Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Romeo’s character displays a courtly love
Romeo’s character displays a courtly love
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Romeo’s character displays a courtly love
A Balancing Act Traditionalism versus progressivism: When should something stay the same and when does it need to change? This is a question that constantly plagues the modern day person. Numerous customs from decades ago drastically differ from the customs followed today, but there are traditions that have been passed from generation to generation still intact today as well. Although different traditions seem important enough to pass down, time may prove that they’re very outdated or downright wrong. Elizabethan Era customs play a big part in Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy that follows two secret lovers from rivaling families. Romeo and Juliet take great lengths to be together, even though they were constricted by various traditions, causing …show more content…
When Romeo deviated from normality by opting for peace against Tybalt, Mercutio was outraged at Romeo’s “calm, dishonorable, vile submission” and challenged Tybalt to duel him instead. (3.1.74). The fact that Romeo wouldn’t fight disgusted Mercutio, who got himself killed because he couldn’t accept the peace Romeo strived for. Romeo’s refusal to fight like an ordinary man and stop the violence inadvertently led to the death of Mercutio since Mercutio’s pride was too strong to allow Tybalt to insult them. Alongside Romeo’s personal tragedy, Juliet is also facing her own problem. She doesn’t want to marry Paris, making her father angry at her disobedience. She is powerless as her father threatens to let her “hang, beg, starve, die in the streets” (3.5.204). Lord Capulet was furious that Juliet wasn’t listening to him and was willing to go as far as disowning her. Consequently, she wouldn’t survive on her own because she is a woman. Despite the fact that she doesn’t act like a submissive woman, she is still treated like one, so when she gave her viewpoint on her life, she was instantly shut out. She was forced to agree with the marriage, but in reality, she knew she couldn’t marry Paris because her heart and her hand belonged to Romeo already. She rushes to Friar Lawrence for assistance. If her “heart with treacherous revolt/ Turn to another, [the knife] shall slay them both” (5.1.64-65). Juliet gave the Friar an ultimatum: help her escape or she’d kill herself. They came up with a hastily-made plan that relied on too much luck, which would undeniably assist in Romeo and Juliet’s suicides in the
Romeo senses tensions are high with Tybalt, so he states, “I do protest I never injured thee but love thee better than thou canst devise.” (Lines 65-66 Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is trying to diffuse the situation because he realizes that Tybalt is his love's cousin. Mercutio is surprised by Romeo’s behavior, so he decides to fight Tybalt himself. Mercutio’s decision to fight Tybalt leads to his own death. Romeo is angered by the death of Mercutio and states, “Now, Tybalt, take the “villain" back again/ That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio’s soul.” (Lines 123-124 of Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is indicating that Tybalt is the villain now, because he slayed Mercutio. Romeo forgets about his attempt to befriend the Capulets and slays Tybalt. Romeo, murderer of Tybalt, solely focuses on Juliet and states “Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say “death"/For exile hath more terror in his look.” (Lines 12-13 of Act Three, Scene Three). Romeo does not care about Tybalt’s life, but only cares for the way it affects his relationship with Juliet. Romeo’s mother dies out of grief because of his banishment. Romeo’s recklessness in loving Juliet has led to the death of three
Juliet refuses to marry Paris, saying, “Now, by Saint Peter's Church and Peter too, / He shall not make me there a joyful bride!” (3.5, 121-122). This quote shows that Juliet is disobedient and unreasonable, It is shown because as soon as talk of marrying Paris come up, Juliet breaks down crying and starts raising her voice. A little while after the last scene, the Nurse tries to give Juliet some advice, Juliet’s response is, “Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend! / ... I'll to the Friar to know his remedy. / If all else fail, myself have power to die.” (3.5, 248, 254-255). This scene also shows that Juliet is disobedient and unreasonable because, Juliet blatantly goes behind her parents back to make a plan that goes against their wishes. Her actions show that Juliet changes for the worse near the end of the story.
