Romeo and Juliet

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The main characters of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
have long inspired audiences’ pity. For hundreds of years, people
have watched as the two characters meet, fall in love, and—both
heartbroken—take their last breaths. While the play’s ending is
tragic, the famous lovers’ deaths are the result of their own impulsive
decisions. Romeo and Juliet were not destined to die in each other’s
arms. That outcome was not inevitable. Instead, their own bad
decisions brought them to that terrible point.


When the play begins, the city of Verona is being battered by a rivalry
between two important families: the House of Montague and the House
of Capulet. Swordsmen from both families hurl insults at one another
and fight in the streets. Romeo, the son of the head of the Montagues,
sneaks into the Capulets’ party. Here he sees Juliet, daughter of Capulet,
and the two fall head-over-heels in love. Even though their families
would never accept their union, they are more than willing to throw
away everything to be together—having known each other for barely
an evening. Indeed, Juliet says as much of their love:


It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say it lightens. . . .


The sheer lack of care with which they pursue their romance is
startling. Neither tries to find a way to reconcile their parents to the
idea, or even to flee the city. Instead, they hurriedly marry in secret.
As the play continues, the drama of poor judgment unfolds. Juliet’s
cousin Tybalt goads Romeo to fight. Unwilling to fight a relative of Juliet’s, Romeo refuses. The situation deteriorates further, eventually leading to Romeo’s killing of Tybalt. Throughout these events, Romeo simply reacts in the heat of the moment. He is not guided by principle or clear thinking. The result is that he is forced to leave Verona in exile, a situation that sets up the final deadly outcome.

Juliet is shocked when she hears of Romeo’s exile. In another
example of startling miscalculation, she chooses to fake her own
death in order to escape to be with him. She does not even wait to
make sure Romeo knows about her plan. At this point, the play
proceeds with a cruel irony that ends with Juliet and Romeo taking
their own lives.

This play features numerous references to the stars, which
symbolize destiny or the absence of human choice and control. These
references seem to support the idea that Romeo and Juliet never
had any influence over the paths their lives would take. They were
destined to meet and destined to die. Indeed, the Prologue calls
the two leads “star-cross’d lovers,” meaning lovers doomed by the
stars, or destiny. Romeo suggests as much before he goes to the party
where he first meets Juliet:


I fear, too early; for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars

When Romeo hears of Juliet’s “death,” he cries out against fate:
“Then, I defy you, stars!” Yet she is not actually dead, nor is the
situation controlled by the stars. Romeo does not know this, but the
audience does—Juliet’s “death” is not a result of destiny but of her own
choices. Despite some instances of pure ill fortune, most of the tragic
events are the result of Romeo and Juliet’s youthful decisions and haste.
In short, Romeo and Juliet were not the victims of destiny. Instead, the
two stumbled into their own tragedy. Rather than suffering inevitable
doom, they made fatal mistakes. The stars may shine above the events
of this play, but that is not the true reason for the tragic outcome.

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The Tempest Poem