Emotional Decisions In Romeo And Juliet

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The book Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is a romance and a tragedy. Romeo, from the house of Montague, is sworn enemies with Juliet’s family, the Capulets. Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight, and marry the very next day. Nobody knows their secret, so Tybalt kills Mercutio in a fight. Romeo decides to kill Tybalt for revenge, and kills his own wife’s cousin. This gets him banished from Verona, and even more hated by the Capulets. In the tragedy Romeo and Juliet, playwright Shakespeare uses emotional decisions in Act II to illuminate Romeo’s tragic flaw of impulsivity; then in Act III, Shakespeare uses the results of his decisions to further develop the flaw as well as the turning point of the tragedy. In act II, Romeo makes decisions emotionally, …show more content…

He is looking for Roseline, but falls in love with Juliet at first sight. After the party, Romeo speaks to Juliet on her balcony and blurts out, “O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?”(2.2.132). The word “unsatisfied” denotes Romeo’s emotional state of feeling incomplete, while it connotes Romeo’s impulsive nature, as he seeks unjustified emotional gratification from Juliet. The two have just met, and Romeo is acting as if she owes him something. Furthermore, the day before, Romeo had been crying about his old love, Roseline. Within one day, Romeo had completely forgotten Roseline and moved onto his new true love, Juliet. Romeo asks Friar Lawrence if he can marry Juliet, and Friar Lawrence says, “Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit / Of an old tear that hasn’t washed off yet” (2.3.79-80). Shakespeare uses Friar’s diction to develop Romeo’s tragic flaw, impulsiveness. The choice of diction when Friar says, “the stain doth sit”, illustrates his tear from his old love Roseline. This exposes Romeo’s hastiness in the whole situation. The tear stain on Romeo’s face still remains from crying about Rosaline, but he now wants to marry a new

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