Romeo And Juliet Precipitous Decision Essay

In society, teens are known to rebel against their parents and make reckless decisions in attempt to assert their independence. One may find themself in a dangerous situation because he or she is choosing the precipitous decision. In the tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, two citizens of Verona fall for each other only to find out they may never be together. A long, tedious feud between the Montague and Capulet families keeps Romeo, a Montague, from Juliet, a Capulet. Despite the feud, they are determined to find a way to share their love, and they are willing to try anything. With the help of an old friend, Friar Lawrence, they defy their parents and take many risks in order to be together forever. Both still being in their

teenage years, their decisions are influenced by their love for each other, therefore being rash and unaccountable. Throughout Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare characterizes Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Lawrence by showing how one’s decision-making can be blinded by the influence of another.
After Romeo attended the Capulet party, his actions were far more careless and impetuous from the influence of Juliet. After first meeting Juliet at the party and finding out that she is a Capulet, Romeo makes the impulsive decision to climb the Capulet’s wall in attempt to find Juliet again. While carelessly disregarding the fact that she is of the Capulet family, he risks being caught by the guards in order to visit Juliet once again. He is influenced by Juliet to make the decision to go after her despite the existence of the possible consequence of himself being seized and punished. Later in the scene, he boldly replies to Juliet’s statement about their names being the only limitation to their love by saying, “I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized, Henceforth I never will be Romeo” (2.2.49-51). Romeo exclaims that if Juliet will call him her love, he will take a new name for her, as the two would then have the ability to be together. He does not realize that his only motivation is Juliet, who stated before how she wishes they had the same name. Romeo saw the statement as the only solution to their problem of being separated. As the plot progresses, Romeo continues to view only one solution to his many problems. When Juliet and Friar’s plan to have Juliet fake her death is withheld from Romeo, he believes that his only option is to kill himself because of Juliet’s death: “Seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death ... Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on the dashing rocks thy seasick, weary bark. Here’s to my love!” (5.3. 123-129). Romeo is saying his last goodbyes to Juliet and explains how he is honoring their marriage by choosing death. He intends to drink the poison in order to be with Juliet forever in the afterlife. However, he has no reasons for ending his life with the exception of Juliet. Romeo is irrational when making his decisions because Juliet is frequently the cause of his rashness.
Friar Laurence acts hastily throughout the play, being impacted by the continuous pressure coming from both Romeo and Juliet, causing him to behave impetuously. He is often observed submitting to the will of Romeo and Juliet as a result of threats of suicidal or risky behavior. When encountered by a lovesick Romeo, Friar Laurence exclaims countless times his forebodings of the relationship between Romeo and Juliet. However, Romeo is consistent with his wishes and eventually convinces Friar Laurence that their marriage will be beneficial, for the Friar says, “But come, young waverer, come, go with me in one respect I’ll thy assistant be for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households' rancor to pure love” (2.3.89-92). The Friar knows about the intensity of the feud and disapproves of the marriage from the beginning. Although, having a close relationship with the Friar, Romeo uses his heart ache as an advantage in convincing the Friar to wed both Juliet and him. Had Romeo not been there to influence the Friar’s decision, he would not have agreed to marry the couple. Romeo influences Friar Laurence again later in the play after he has been banished for subsequently killing Tybalt, and he flees to the Friar’s cell in order to await his punishment. Upon hearing that he has been banished from the city, Romeo engulfs himself in sorrow and threatens to kill himself by saying, “In what vile part of this anatomy doth my name lodge? Tell me, that I may sack the hateful mansion” (3.3.106-108). The Nurse tells Romeo that Juliet is astonished that he has been banished and is melancholy every time she says Romeo’s name. In return, Romeo threatens to cut out the part of his body in which his name is embedded in attempt to put Juliet out of her misery. The Friar sights the developing outcome and is persuaded to create a plan for Romeo which involves him living. There would not have been the need for Friar Laurence to conceive a plan had Romeo not threatened to kill himself for Juliet’s sake. A similar situation happens later in the play when Juliet threatens to kill herself in front of Friar when she received news of her second marriage to Paris. Lord Capulet, unknowing of Juliet’s first marriage to Romeo, aprises Juliet that he has arranged a marriage for her to Paris, but Juliet refuses almost instantly. She also flees to Friar Laurence's cell to seek guidance from him. Almost identical to the incident with Romeo, the Friar is forced to create yet another plan because of a suicidal threat coming from Juliet. Both Romeo and Juliet cause the Friar to act quicker than he should have, causing his decisions to be rash and not cautious of the consequences.
Juliet does not carefully consider the dire consequences of her actions as well, and her impulsivity is being driven by Romeo.

Her quick decision to marry Romeo is not accompanied by careful consideration. The decision, while being negligent and incautious, does not take into account the abiding feud between the two families. She decides almost instantly that she wishes to marry Romeo and does not acknowledge the possible outcomes. She has only known Romeo for a brief time before making the choice, yet apprises Romeo, “If thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow, by one that I’ll procure to come to thee, where and what time thou wilt perform the rite; All my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay, and follow thee my lord throughout the world (2.2.143-148). If Romeo’s intentions to love Juliet are true and honorable, then Juliet is willing to return the love and wed him. She is prepared to leave her old life behind to marry Romeo without recognizing the plausible outcomes. Only having known Romeo for a few hours, however, she has no way of knowing whether Romeo is speaking the truth about his love being true and honorable, as she is not given the chance to get to know him. She has not had the time to test the depth of Romeo’s devotion and commitment. As well as her irrational marriage to Romeo, Juliet, despite conjuring up many possible outcomes, decides to drink the potion in order to protect Romeo anyway. Lord Capulet unknowingly sets up a second marriage for Juliet in defiance of her denial. Juliet finds the thought of marrying the county Paris alarming and seeks out Friar Laurence for advice. Later, Juliet second guesses herself and the reliability of Friar Laurence plan to drink a potion, which will put her in a deep, death-like sleep, misleading her parents to believe she is dead so she will have the ability to run away with Romeo. She expresses her concerns about what will happen in the aftermath while invoking irrational scenarios,

including seeing the ghost of Tybalt seeking out Romeo: “Oh, look! Methinks I see my cousin’s ghost seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body upon a rapier’s point. Stay, Tybalt, stay! Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink. I drink to thee” (4.3.56-59). Juliet believes that she will see the apparition of her dead cousin Tybalt leaving the tomb in order to seek out his killer, Romeo. Juliet drinks the potion so that she will be ready to stop Tybalt’s ghost looking for revenge before he finds Romeo. While the scenario is not conceivable, Juliet finally makes the decision because of Romeo. She feels that she must drink the potion in order to rescue Romeo, who is her main motivation. Had it not been for Romeo, Juliet would have not chosen the riskier path but was influenced to do so by another.
Romeo, Friar Laurence, and Juliet’s decision making is often blinded by the influence of another, and it is shown throughout Romeo and Juliet by the impetuosity of the characters. From Romeo’s bold proclamation of death to Friar giving way to the marriage, each of the impulsive decisions was unwavering. They all were deprived of judgement and were only motivated by a significant person in their life. Although at several times characters make decisions which may seem like the best choice to them, they are always guided to the option by another individual whom they care about. If not careful, one may find themself in a difficult situation because they were unwilling to understand all of the possible outcomes. One only needs to be cautious and they will always select the superior option.