Victim or Culprit?

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Most of the time, young minds are not always capable of making good decisions. Romeo and Juliet refused to see this, which ultimately led them to their demise. Their course of action had disrupted the great chain of being, which started and concluded the chaos in the play. Furthermore, Shakespeare had written out alternate option for both the lovers and yet, they both refused to see them, and continued to disrupt the system. Finally, Romeo and Juliet had acted with haste, sealing their tragic fate.The choices the that the two “star-crossed lovers” made, led them to their death.

It was common knowledge that a disruption of the great chain of being, causes chaos, and yet, Romeo and Juliet tried to alter it anyways.When Romeo and Juliet fell in love, they were altering fate. At the end of act one, scene 5, Juliet realizes that Romeo was a Montague, and says this, “My only love sprung from my only hate”(I. v, 138). Romeo and Juliet still chose to pursue their love for each other, even though the feud between the Capulets and Montagues would most certainly not allow it. By continuing to love each other, they were trying to overpower destiny. Because the order had to be restored, fate went against them. If Romeo and Juliet had tried to go along with what was already written in the stars, they may have survived and lived a prosperous life. The two also went against their parents and elders. Juliet does this in act three, when she refuses Lord Capulet’s (her father’s) proposal to marry Paris. Lord Capulet responds with intense rage and says things like, “Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get thee to church o’Thursday, or never after look me in the face. Speak not, reply not, do not answer me!”(III. v, 161-...

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...events leading up to his death may not have happened. If Romeo thought about what the consequences to starting a fight with Tybalt would do, he would not have killed him, and he would not be in Mantua. If Romeo had thought about Juliet’s death and talked to Friar Lawrence before he did anything, both of the lovers would still be alive. Maybe, if Romeo and Juliet took things slower and acted rationally, they may have had a “happily ever after”.

Romeo and Juliet were responsible for their own deaths. If they had obeyed the great chain of being, fate would not have gone against them. They could have done anything with their lives, and yet they chose to be together, despite the consequences. Their acts of haste and impulse was the last straw, which drove them to their death. The immature minds of the two lovers would not have allowed them to make good decisions.

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