Impulsive Decisions In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

The way a child thinks and behaves can be alluded by their age; in some cases it causes the child to make decisions on impulse, and can lead to a bad ending. In some circumstances, they can make irrational decisions as they are blinded by their desires. In addition, they can make reckless decisions to avenge someone, not knowing the consequences that follow; or make a choice before all the facts have been considered. Children can come to a quick decision when they believe that it’s the only one available to them. Furthermore, a child does not have the same mental capacity as an adult as they only think about themselves rather than everybody else. At the beginning of the play, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo is oblivious to his judgement because of his one true love, Juliet. Nevertheless, Juliet falls into the spell of love causing her to act irrationally to be one with Romeo. Moreover, other characters such as Friar Lawerence and Balthasar show evidence of impulsive behaviour indirectly provoking death. In the play, the love between the two protagonist, Romeo and Juliet causes

them to make impulsive decisions, ultimately leading to their deaths.
Romeo is blinded by love and makes several impulsive decisions resulting in his suicide. The idea of love is first introduced when Juliet attends the Capulet party; once Romeo lays eyes on Juliet he immediately made the decision for them to get married In some ways it shows that Romeo was looking to love anybody since his heartbreak with Roseline. After secretly meeting Juliet on her balcony, he says, " Th’ exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine" (Shakespeare, II, II, 127). Almost immediately he makes the decision to marry Juliet without informing his parents or best friends. Therefore, Romeo’s impulsive decision to get married was resulted in his urgency to find love again. In addition, Romeo’s decisions to avenge Mercutio’s death led to the passing of Tybalt. Romeo’s anger and rage had overpowered him causing him to seek revenge resulting in him killing his own "cousin-in-law" Tybalt. He says in fury,
"That late thou gavest me, for Mercutio’s soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company:
Either thou or I, or both must go with him" (Shakespeare, III, I, 122).

However, after killing Tybalt he only then became aware of the consequences of his actions, and resulted in him saying the following, "O, I am fortune’s fool" (Shakespeare, III, I,, 132). Furthermore, Romeo’s impulsive, immature behaviour is evident when he kills himself to be with Juliet. Once Balthasar informed him of Juliet’s death, Romeo is quick to make the decision that he cannot stay alive while his true love lies in a tomb "dead." He informs Balthasar, "Juliet, I lye with thee tonight" (Shakespeare, V, I, 34). Not knowing all the information Romeo abruptly goes to the apothecary to get the poison and positions himself on the Capulet tomb beside Juliet where he takes his life. Romeo’s selfishness to be with his loved one forever caused him to make an impulsive decision resulting in his death.
Although some may say that Juliet was as impulsive as she too ended her life once finding out about Romeo. Juliet is guilty of this when she allows Romeo to persuade her into marrying him. Juliet is aware of the scope of this commitment and is evident in the following lines:
"Although I joy in thee,
I have no joy in this contract tonight.
It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden" (Shakespeare, II, II, 122).

She allows her emotions to take over her actions, thus results in an impulsive decision to marry Romeo. However, once Juliet finds out that she is forced to marry Paris she panics and decides to ingest a sleeping potion that will put her to sleep long enough for Romeo to rescue her. However she tells herself that if the potion does not work she will kill herself,

"What if the mixture do not work at all?

Shall I be married then tomorrow morning?
No, no, this shall forbid it; lie thou there." (Shakespeare, IV, III, 21).

She lays her dagger beside her as sign of her devotion to Romeo. Juliet’s confession to love Romeo forever causes her to impulsively drink the poison resulting in her death at the end of the play.
Despite the fact that both, Romeo and Juliet, showed impulsive behaviour, so did other characters such as Friar Lawerence and Balthasar indirectly impacting the death of the "star-crossed lovers". For instance, when Romeo comes to the Friar at first to ask him to marry him and Juliet, he is confused and startled:
"Holy Saint Francis! What a change is here!
Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes." (Shakespeare, II, III, 65

)

Not long after does the Fiar agrees to marry the couple, he informs Romeo that this marriage may end the animosity between their two families. However, this was not the case and it added more fuel to the fire resulting in more chaos. These result of these impulsive actions were evident in Act IV, Scene I, as Juliet suspected that that Frair Lawerence poisoned the potion. Moreover, Balthasar showcased signs of impulsive behaviour when he informed Romeo that Juliet has died, not knowing that it was a ruse to make sure she would not marry Paris. He assumed she had died as he saw Juliet at the Capulet tomb; however he did not ask Friar Lawrence what had happened nor did he ask her family. Instead he acted irrationally and immediately went back to Mantua to inform Romeo, hence resulting in a chain of Romeo’s impulsive actions leading to his death. Even though, Friar and Balthasar did not directly kill Romeo and Juliet, their actions had a profound impact on their lives, resulting in their deaths.
The affection exemplified between the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet, within the play caused them to make impulsive decisions which eventually lead to their suicides. A pair of "star-crossed lovers" had died at the end of the play because of their love for one another. The events that lead up to their demise was their impulsive decision to get married as well as, Romeo’s mindless decision to kill Tybalt and to avenge Mercutio. To conclude, Romeo and Juliet’s actions have shown that once you have made a decision it cannot be undone; therefore one must choose their decisions wisely for they can never be altered.