Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet Essay â€Å"Wisely and slow, they run fast† Haste is described perfectly with that one quote. People don’t take into considerations the consequences of their actions. In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet adolescents who lack the wisdom obtained from life experience and react with dramatic haste, failing to contemplate the possible risks consequences of their actions is revealed. Through this tale of love there are many events leading to the tragic endings of his two main characters, Shakespeare shows how if rationality and patience is not used it will lead to downfall. Many teenagers, four hundred years ago and to this day are like Romeo and Juliet; impulsive and do things with too much haste. First of all, the fact that their entire relationship was five days long goes to show this haste. They fell out and in of love very quickly, at the beginning of the play, Romeo says he is desperately in love with a girl who goes by the name of Rosaline. His friends decide to prove to him how ridiculous his love for Rosaline is, by bringing him to a party. Upon laying eyes on Juliet, Romeo’s obsession over Rosaline is instantly replaced with a new one for Juliet. He asks himself, â€Å"Did my heart love till now? . This ironic sentence reveals exactly how Romeo allows himself to be dominated by his passion. Instead of having Juliet as some kind of example of how little he actually loved Rosaline, he allows himself to fall into deeper love. So we question our selves is it really love, or just lust, or maybe an obsession. In the balcony scene, before saying goodnight to Juliet, Romeo asks her for an â€Å"exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine†. Romeo asked Juliet to vow eternal love to him in return for his, after less than an hour of knowing her, this is in no way a rational action and is too spontaneous to be a wise decision to make. Romeo kills Tybalt in Act 3 Scene 1; he does so out of fury, another type of passion. Moments before, he had been willing to stop his best friend Mercutio to protect his new cousin-in-law; however, after seeing his friend killed under Tybalt’s arm, Romeo is enveloped by rage and the need to avenge him. Romeo, unaware of the plan Juliet and the Friar had arranged, later sees Juliet’s seemingly lifeless body. Seeking relief from the pain of thinking he had lost Juliet, Romeo pronounces these final words: â€Å"Here’s to my love! [Drinks. ] O true apothecary! / Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. [Falls. ] â€Å" . Romeo impulsively chooses to buy and drink poison, and this decision permanently solves the problem of his grief. Had Romeo thought about the whole situation a little longer and not been hasty, he could have saved himself and Juliet from suicide. Secondly, many of these hasty actions have been caused by a feud. Romeo and Juliet had many choices to make and if taken differently they could have not lead to deaths, but they chose not to follow the expectations they knew everyone had of them and instead decided to pursue their love for each other. The horrid feud between the Capulet and Montague families is a big part of Romeo and Juliet’s lives. The citizens around them expect the two families to hate each other and to spill each other’s blood, and do not expect them to be friends, let alone to marry a member of the other family. In Act 2 Scene 3, Romeo asks Friar Lawrence to marry him and Juliet. â€Å" Then plainly know my hearts dear love is set on the fair daughter of rich Capulet: as mine on hers, so hers is set on mine; and all combined, save what thou must combine by holy marriage: when and where and how we met, we wood and made exchange of vow, Ill tell thee as we pass; but this I pray, that thou consent to marry us to-day. Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet; because of their two families’ continuous feud, their society would never approve of their choice to fall in love and get married. Neither Romeo nor Juliet hesitate to think about what they are doing and so demonstrate their adolescent haste. Friar Laurence’s action to marry the kids was very hasty as well, he thought if he married them quickly and secretly it could help bring an end to the family fights, but as we all know it did nothing but make things worse. On the other hand, the feud can be caused by those hasty actions. No one would have died if there was no sign of Romeo falling in love with Juliet so quickly. Tybalt, Mercutio, Paris, Lady Capulet could be alive. These people dying cause the Montague’s and Capulet’s to be even madder at each other, they blamed each other for the deaths. Thirdly, all the haste threw out this entire play has made many consequences and one benefit. The first consequence is a sword fight that leads to death. Romeo does not want to fight tybalt because he is in love with Juliet and just married her, and Tybalt is the nephew of the Capulet’s. Tybalt takes no sympathy and fight with Romeo and Mercutio who gets a scratch. O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio dead! † Benvolio brings that horrid news to Romeo. After the announcement Romeo is very hurt and upset so he kills Tybalt. Two deaths from a simple marriage. If Romeo would have thought threw his actions of killing tybalt he might have not been banished from Verona, now he cannot see Juliet. Another consequence would be the fact that from all this quick love and haste Romeo and Juliet did not even get to really know one another or start a life together. Upon awakening from the induced coma Juliet had been put in by the Friar’s potion she sees Romeo dead next to her. She immediately decides to kill herself for real. Her last words are: â€Å"O happy dagger! [Snatches Romeos dagger. ] This is thy sheath[ Stabs herself]; there rust, and let me die[Falls on Romeo’s body, and dies]† . Deciding to end her life immediately is an extreme example of how Juliet acts with much haste, blinded by her passion to be with Romeo, dead or alive. All in all, there was one single benefit of all this nasty hast; the Montague and Capulet’s have ended their feud; it ended by their children’s death. â€Å"O brother Montague, give me thy hand. This is my daughter’s jointure, for no more can I demande† Capulet says to Montague at the end of the play, there we see the end of that nasty feud. In conclusion, we can all say hasty actions, are truly a waste. It kills the loved ones around you, frustrates everyone, and just in all gives many consequences towards yourself and the others around you. Romeo and Juliet proved to us that most teenagers for ages now still take decisions without thinking and get them self caught in a big knot. All though a love story, Shakespeare play turns into quite the ironic tragedy relating to one main thing; Haste.