How Lack of Communication Impacted Romeo and Juliet (Essay Sample)

Good communication is vital in most parts of life. When there is a lack of it, the consequences can be catastrophic. There are many things that can create a lack of communication. In the play Romeo and Juliet, the lack of communication is at the root of all the problems. The three things that created the lack of communication are, the fate of the two lovers, the speed of the story, and the feud between the two families. The fate of the star-crossed lovers created a lack of communication, thus leading to their deaths. The speed of the story prompted everyone to act before they thought, thus leading to their deaths. Finally, the feud between the two households and the poor family dynamics stopped Romeo and Juliet from turning to their families, which created a lot of bad communication, thus leading to their deaths. Evidently, there are a lot of things that created a lack of communication that led to the deaths of the star-crossed lovers. 

Fate is a tricky thing to change. The fate of Romeo and Juliet is their untimely deaths. But said fate also created lots of bad communication, which led to the tragedy. For example, when Romeo went to Juliet’s tomb, he found her dead. He then proceeded to kill himself, but what he didn't know was that Juliet was not dead. Romeo states, “Thou art not conquer’d, beauty’s ensign yet, Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, And death’s pale flag is not advanced there.” (Romeo and Juliet, V, iii, 94-96) This quote has dramatic irony. Because he says how her lips are still warm, but he doesn't know why. The audience knows that this is because Juliet is not really dead. And she wakes up not long after. Romeo, believes his fate is to commit suicide beside Juliet, but because of this belief, he just missed Juliet and didn't get to talk to her and clear everything out. Another example of how fate created a lack of communication is when Friar John could not send Friar Laurence’s letter to Romeo. Fate had it that Friar John caught the plague and could not send the letter. We see this when he returns to Friar Laurence, and says. “I could not send it—here it is again—Nor get a messenger to bring it thee, so fearful were they of infection.” (V, ii, 14-16) But, because of this, no one communicated the plan to Romeo, therefore killing Romeo, Juliet, and Paris.

Another thing that created a lack of communication is the speed of the whole play. Romeo and Juliet meet on Sunday and die on Thursday. Because of this, there were many times when the play was moving so fast that communication lacked. For example, Friar Laurence has very limited time to come up with a plan to save Juliet, and the plan he opted for has many holes, and was very rushed. His plan relied a lot on Friar John, which shows a lot when he says, “I’ll send a friar with speed To Mantua with my letters to thy lord.” (IV, i, 123-124) But because Friar John only had one day to send the letter, he could not accomplish the very important task. Creating a lack of communication when no one informed Romeo of the plan. Which later killed Romeo and his Juliet. Also, when Juliet woke up in her tomb, Friar Laurence tried to convince her to leave. “I hear some noise.—Lady, come from that nest Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep. A greater power than we can contradict Hath thwarted our intentions. Come, come away.” (V, iii, 151-154) This quote shows that since they could already hear footsteps, Friar Laurence lacked time to convince Juliet. If he had more time to convince her to stay, the play may have had a different ending. But because he did have enough time, she stayed and killed herself. In short, the speed of the play created a lot of bad communication, which led to the deaths of the young lovers.

Finally, the Montague and Capulet feud and the poor family dynamics created the most lack of communication. Juliet used her Nurse as her counsel instead of her parents. This was shown when she comments, “O God! O nurse, how shall this be prevented?” (III, v, 205) She said this right after she got into a fight with her parents. And instead of turning to them for advice, she turns to her nurse. The nurse gives her bad advice when she tells her to marry Paris. So, Juliet goes to the Friar and devises a plan that kills both her and Romeo. If Juliet could have had better communication with her parents, it could've maybe prevented the tragic ending. Furthermore, Romeo couldn't tell Tybalt that they are cousins because of his love for Juliet, who is a Capulet. The feud between the families prevents him from telling Tybalt because of the backlash it would cause to his marriage. This is evident when Romeo says, “I do protest I never injured thee But love thee better than thou canst devise Till thou shalt know the reason of my love. And so, good Capulet, which name I tender As dearly as mine own, be satisfied.” (III, i, 65-69) He tells Tybalt that he doesn't want to fight because he loves him since they are now cousins. But Tybalt does not have this information, and the feud prevents Romeo from telling him. Hence, killing Tybalt and Mercutio. In addition, Romeo and Juliet couldn't even speak to each other. This is evident when just after they meet Juliet declares, “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” (II, ii, 144-146) Even if they have known each other for only a couple of hours they are already talking about sending letters to each other as a way of communication. This creates all sorts of problems, whether it be the death of Romeo, Juliet, Lady Montague, Tybalt, Mercutio, or even Paris.

In conclusion, lack of communication created all the problems in Romeo and Juliet. It caused all the sorrow, all the banishments, and all the deaths. Every single thing that goes wrong could have been avoided if there was better communication. But, a lot of things caused the bad communication. Fate caused bad communication because Romeo and Juliet were meant to die. Everything that could go wrong always did go wrong. The speed of the play also created bad communication. None of the characters had time to think about what they were really doing. For example, Friar Laurence did not have the time to think clearly about his plan. Lastly, the feud and the poor family dynamic made sure that the teenagers could not speak to their parents, each other, or other members of the opposite families. Romeo and Juliet is a very interesting story with a tragic ending. But as was stated, the tragic ending was the fault of bad communication.