Mercutio can be blamed for Romeo and Juliet’s peril because he initiated the fight with Tybalt and forced Romeo to go to the Capulet’s party. At the beginning of the play, Romeo gets invited to the Capulet’s party by a servant, unless he was a Montague. At first, Romeo did not want to go, but Mercutio eventually convinced him under the pretext that Rosaline, Romeo’s love, was going to be there. The next day, Tybalt, a Capulet, went looking for Romeo because he knew that Romeo was at the Capulet party. Instead, he stumbled upon Mercutio and Benvolio and asked them where he could find Romeo. However, Mercutio did not want to tell him and insisted on having a duel. Tybalt killed Mercutio during the fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt because he has the need to avenge his friend. Unfortunately, Prince Escalus punished Romeo by banishing him from Verona. This made Romeo and Juliet’s love
because she has been trying to obey her parents as much as possible. and happily goes along with her fathers advice in the first Act, about considering Paris to marry? We are made to feel sorry for Juliet as nothing is going right for her. and she has no one to turn to. Although her father may have a point in saying that she has not obeyed him, who is to say that she has to.
Mercutio: Menî–¸ eyes were made to look, and let them gaze. I will not budge for no manî–¸ pleasure, I. This is just a small sampling of crime and violence versus peace and law. Later in this scene, Mercutio challenges Tybalt in a duel, then when Mercutio is slain, Romeo goes on to challenge Tybalt, killing him. If Mercutio, Tybalt and Romeo would have listened to Benvolio, the fights would have not occurred, and the outcome of the play would be changed. An example of love versus hate occurs through the relationship Romeo and Juliet and the hate between their families.
Romeo was very loyal to his friends and family, and it is possible that Mercutio thought that Romeo would help him fight off Tybalt (since he was unaware of Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage that somewhat united Romeo and Tybalt). However, this argument is easily deemed invalid. Romeo was not in the town square when the fight had first began, so Mercutio expecting his help in the fight would be a far-fetched idea. A person who is not present cannot help or hinder the situation at hand. In addition, Romeo tried to break up the fight when he said, “Gentlemen, for shame forbear this outrage! Tybalt! Mercutio! The Prince expressly hath forbid this bandying in Verona streets. Hold, Tybalt! Good Mercutio!” (Shakespeare 121). Romeo tried to stop the fight and therefore gave Mercutio more time before death, albeit minimal. The blame cannot be placed on Romeo since he did all that he could to stop the fight from
Also in the beginning of the play a fight breaks out between the Montague and Capulet families and the Prince intervenes and after telling them to drop their weapons he says “If ever you disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.” Although this rule was given Tybalt challenged Romeo to a duel. Romeo kept refusing to fight Tybalt which caused Mercutio to be outraged and draw his own sword. During the duel between Tybalt and Mercutio, Romeo intervenes and tries to stop them both but Tybalt puts his sword under Romeo’s arm and kills Mercutio. Romeo then fights with Tybalt and murders him and is banished from Verona. If Tybalt hadn’t been so aggressive with the whole situation Romeo wouldn’t have been banished, and Juliet wouldn’t have needed to come up with a plan that resulted in both of their deaths.
Many events towards the ending of the play suggest she is very obstinate, which is quite different from the beginning of the play before Juliet even thought of marriage or defying her parents and family. In Juliet’s first scene, she talks to her Mother and the Nurse. Her Mother brought up the topic of marriage and Lord Paris. This is when we first see a young girl who has just begun to grow up. She replies with the fact that she hasn’t considered marriage yet.
