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Romeo and juliet romeo character critical analysis
Characterization of romeo and juliet
Characterization of romeo and juliet
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The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet could have never happened if not for the ideals and emotions portrayed by the characters in the play. Selfishness is a problem that the characters in “Romeo and Juliet” deal with on a daily basis. These same characters also have an excess of anger towards each other and themselves. In the society that this play is based in, honour causes many problems as people fight to protect their honour. In “Romeo and Juliet” some of the most destructive elements are selfishness, anger and honour.
Selfishness is defined by the Miriam-Webster dictionary as “Taking care fo only a person’s own needs and feelings without thought for others”. Romeo and Juliet are very selfish people and their selfishness caused many problems in the play. One example of this is in Act 2 Scene 1 when Romeo has left his friends
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to be with Juliet.
He is not thinking of his friends or what they will think of his disappearance but instead is only focused on Juliet and how he cannot wait to see her again. He continues to completely forget about his friends later in the play as well. As he disregards his friends, he is showing just how selfish he is. A more Juliet based example is when Juliet fakes her own death is order to run away with Romeo. In Act 4 Scene 1, Juliet is talking to Friar Lawrence and pleading for him to help her get to Romeo. After she is given the potion, she says, “Lave give me strength, and strength shall help afford. Farewell, dear father.”(4.1.127-128). She shows little care about what her parents would think or how they would react to her death. When most people plan to fake their own death, they usually consider the effects it will have on the people around them. Juliet did not do this and that leads us to believe that she does not care about her parents eat all and was selfishly hosing to do this for her own good. Just as Juliet faked her own death, Romeo was also
very selfish after her “death”. When Romeo finds out that she has died, he goes and breaks into Juliets tomb. When he does this, he disregards all the people that he is putting in danger. He kills Paris and does not care about the consequences of his actions. Romeo may not care because he is about to die but people generally would still be concerned about what the consequences of their decisions would be. Without the selfishness of these characters, the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet would have become less of a tragedy. Anger is a factor that in most stories effects how the story will end and “Romeo and Juliet” is no difference. One example of this occurring in the play is when Mercutio died. This death was what set the ending into motion due to it causing Romeo’s banishment. If anger had not been a factor, Mercutio would not have died. Because of Tybalt’s anger towards Mercutio, someone was going to have to die no matter what. Another example of anger leading to destruction in the play Juliets anger at the idea of an arranged marriage to Paris. Anger often causes rash decisions due to the fact that people are often not thinking clearly while being extremely angry. Just after Lady Capulet tells Juliet that she is to marry Paris in 3 days, Juliet says, “He shall not make me there a joyful bride! I wonder at this haste, that I must wed ere he that should be husband comes to woo.”(3.3.121-123). Her anger at her marriage causes her to resort to desperate measures to escape it and be with Romeo and then that leads to her selfish decision to fake her own death. In a similar way, Romeo and Paris are incredibly angry when they see each other in the Capulet family crypt. Romeo is upset because Paris was going to marry Juliet and Paris was upset because Romeo had killed Tybalt. They did not see each others sides of the story and because of that, Paris was killed. If they had been calm and reasonable enough they could have talked about it and Romeo could have even been talked out of killing himself but because of his rage this was not possible. In all of these examples if the characters had been able to keep calm and think about what they were doing, many deaths would not have occurred and the tragedy would never have happened. In the time period of this play, honour was seen as something that was extremely important and to be honourable was very important. This however, causes problems in “Romeo and Juliet” when people take protecting their honour too far. One example of this is when Tybalt dies and Romeo is banished. After Mercutio’s death, Romeo chases down Tybalt to kill him. Before anyone had died, Romeo had been peaceful but once a death had occurred, Romeo felt the need to protect the honour of hi house and Mercutio by killing Tybalt. If the need to avenge Mercutio was not there, Romeo would never had been banished and the tragedy would have been averted. Another example of honour causing problems is when Romeo sneaks into the Capulets party and Lord Capulet does not throw hime out like you would expect him to. When asked if Lord Capulet would like Romeo thrown out, he says, “He shall be endured. What goodman boy? I say he shall. Go to.”(1.5.77-78). By throwing Romeo out, Lord Capulet could get into trouble for ruining the party and also for dishonouring Romeo. By leaving him alone, Lord Capulet is keep his honour intact but is unknowingly causing the meeting of Romeo and Juliet. In the same way, the family feud is all about honour. The Montagues and Capulets have been fighting for a long time and honour is a huge part of it. Neither side wants to be the ones to do something to damage their reputation so they try to make themselves appear perfect. When Juliet is given the chance to marry Paris for example, her parents are thrilled because he is one of the most sought after men in the area and would make their family seem even more powerful. Without the family feud, Romeo and Juliet would have been able to be together without issues and the tragedy would have been averted. Honour can be good in some circumstances but in the case of in “Romeo and Juliet” it just causes problems in the lives of all the characters. Selfishness, anger, and honour are all some of the most destructive elements in “Romeo and Juliet”. Due to the selfishness in the play, there was almost no way that the tragedy could have been averted. The anger shown by the characters int he play causes rash decisions and a lack of disputes handled with words. Due to the time period of the play, honour is held above many other things and is the cause of many disagreements and fights. If you were to remove these 3 things from the tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet," you would end up with a happy story about 2 teens in love.
