“TIme is very slow for those who wait, very fast for those who are scared, very long for those who lament, and very short for those who celebrate. But for those who love, time is eternal.” This is a quote from William Shakespeare, world renowned author of stories like Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, and a Midsummer Night’s Dream. In many of his stories, love is a central theme and is displayed beautifully through his characters. However, in the story Romeo and Juliet, this is not quite. Though many think of it as a bewitching tale of a forbidden love, Romeo and Juliet were not actually in love. What they did share, however, is lust. Romeo and Juliet cannot be in love because they care more about how the other looks than their personality, their affair is hormone driven, and they are selfish and do not care about.
In this tale, Romeo is portrayed as being seventeen or eighteen and Juliet is thirteen, so many readers were probably
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Shakespeare creates an interesting psychological tension in Romeo and Juliet by consistently linking the intensity of young love with a suicidal impulse. Though love is generally the opposite of hatred, violence, and death, Shakespeare portrays self-annihilation as seemingly the only response to the overwhelming emotional experience that being young and in love constitutes. Romeo and Juliet seem to flirt with the idea of death throughout much of the play, and the possibility of suicide recurs often, foreshadowing their eventual deaths in Act 5. When Juliet misunderstands the Nurse and thinks that Romeo is dead, she does not think that he was killed, but that he killed himself. And thinking that Romeo is dead, Juliet quickly decides that she too must die. She never once thinks that this is not what Romeo wants for her and many will argue that if Romeo would have been alive, he would have begged Juliet not to kill
Juliet strategizes her disastrous plan and worries, “How if, when I am laid into the tomb, I wake before the time that Romeo come to redeem me?” (Lines 30-32 of Act Four, Scene Three). Juliet is desperate to see Romeo, ergo she plans to fake her death. Her thoughts of Romeo finding her lifeless foreshadows their future. Romeo is deprived of the news of Juliet’s real state of health, therefore he says, “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight. O mischief, thou art swift to enter the thoughts of desperate men!” (Lines 34-36 of Act Five, Scene One). Once again, Romeo’s perception is only focused on Juliet. His mental instability leads him to think Paris is in the way obtaining true happiness, thus he slays him. Romeo acquires poison, stands beside Juliet, and states, “Here’s to my love! (Drinks.) O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (Lines 119-120 of Act Five, Scene Three). Romeo observes Juliet’s body and determines that he should die beside her. Juliet wakes to his lifeless body, and determines she should commit suicide, as well. Romeo’s foolish decisions lead to the death of himself and
...se he believes Juliet to dead, drinks poison to take his own life as a last resort. What Romeo is unaware of is that Juliet is very much alive, so it is very ironic when he says, “Death, that has sucked the honey of thy breath,/ Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:/ Thou art not conquered; beauty’s ensign yet/ Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,/ And death’s pale flag is not advanced there” (V iii 101-105). This is fate in the works in the play. When Juliet sees that her love has not rescued her and rather is dead, she kills herself with a dagger found in the proximity. “O happy dagger/ This is thy sheath; there rust and let me die” (V iii 182-183).
Lust or Love: An Essay Analyzing the Relationship of Romeo and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
This is explored through the characters of both lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Near the end of the play, Juliet drinks a potion to make her appear dead to her parents and get her out of an unwanted arranged marriage to a man named Paris. Once her parents would find her dead and place in a tomb with her ancestors, her other lover, Romeo, would get her and they would elope together. However because of miscommunication, Romeo was not aware of this plan and he heard that Juliet had died from someone else. Because of this he goes to see her and decides to kill himself, but after seeing her “dead” body for closure. When Romeo thinks Juliet is dead, he immediately resorts to suicide without once thinking about any other possibilities or considering a life without her. This quick conclusion leads to the unnecessary death of Paris, who also came to meet Juliet, and Romeo, himself, which then leads to Juliet killing herself. Before Romeo drinks poison and commits suicide, he says “Here’s to my love! (drinks the poison) O true apothecary,Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” This rash and hasty decision, had it been put off for a minute or so would have resulted in Juliet awakening and the couple living together, which was their goal. However, Romeo’s impetuosity results in an unhappy and tragic end to him, his wife and his wife’s other lover. This
Romeo drank a vile of poison because he heard the news that Juliet had died, but in reality she was asleep awaiting for his rescue. Juliet awakes to the horrifying sight of Romeo’s lifeless corpse where she commits suicide in the fashion of stabbing herself with Romeo’s dragger. Though both Romeo and Juliet seem to progress through the Five Stages of Grief in an instant. In the case of Romeo, he initially denies the news of Juliet’s “death” and then retorts to searching for a means he should use to kill himself. Romeo experienced the first stage of denial and skips all the stages until acceptance where he acknowledged the terms of the situation and believed that suicide is the best method in order to be with Juliet forever. “Romeo felt cold, even in that terrible heat … ‘It can’t be!’ said Romeo at last … Romeo had made up his mind. He would sleep with Juliet that night. The only question was what means should he use to kill himself? He felt nothing- his only though was to get Juliet and be with her forever” (Shakespeare 94). On the other hand, based on the inferences from the text, Juliet doesn’t seem to experience the Five Stages of Grief at all and appears as if she has given up hope and decide to die to live by
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the views of love held by the character Romeo contrast sharply with the views of Mercutio. Romeo's character seems to suffer from a type of manic depression. He is in love with his sadness, quickly enraptured and easily crushed again on a passionate roller coaster of emotion. Mercutio, by contrast is much more practical and level headed. His perceptions are clear and quick, characterized by precise thought and careful evaluation. Romeo, true to his character begins his appearance in the play by wallowing in his depression over Rosaline who does not return his love:
