Impetuosity

Impetuosity

Impetuosity is a tragic flaw that affects characters and their

actions. This flaw within a character will ultimately cause the death

of the protagonist. Write an essay in which hasty decisions or actions

result in the final tragedy of the play.

Definition

Impetuosity means acting without thinking about the consequences. A

few of the characters in the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ demonstrate this

characteristic through the things they do and say. The most prominent

characters that show this trait are Romeo, Juliet, Lord Capulet, and

Friar Lawrence.

Romeo

The essay shall start by talking about Romeo. As soon as Romeo meets

Juliet, he doses something impetuous. He instantly falls in love with

her, without thinking about what loving Juliet could mean for him, ‘If

I profane with my unworthiest hand, this Holy Shrine…’. They have one

conversation with each other, and they believe they are meant to be

together.

Another impetuous decision by Romeo was his decision to marry Juliet.

He has known her for barely a day, and decides that he loves Juliet

enough to marry her. He also does not consider the risk, as Capulet

hasn’t authorised the giving away of his daughter, especially to a

Montague, and would surely send someone to threaten him, probably

Tybalt.

A further impetuous thought of Romeo is that he believes it would be

better to die rather than be parted from Juliet, ‘Ha banishment? Be

merciful, say ‘death’’. Romeo does not seem to realise that if he is

alive and banished there is a chance he might see Juliet again, unlike

if he is dead. Also he does not con...

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...t out of the

tomb as she woke up, and it was very impetuous of him not to do so.

However, the Friar had just been horribly shocked by the death of

Romeo, and I’m sure that, had he taken Juliet out of the tomb,

Lawrence would have informed her of Romeo’s death. Therefore, she

would have demanded to see him, and probably would have committed

suicide anyway.

Conclusion

To conclude, because of the actions of Romeo, Juliet, Lord Capulet,

and Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet ended up tragically committing

suicide because they could not be together. They all contributed, one

way or another, to the untimely demise of two young people in love.

However, we cannot place the blame on just these four characters,

there were other people involved, but these are the most important

characters, and they contributed the most.