After Tybalt killed Mercutio and Romeo challenges him to a duel, Romeo demands, “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 Act III scene i, lines 119-123). This quote shows how Romeo’s downfall is partly his fault because he is defying the prince’s command to no longer fight with the Capulets by challenging Tybalt. Since Romeo is aware that he is defying the prince and fighting anyway it is proven he is contributing to his own demise or downfall. When Mercutio is wounded after fighting Tybalt , he cries, “I am hurt/ A plague o’ both your houses!” (Shakespeare Act III scene i, lines 84-85). The excerpt shows how even Mercutio recognizes the feud between the Montagues and Capulets being destructive, and how it is now gotten so out of hand he has been dragged in it. Mercutio tries to open Romeo’s eyes on how if this feud continues there will be a demise for both families; but by Romeo choosing to ignore this advice and killing Tybalt he is setting himself up for his failure/downfall. Thus, Romeo is shown a tragic hero because his demise is partly his fault and not an
After catching Romeo at a party he was not supposed to be at, Tybalt had it out for Romeo. Just after Romeo and Juliet’s wedding, Tybalt comes looking for him wanting to fight. Romeo does not want to fight because he now loves Tybalt since he is family to him, but neither Tybalt or anyone else knows this reason. Quickly, Mercutio steps in and tells Tybalt that he will fight him in honour of Romeo. Sadly, this led to the death of Mercutio.
Juliet has never been in a relationship before, so this is a new experience for her. Lady Capulet, Capulet, the nurse, and others thought that she is being ridiculous. They think that she is stubborn and foolish for not wanting to marry Paris. Her father gets very upset when he hears Juliet will not and does not want to marry Paris as he expresses to her.
The fact that the Capulets threatened to disown Juliet if she doesn’t marry Paris also adds to why it was too late. The Friar didn’t want Juliet to kill herself, so he decided to come up with a plan for her and Romeo to be together instead; however, his plan wasn’t perfect and could be seen as a reason for punishment. The Friar was going to have Juliet drink a potion that would put her in a death-like state the night before her wedding; however, after Juliet told her father that she would marry Paris, he said “Send for the county. Go tell him of
Romeo denies the fate of Mercutio who fought against Tybalt and lost, so he challenges Tybalt to fight in defense of his honor. His sense of honor would not allow himself to ignore the death of Mercutio. It mandated his absurd behavior to take Tybalt’s life which even further separated the Montague and Capulet family. Moreover, Romeo still decides to marry Juliet after he takes Tybalt’s life. His sense of honor leads him to find Father Lawrence who will marry both Juliet
Although Capulet wanted the best for Juliet, he didn't give a thought on how she felt and had forced her to marry Paris which had caused problems that led to her tragic end. She didn't want to marry someone who she did not love and wanted to escape this marriage. Her method of escape was death. Capulet's controlling actions appeared as early as Act I Scene 2, when he was arranging Juliet's marriage to Paris without her consent. Paris wondered if Juliet would like him and Capulet responded with, "Of my child's love: I think she will be ruled. In all respects by me; nay, more, I doubt it not." (IV, 3, ln. 13-14). stating that he doesn't just think Juliet will like him but that he knows she will like him. When Juliet refuses to marry Paris, he shouted, "To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church, Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither." (V, 3, ln. 154-155). making her agree to go to the church. Although she did agree to go, her thought of, "I'll to the friar, to know his remedy; If all else fail, myself have power to die." (V, 3, ln. 241-242). showed that she did not plan on marrying Paris and that she would die first. Juliet's arrangement to Paris had brought her death because it had resulted in the potion plan which had caused Romeo and Juliet to die. If Capulet had never forced Juliet to marry Paris, she would have been living happily with Romeo.
Romeo on the other hand would much rather use his words than resort to violence. In Act 3, scene 1, during the violent encounter between Mercutio and Tybalt, Romeo is seen as trying to settle the feud between the two men rather than them getting into a fight. “Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up. / Draw, Benvolio; beat down their weapons. / Gentlemen, for shame! forbear this outrage!” (3.1.83-86). Romeo is once again portrayed as more feminine since he is trying to diffuse the situation using his words and not actions. However, later in the scene when Mercutio is murdered, Romeo’s feminine traits as well as masculine traits are portrayed since he only then resorts to violence in order to defend Mercutio’s honour and avenge his death. This shows that Romeo has the capability to show his more masculine side when he choses. Unfortunately, when faced with difficult circumstances, Romeo is forced to choose between the two sets of