One of the most common character tropes is the moody, teenage sibling who’s always in trouble and fighting with the parents. Teenagers are often stereotyped as reckless and emotional. They take too many chances and act like everything is the end of the world. Young adults are constantly experimenting and taking risks, but what is the force behind their actions? During adolescence, the areas in the brain controlling reward processing and control begin to change. According to neuroscientist Laurence Steinburg, the shift creates an imbalance between emotion and restraint (Sukel, 46). The play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, focuses on the teenager, Romeo, during a dramatic period of his life. He faces many difficult situations involving love …show more content…
When Romeo announces he’s going back to see juliet, Balthasar begs him not to go. He beseeches him to “have patience” because “[his] looks are pale and wild and do import/some misadventure” (5.1.27-29). Romeo looks “pale and wild”, because of his anguish. Balthasar understands this isn’t a good sign, and he begs him to wait before he acts. He doesn’t want Romeo to go on a “misadventure” and hurt himself. Balthasar’s observations show that he is aware of Romeo’s nature. If Romeo waits, he can think everything through and make the safest decision. However, Romeo is devastated, and will act on the first instinct that enters his mind. The Prince decides to banish Romeo for killing Tybalt. He announces that Romeo should “hence in haste,/Else, when he is found, that hour is his last” (3.1.204-205). If Romeo is seen in Verona, “that hour is his last”. This establishes that a potential consequence of Romeo returning is death. Romeo disregards the potential of execution when he decides to see Juliet. Since he is so despondent, he doesn’t care about the threat of death. It doesn’t mean anything to him since he already wants to die. Romeo’s disregard for death and bodily harm eventually comes back around to hurt him, leading to his
In the Elizabethan period, woman of higher social classes were supposed to embody “obedience”(Gerlach et al. 1) and this is shown throughout the text. In the beginning of the book, Lady Capulet tells Nurse to summon Juliet, so she can inquire about her getting married. As Juliet enters the room she says,“Madam, I am here. What is your will?” (1.3.7). Here, we can see not only Nurse being obedient to Lady Capulet’s wishes, but also Juliet being obedient and going to her mother after she is summoned. Similarly, after a discussion with Count Paris, a noble man who seeks Juliet’s hand in marriage, Lord Capulet decides that Juliet will marry him and tells Lady Capulet to deliver the news to Juliet. Not happy with this, Juliet expresses her opposition
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet demonstrate the ignorance and susceptibility of men to making impulsive decisions without considering the consequences.
We have now read both Pyramus and Thisbe, and Romeo and Juliet. The question we have yet to answer is what has a greater impact on what happened, destiny, or personal choice? We believe that personal choice affected the characters more because they chose to fall in love, Romeo and Juliet rushed into marriage, Pyramus and Thisbe left home on their own terms, and in both stories, the main characters decided to commit suicide. This is something that cannot be determined by the stars, your choices determine what happens, not some mystical prophecy. Though that is what we believe, it is also believed that destiny has a greater impact because they were doomed from the stars.
In the article “Juliet’s Taming Of Romeo” Carolyn Brown discusses that Juliet “tames” Romeo in the play Romeo and Juliet, however, I do not really agree with that. While some believe that Juliet controls Romeo throughout the play, I maintain that it is almost impossible for Juliet to completely control Romeo because of the fact that they barely talk throughout most of the play and because Friar Lawrence is controlling most of the play.
In William Shakespeare’s most well-known play, “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare illustrates an emotional tragedy by using through the behaviors of Romeo and Juliet’s behavior. Doomed upon falling in from love at first sight, the lives of two teenage lovers were eventually lost. Modern studies suggest that teenage behavior can be explained by is created due to the dramatic changes the brain undergoes at the age of adolescence. Since decision- making is vital in the teenage years, more options and opportunities tend to lead to better choices.
