Spikes states the theory that teens act accordingly because of independence or hormones, which could explain the reason Romeo married so quickly, due to his age and wish for freedom from his family’s feud. An article that elaborates on teenage brains, “Developing Brain Connections Make Teenagers Impatient and Impulsive states,” “there are numerous studies showing impulsivity in adolescents and this often results in them partaking in high risk behavior.” The author, Hannah Osborne consistently restates that teenagers are more appealed to choose a smaller but quicker reward, rather than a larger, longer reward. Romeo was more drawn to the thought of marrying Juliet right away, than waiting till he was older to ger married, when he was grown to make that life long decision. People back then expected Romeo to already be married at his age, and so did his parents, which could have convinced Romeo to marry Juliet, despite the fact that she was a Capulet.

Capulet and Lady Capulet tend to pressure Juliet to get married and produce offspring throughout the play and Juliet could have taken that pressure into consideration, when spontaneously marrying Romeo. In the passage Nature vs. Nurture, the author states “ negative reinforcement increase the probability that the antecedent behavior will happen again.” This connects back to Romeo and Juliet, because of the negative response Capulet gave back to Juliet after she told him she did not want to marry Paris. Similarly, Juliet’s response was negative, by marrying Romeo. The actions of Juliet, such as rejecting Paris’s marriage, marrying Romeo in secret, taking a potion to temporarily stop her bodily functions, and killing herself once finding out Romeo was dead, could have been affected by the pessimistic way the Capulet’s raised Juliet.

An example of this account, Shakespeare’s No Fear Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet states “Younger than you, here in Verona, ladies of esteem, are made already mothers. By my count, I was your mother much upon these years, that you are now a maid. Thus then in brief: The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.” In this conversation, Lady Capulet and the Nurse lecture Juliet about how she is older than most girls, who are already mothers in Verona. At first, Juliet declined the thought of marriage, meanwhile, she met Romeo and fell for him at her first sight. Romeo and Juliet both reacted in an analogous way, negatively, when being raised in households with negative treatment. The nurture of Juliet and functionality of her brain at such a young age, affected the way she saw the world and how she handled the situations she was put in.

From evidence and elaboration from previous articles, the conclusion that Romeo and Juliet’s decisions may have been affected by their maturity levels, brain development, and nurture of both, could be true. Conversely, one might disagree to say that the reason Romeo and Juliet went to such lengths was simply their love for each other at first sight. This idea can be supported by the fact that Romeo and Juliet met, and went to such lengths such as leaving their entire life behind and running away together to be married. This idea also does put a reasoning behind the concept of them both committing suicide, once finding each other dead.

Romeo shares his strong love for Juliet after his first sight of her in Shakespeare’s “No Fear Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet”, by stating “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” Romeo talks about the beauty of Juliet and his strong love for her. Juliet reciprocates Romeo’s feeling by stating “The only man I love is the son of the only man I hate! I saw him too early without knowing who he was, and I found out who he was too late! Love is a monster for making me fall in love with my worst enemy.” Juliet ignores the fact that Romeo is a Montague and still marries him without hesitation. Some may disagree with science to agree that Romeo and Juliet did fall in love at first sight.

The love story of Romeo and Juliet is complicated and can scientifically be proven false, by passages discussing teenage brains, the nature and nurture of a child, and the maturity levels of teenagers. Romeo was raised under an authoritative matter, while Juliet was raised under an authoritarian matter. The Montagues raised Romeo to see the Capulets as the enemy and the Capulets taught Juliet to loathe the Montagues. The gender, maturity levels, nurture as well as functionality of their brains have been supported to be a factor of why they went to such lengths for each other, and ended up dead at such a young age. Some readers may contradict the previous scientific theory and support the fact that Romeo and Juliet had a true love story. The outcome of Romeo and Juliet’s love story has many causes and the nurture and brains of the children drove them to commit suicide, in order to be together.

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