“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare is a play about two lovers from different families that have an internal feud between them. It ends in both lovers, Romeo and Juliet, committing suicide as they could not openly live with each other. An important idea in this play is that of the impetuosity of youth and the rash decisions that young people may make. This idea is continuously brought up throughout the play and is explored through the concepts of overreacting and being blinded by anger, desperation in forbidden love and taking your life for love.
In the play, Juliet is questioned by the Nurse after Tybalt’s death and replies with this, “Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband.”(III.II.XCVII). Juliet was not bothered by her cousin’s death at all. She was much more worried about Romeo’s punishment for killing Tybalt. A normal reaction to one’s cousin's death would have been sadness, but instead, Juliet was worried about the killer’s punishment which would normally be abnormal, however, she had more interest in her and Romeo’s relationship. Normally this would not have been how she wanted to feel, but her new love made her think irrationally and selfishly. She did not want her new love to end so she chose to take Romeo’s side as she may have felt it would make their love last forever. He was her only love so of course she would not want it to end. She wanted it to last. However, this caused her to make decisions based on the fact that she wanted something, which made her decisions
“Wilt thou provoke me? Then, have at thee boy!” says Romeo, the murderer of Paris. In the play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, a young man named Romeo falls in love with Juliet, a maiden from the opposing family. Romeo latches on to the thought of being with Juliet, and crosses great boundaries. Romeo’s gestures can be interpreted as romantic, loyal, and passionate. However, I believe he is mentally unstable and extreme in his decisions. Romeo does not consider the future of others, as well as himself.
When Juliet staged her death, she was being dishonest to her parents by telling them that she was going to marry Paris. She acted like she really wanted to marry him, when she really wanted be with Romeo. Dishonesty can lead to many tragedies in life. Juliet thinks everything is going as planned. She drinks the potion, she “dies”, and everyone thinks she’s dead, so they bury her. The only thing left is for her to wake up from the potion and be with her lover Romeo. Things change up and don’t go how they were planed. The friar promised Juliet that he would send a messenger to Rome. “In this resolve. I’ll send a friar with speed”(IV,1,127)
“Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare is a play about two lovers from different families that have an internal feud between them. It ends in both lovers, Romeo and Juliet, committing suicide as they could not openly live with each other. An important idea in this play is that of the impetuosity of youth and the rash decisions that young people may make. This idea is continuously brought up throughout the play and is explored through the concepts of overreacting and being blinded by anger, desperation in forbidden love and taking your life for love.
The suicides of Romeo and Juliet reflect their hasty and impulsive decisions as well as the dishonesty of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse. Romeo’s haste in drinking the venomous poison, Friar’s cowardice in handling the consequences as well as the Nurse’s choice of standing against the relationship of Romeo and Juliet contribute equally to their fatal end. Therefore, dishonesty and haste can result in undesirable circumstances to any individual.