Therefore, a human, in the process of becoming an adult, have poor decision making during their teenage years. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet’s actions are based on their adolescent brain development. Romeo and Juliet make impulsive decisions throughout the play. Many of these decisions are made because Romeo and Juliet’s brain is immature. In Act 1 Romeo and Juliet make impulsive,
After Romeo retrieved the poison, he was later reunited with Balthasar at the tomb of Juliet. Here, Romeo demands Balthasar does not follow him by emphasizing “And do not interrupt me in my course./Why I descend into this bed of death/ is partly to behold my lady’s face, /But chiefly to take thence from her dead finger a precious ring…” (5.3.27-31) Balthasar responds by simpling obeying his master and tells him what he wants to hear, “I will be gone, sir, and not trouble you.” (5.3.40) At this time, Balthasar fully understands that Romeo plans to commit suicide. Romeo tells him to deliver a letter of apology and explanation to his father and wishes the good fellow farewell. By leaving Romeo be while being in the know of his future actions, Balthasar proves himself as a trustworthy friend but displays that he could have prevented the death of Romeo and Juliet. Thus, further events in the play could have potentially been the man’s
Romeo’s problems arose when he got banished for avenging Mercuito by murdering Tybalt. His decision to murder Tybalt was not entirely thought through. In fact, after Romeo kills the Capulet, he exclaims that he is ‘fortune’s fool’ (73) line 132. Additionally, his banishment certainly contributed to his death because it kept him away from Verona and Juliet. If he hadn’t gotten banished, he would have been aware of the plan the Friar and Juliet had created. Unfortunately, Romeo wasn’t informed of the plan, and after he heard about Juliet’s death, he sincerely believed she died. Balthasar, who told Romeo of Juliet’s ‘death’, didn’t want to leave Romeo unaccompanied because he believed that he looked ‘…pale and wild and do import Some misadventure…’(116) lines 28-29. Balthasar’s suspicions were valid because Romeo decided to take his life. He did not stop to ask how she died, or what Friar Laurence has to say about her death. Romeo decided, in the spur of the moment, that his only solution to deal with Juliet’s death was to kill himself. Romeo’s impulsiveness caused his preventable death, but he is not the only one who was impulsive and hasty in the
The Role of Authority in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This play was written by William Shakespeare in the late 16th century. It was intended to be performed to a live audience in the Elizabethan period. Then the sand was sunk.
Young love is a very deep immature feeling, which tends to misguide those affected by it, and the affected ones fall too deeply in love, which leads to a tendency of self-destruction. The concept of the young misguiding love is emphasized in the drama, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet are young when they first see each other and make the mistake of loving each other without knowing their family names. Their deep love without any understanding of the concept of love leads to the young lovers committing suicide, which is a rash decision. They do not embrace their situation, and think about other solutions other than suicide. Romeo and Juliet act on impulse and make rash decisions without thinking about the consequences, which results in self-destruction, because of the burden and the extremity of love.
Authority can never change. In modern society, parents have more authority than their children. Many children are afraid to argue with their parents, even it is about their future. Also, in Elizabethan society that Romeo and Juliet take place, the solid hierarchy was existed. The top hierarchy of the universe was god, and followed by king and queen. Also, parents had more authority than children as same as modern society. However, Romeo and Juliet against the rule of society, and they die at the end. It shows that the tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet” demonstrates that teenagers who do not follow their parents or parental figures end up with bad future, which is indicated by the disobedience of Romeo, rebellion
Most of the time, young minds are not always capable of making good decisions. Romeo and Juliet refused to see this, which ultimately led them to their demise. Their course of action had disrupted the great chain of being, which started and concluded the chaos in the play. Furthermore, Shakespeare had written out alternate option for both the lovers and yet, they both refused to see them, and continued to disrupt the system. Finally, Romeo and Juliet had acted with haste, sealing their tragic fate.The choices the that the two “star-crossed lovers” made, led them to their death.
Who falls out of love, back in love with a different person, kills a cousin-in-law, and commits suicide within a matter of three days? Romeo Montague does in the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. While his decision-making transpires at an accelerated pace, Shakespeare does so intentionally to convey the transience that results when foolish decisions are made. Not only does this theme apply to just the characters in the play, but it holds true today. No matter the time period, all people should recognize the consequences of hasty decisions.
In the Science News for Students,it explains how the brain is on a constant run for a chemical dopamine. Dopamine is released when one does something good, and the brain and body find that chemical to be extremely addictive. The article explains,“the adolescent brain is locked in a tug-of-war between the logical pull of the prefrontal cortex and the impulsive pull of the ventral striatum. Although teens can make good decisions, in the heat of the moment- even when they know better, the reward system can out muscle the master planner. That can lead to poor decisions” (Mascarelli). The reward system can out muscle the master planner, so when teens are in a relationship, they are trying to please the other partner which can lead to impulsive decisions… just like in Romeo and Juliet. This quote is just after Juliet found Romeo in the Capulet tomb,“Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O’happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die”(Shakespeare). This is one of the last scenes in Romeo and Juliet. She, after seeing Romeo dead because of an impulsive decision, makes another impulsive decision. She kills herself. She could have gone to the nunnery where she could have lived out her life, but no. She made an impulsive decision, just like most teens, whether it would be suicide, drugs, or even to defy their parents. The teen makes impulsive decisions, and due to their brain not being fully
In Shakespeare's timeless story, Romeo and Juliet, two young teenagers fall in love. They come from the two families that have an unending feud with each other, making their love dangerous. They are married in secret by a friar, but shortly after Romeo fights with and kills Tybalt, a Capulet. The prince banishes him, and it causes Juliet and the friar to come up with a plan to get them together. However the plan does not work, and Romeo kills himself, and when Juliet awakes and sees Romeo dead, she also kills herself. The question then becomes, was fate or free will involved in the deaths of these lovers? A multitude of evidence is given throughout the play to prove that fate plays a key role in the tragic deaths of these two lovers.