Romeo and Juliet Essay Example

Love is a timeless tale told over and over again in many societies since the beginning of time, however, all stories told have the same true meaning: love is not an infatuation, but a reason to give yourself to someone truly and completely. Many stories have been written on the difference between love and infatuation, and the trouble the confusion can get you into. William Shakespeare’s classic tragic novel, Romeo and Juliet, is a story about fate and the trouble it can get two young lovers into. 

Romeo and Juliet are two teenagers who belong to two feuding families that have been fighting since the dawn of time. Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet. Despite their opposing last names, they are drawn to each other by the power of fate and true love, or so it seems. Since they are not allowed to be together, they devise a plan in order to get married and live together forever after only knowing each other for two days. In the end, their plan fails miserably and results in the deaths of not only their own but many around them involved in the conflict. The painful deaths of both Romeo and Juliet are caused by themselves. 

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare portrays the deaths of Romeo and Juliet as if they were destined to happen. However, Romeo is equally responsible for his death and for Juliet’s death as fate because of his hasty and immature decisions. Romeo, who was previously lovesick over another woman just minutes before spotting Juliet, is known for making rash and audacious decisions when it comes to women. Romeo, in disguise, attends a Capulet dinner in order to find his previous infatuation, Rosalind, and try to persuade her to be with him. However, he quickly forgets about Rosalind when he sees Juliet dancing and is swift and tries to win her over. 

As he is watching Juliet, he says, “Beauty too rich for use, for Earth too dear...Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, for I ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (1.5.54, 59-60). Romeo had just been infatuated with Rosalind but once he saw Juliet, instantly declared his love for her based on her looks. Romeo did not know anything about her, nor he was about to pursue a Capulet. Romeo’s rash decisions lead him to a predictable future. Furthermore, Romeo’s ill-advised and prudent choices lead to his inevitable demise. Juliet, Romeo’s “true love” fakes her own death in order to escape with Romeo.

However, Romeo does not receive the message telling him about her fake death and truly believes his love is gone forever. Due to his rash thinking, he devises a plan to poison himself so he can be with Juliet. “Come, cordial and not poison, go with me to Juliet’s grave, for there must I use thee” (5.1.91-92). Romeo decides to kill himself only a matter of minutes after finding out that Juliet had “died”. His harsh decision resulted in Juliet’s death as well because he did not wait long enough to receive the message from Friar Laurence, the person who married them and helped to administrate Juliet’s plan. If Romeo had not been so rash, then he would have been able to wait and see that Juliet was not dead and Juliet would not have killed herself resulting in both of their deaths. Due to Romeo’s ill-considered and quick decisions, Romeo was to blame for his own death. 

The Cause of Death

In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the cause of Romeo and Juliet’s death is often wrongfully perceived. This is because Juliet is one of the many factors that play into the deaths of the famous Romeo and Juliet. Juliet, a dainty young thirteen-year-old, becomes entranced with Romeo after she flirts with him at the ball. However, Juliet declares her love for Romeo after only knowing him for one night.

This decision is rash and leads to many consequences because he is a Montague and she is a Capulet. She says, “Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (2.2.37-39). Juliet rashly decides that she would betray her family and give up her family name in order to be with a man she just met although she knows what the consequences of dating a Montague would be. This helps lead to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because the Capulets and Montagues have an everlasting feud that would not allow for the marriage of Romeo and Juliet. 

Additionally, Juliet contributes to her demise by making the hasty decision to pretend to kill herself after she finds out that Romeo has been banished from Verona. She exclaims, “Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink. I drink to thee” (4.3.59-60).  After consulting Friar Laurence, Juliet decides to avoid marriage to Paris, her suitor, in order to escape with Romeo. However, the plan deteriorates quickly when Juliet hurriedly drinks a sleeping potion and Romeo does not receive the letter confirming the fake death. This causes Romeo to kill himself out of grief and his desire to be with Juliet after her hasty plan goes wrong. All in all, Juliet is an equal contributor to the deaths of Romeo and herself. 

Conclusion

Throughout the tragic novel, Shakespeare gives us reason to believe that Romeo and Juliet were to blame for their deaths based on their hasty and ill-advised life choices. This is due to Romeo deciding he loved Juliet on the spot and Juliet’s careless actions despite the consequences she knew she would face. Furthermore, Romeo and Juliet are the causes of their deaths because of the infatuation they felt for each other rather than the love they felt for each other. 

All of the above shows that Juliet and Romeo were the main causes of their deaths. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare took two teenagers at their ripe age and showed the audience what happens when others make rash, hasty, and severe choices. Even when someone thinks their actions may help the other person, they can result in detrimental effects.