Romeo And Juliet Sacrifice Essay

638 Words2 Pages

Death. The. Love. Love. Love. Love. Sacrifice. The. William Shakespeare features all of those in what many regard as one of, if not the greatest, plays ever written, Romeo and Juliet. Combining the elements of a tragedy and a comedy together, he tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers who ultimately fall dead. Their demise resulted from factors completely outside of their control, not because of their bad choices. These characters are tragic because their actions were the most reasonable option they had, other people influenced the outcome, and there was hatred among the families. To start, their actions were the most reasonable option they had. There are many situations throughout the play where the decisions made by the characters look bad in hindsight but are reasonable at the moment. For example, some may argue that Romeo should have consulted Friar Lawrence before going to Juliet …show more content…

Being so young, Romeo and Juliet had outside forces trying to dictate what happened to them, which is especially the case for Juliet, being a woman. Even Friar Lawrence, Romeo’s confidant, only married the two for selfish reasons. Although opposing views claim getting married was their choice, Romeo would have waited longer had the nurse not pushed him to marry Juliet and had Friar Lawrence not agreed. When Capulet ultimately forced Juliet to marry Paris, she would not have to resort to such extremes and fake her own death. Another example is Friar John’s failure to reach Romeo on time. Had Romeo received the friar’s message before Balthasar arrived, he would not have drank the poison. The most obvious example, though, is that if Lord Capulet had not tried to force Juliet to marry Paris, she would not have had to fake her death. Lord Capulet’s control over Juliet was the biggest factor in her death. If Juliet could simply do what she wanted to do and be who she wanted to be, she and Romeo could live a happy life

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