In the course of the play, Romeo and Juliet immediately fall in love. Also, they know they are meant for each other and therefore decide to get married. After this marriage, there was a brief moment in time where everything was perfect. They are married, in love and there is nothing stopping them from being together. This however quickly changes after a fight that leads to death. Once Romeo is banished from Verona for the penalty of murder, love grows tremendously between the couple and drives the need to be together. The marriage between Romeo and Juliet is hidden from their parents, so Montague decides to arrange a marriage between her and Paris. With all the conflict arising between Juliet’s family, Friar Lawrence creates a plan that unfortunately does not succeed. His plan for Juliet is to tell her father she will marry Paris then go to bed with no one, not even the nurse. After, she will drink a potion to make her seem dead for forty two hours and then have a messenger tell Romeo about it. He will have her put in a vault to wait for Friar to bring her out so she and Romeo can elope. The plan was perfect until tragedy occurs, Benvolio had seen Juliet dead and immediately tells Romeo about it. The result is Romeo and Juliet murdering themselves and the play had a tragic ending. Overall, young, innocent lovers die, through no fault of their own but a simple mistake. “How oft when men are at the
Their youthful love plays a big role in their irrational decisions and their love blossoming so intensely and so quickly. “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (1.V.52). This quote demonstrates how deeply Romeo is possessed by Juliet, showing their love at first sight. Not knowing that Romeo and Juliet are from feuding families, they fall in love at first sight. The love between Romeo and Juliet continues, despite the bitterness between the two families. “Love give me strength, and strength shall help afford” (1V.1.125) This quote shows how Shakespeare handled an emotion, then translating it into something that gave Juliet strength to continue the Friar 's plan to be with Romeo. The love between Romeo and Juliet makes them forget about their commitments to the world and everyone around them, they both get consumed in a self centered world of
In addition, Romeo and Juliet made a tragic ending to the story with the emotion of sadness and love. After knowing Juliet's death, Romeo rushed to the tomb, slew Paris and drank the poison, later Juliet awoke and committed suicide after seeing Romeo's dead body. Romeo and Juliet's ability of decision is completely affected by their emotions and made a decision which costed their lives. In many situations, Romeo and Juliet made decisions under the heavy influence of their emotions. Romeo turned himself into a murderer and caused serious consequences that they never expected. If they were unbiased by their emotions the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet will have a much pleasant
Love is ironic. It can take you anywhere in the world unexpectedly, and turn you into a person that you never were. However, love is also two-faced, having both a negative and positive view. It is what drives you to the point where you do not know who you are anymore. In Shakespeare's story, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare perceives love with the personalities and actions of the characters, Romeo and Juliet. Both Romeo and Juliet are characterized as immature and irrational due to their "love." In addition, both characters fail to realize the reality of life and go towards the path of adolescence. Even though Romeo and Juliet are doomed at the end of the journey of "love," their demise was caused by their rash and silly decisions because their belief of everlasting love blinds them from reality and shapes their lives into an unstoppable time bomb.
Romeo and Juliet’s young love reflects their abruptness, rashness, and lack of maturity which leads to them getting suicide impulses throughout the story and causing Romeo and Juliet to ultimately suicide at the end of the story. Their love causes them to act very rashly and make unwise decisions, such as getting married and killing themselves. They are also too young to love because they are not mature enough. Their lack of maturity influences their decisions, leading to them finding abrupt solutions, such as suicide. After Balthasar told Romeo that Juliet died, he proclaimed, “I do beseech you, sir, have patience/Your looks are pale and wild do import/ Some misadventure” (5.1.27-29). Once Balthasar delivers the tragic news of Juliet’s death to Romeo, Romeo makes a rash decision of going back to Verona, not thinking about the consequences of his act, which would lead to more complications, such as him being...
Juliet goes through physical pain, stabbing herself so she can be with Romeo after his death. Juliet looks at death as a positive thing because it allows her to be with Romeo again. Before she kills herself she says, “O, happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die” (Shakespeare V.iii.174-175). In most romantic tales, violence is the last thing you would think of when it comes to love, but it would be different in this play.
Capulet and Romeo Montague, face a bigger problem; forbidden love. Taking place in Verona, an ignorant Romeo first meets a childish Juliet at the Capulet’s party. Romeo and his kinsman, Benvolio, attend the party masked, searching for his first love, Rosaline. Coincidentally, Romeo meets Juliet, a new beauty, and falls in love with her not knowing the fact that she is a Capulet. The feud continues, leading one mistake after another, until both families realize their selfishness at the last minute. The unfortunate tragedy of two “star-crossed lovers” is ironically caused by the impetuosity of Romeo and Juliet themselves (Shakespeare 7).
Have you ever been in love before? Many would say that love is hard to come by, and even harder to maintain, while some would say the opposite. In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet, he explores similar concepts related to love and infatuation. Although the reader never directly hears from Shakespeare, one could infer that his own thoughts are similarly mirrored in his characters, with the play serving as a warning tale of sorts, and the various roles echoing different dangers when it comes to love, which there are many. More specifically, Romeo Montague and his actions in the play are very intentional, as they help explain Shakespeare’s intentions and his own personal thoughts on the topic of love and its hazards, as well as its ups, too, which there are many.
In the play “Romeo and Juliet”, Shakespeare shows that love has power to control one’s actions, feelings, and the relationship itself through the bond between a destined couple. The passion between the pair grew strong enough to have the capability to do these mighty things. The predestined newlyweds are brought down a rocky road of obstacles learning love’s strength and the meaning of love.