The Role Of Suicide In Romeo And Juliet

Suicide is a very serious and dangerous; once it is committed nothing can be done about it. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, both of the main characters (Romeo and Juliet) committed suicide. Fate seemed to be against the pair of star-crossed lovers. Unlike in Romeo and Juliet, if one has a friend that is considering suicide, fate is never against them, and there are many things they could do to respond to that friend.

One thing that could be done is to talk to someone else about it.. If you know that someone is considering suicide the least you can do for that person is telling someone like a responsible parent, teacher, or counselor. Friar Lawrance in Romeo and Juliet knew of both Romeo’s and Juliet’s suicide plans, and tried to prevent them with his own plan that eventually failed. This is a good representation of what can happen when trying to deal with a suicidal friend on our own. It is always a good idea to get help from a responsible other. In addition to

the previously stated, another thing that can be done is to tell them how much they mean to you and or how much you’d miss them. People who are considering suicide are blinded by feelings of hopelessness, they cannot see any way out of whatever situation they’re in other than taking their own life; if you tell them how much care about them that could open their eyes that it’s not all hopeless, because they have you. In addition to that, talking with them one on one could help, because they know you’ll be listening to them and the problems they have will be heard.
While everything listed above is great for preventing suicide, there is still a lot more that could be done to respond to a friend who is considering suicide. One of the biggest things that can be done is to listen. Most individuals who are considering suicide give some sort of warning sign; from blatantly talking about killing or hurting themselves to mood swings, or even ignoring his or her appearance. Once you realize these signs, you need to tell someone. You may recognize some of the warning signs, and want to speak up about it… But what if you’re wrong, what if they’ve had no thought of suicide, and are angry at you for thinking they would ever consider that? This is a real possibility, but if there are any recognizable signs shown you must tell someone. Relationships can be healed, and even though your friend may be angry at you for the moment, if they are considering suicide and go through with it, knowing you could’ve prevented it is a burden no one should have to bear.
There are a few things that people should consider when speaking with suicidal friends.

Arguing should not be done with the person who is considering suicide. Along with that, another thing that should not be done is telling them they will hurt people, because at this point it will only make things worse. Do not blame yourself; making you the scapegoat will not fix someone’s depression, or thoughts of suicide. Never swear or promise to keep your conversations of suicide with that person secret, because if you care about that person you will speak to an adult about it… Lying to a person in that mind state will only make things worse, making things seem even more hopeless. On the contrary, Romeo and Juliet were so angry that each other had died that they committed suicide… If they had thought through it and not acted on emotion, maybe neither one of them would have committed suicide. Suicide must be thought out, make sure you make anyone considering suicide aware of that; to not act on

emotion.

I believe that suicide is not an acceptable act. Even if someone gets bullied every day in high school, there is so much life ahead of them that suicide is not acceptable. If someone has lost a job, wife, house, etc., I still don’t believe suicide to be a suitable option because there is still life ahead; if they try their best they could have a decent life. There are tons of people who have it a lot worse, and people with disabilities in tough situations who can’t work and get money for themselves… I hope that anyone in that situation doesn’t commit suicide. It’s our duty as Christians to help anyone in need, and as long as we fulfill that duty, suicide will become less and less of an option for people.