“Don’t waste your love on someone who doesn’t value it.” In the play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare exposes the life of two young lovers in the Renaissance period fighting for something they cannot live without; each other. Although fate takes its toll, the everlasting feud between two families, conditional love by parents, and the irresponsibility’s of father and mother like figure are the main causes in the death of Romeo and Juliet. The idea of love is something that is valued in this play from many different aspects of characters, lines, and scenes. Shakespeare leaves the minds of readers soaring over not why it happened, but who was at fault.
In Romeo and Juliet, there are many guilty parties that contribute to the deaths and demise of Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Tybalt, Count Paris and the many other victims of the bitterness and grudge between the Capulets and the Montagues. However, the three most culpable parties are the set of opposing parents; the Montagues and Capulets, the prince; Escalus of Verona and ultimately the lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The blame lies mostly on these three parties because their decisions greatly influenced the outcome of this Shakespearean tragedy. In this essay, I will prove and condemn the prince, parents and lovers for the losses of life and the confusion in Romeo and Juliet.
In every fairy tale, movie, story, and play there is always a ‘happily ever after’ but in not in this case. The star struck lovers, Romeo and Juliet, both from families who loathe each other, end up taking their lives because they rather die than live without one another. The play “Romeo and Juliet” written by, William Shakespeare, mainly focuses on how selfishness can lead to tragedy. The selfish personalities of the characters caused conflict, betrayal, and death.
The play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is about a forbidden love between two hateful households which tragically ends in death. It begins with Romeo’s broken heart from a dainty lady and a lively masquerade where two lone souls come together. However, their love for one another was doomed at birth for both households had a constant hatred for one another. Infatuation, rage, and sadness contribute to an unhealthy relationship between Romeo and Juliet.
Imagine yourself, dear reader, transported to Shakespearian Verona, a bustling, peaceful city (aside from the occasional death or two), with its obligatory social classes going about agreeably (aside from the occasional brawl or two), and all people happy and successful (aside from the occasional poor wretch or two). The Verona in which Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet takes place in is made sinister by the deadly consequences than ensue from its strict, unbending society. Romeo and Juliet paints a tale about two young lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, whose attempts to be together are cruelly thwarted by society. Society’s fixation on honor and disgrace, poverty-creating laws, and austere social roles all have crucial functions in causing the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of an ancient feud where the children of two families at war fall deeply in love with each other. Set in the 16th century William Shakespeare’s play has many different themes running throughout it, which include love, hate, death and conflict. The play opens with a fight but ends with suicide that creates peace between both families who unite from their losses. The conflict, violence and aggression in the play happen from revenge and an ancient family grudge. An audience from the 16th century would have enjoyed Romeo and Juliet because of the real life drama and tragedy the play goes through. The patriarchal society gave women absolutely no rights and they had to obey their man’s ordering a patriarchal system. The theme of conflict is revealed as the characters argue over Juliet’s disobedience.
Ultimately, Romeo and Juliet become embodiments of impulsiveness. Through their rash words and actions in the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare sets forth that both are too hasty in their decisions, leading them into unfortunate events. As the plot unfolds, Romeo and Juliet’s futile love is torn apart by their family’s hate and animosity towards each other. Despite their constant struggle to let their love survive, it is doomed from the beginning of the tragedy. It is plain that lack of foresight and wisdom leads to disaster all around.
In the tremendous play of ‘Romeo & Juliet’, Shakespeare’s ways engages the audience straight away. The astounding methods he uses hooks the audience into the play and allows them to read on, wondering what will happen. The tragic love story of Romeo & Juliet, as mentioned in the prologue, sets a variety of themes throughout Act 1 Scene 5. Many of the recognisable themes are: youth and age, revenge, forbidden love, fate, action and hate. The main idea of the play is a feud that had been going on between two families, The ‘Montagues and Capulets’, the son of the Montagues and the daughter of the Capulets fall in love and the story tells us how tragic, death, happiness and revenge find them throughout the play.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a story of great woe, the children of two rival families fall in love, then through a series of acts of hatred, betrayal, and love, they end their own lives. The play can become quite violent in its endless, descriptive lines as characters do everything to kill one another if they happen to be on the wrong side of the matter. Turn away from those alluring lines and one may find that the outside world is not much prettier than the beaten streets of Verona. In Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, many acts of violence are present emphasizing the presence of it then and today.