Romeo and Juliet Critique
Growing in the Wrong Ways
Although immaturity can’t be seen at first sight, it isn’t difficult. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet fall in love. Romeo is the son of the Montagues while Juliet is the daughter of the Capulets and their households have a rivalry that have been going on for many years. They go through many obstacles that their parents create and their own decisions may obstruct them from hiding their love. In the end, Romeo and Juliet end up sacrificing their lives for each other. As the story unfolds, the lovers become more immature because they are still young, impatient, and impulsive.
In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet are lovers who fell in love with each other at quite a young age. Paris is interested in getting married with Juliet, but Capulet explains that his, “...child is yet a stranger in the world...hath not seen the change of fourteen years” (1.2.8-9). Capulet is telling Paris that Juliet is still too young to be married at the age of thirteen, but she will marry him either way when she turns fourteen. Even though Romeo is older than Juliet, he himself has not grown up yet. After murdering Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, Romeo hears of his banishment. Romeo goes to Friar Lawrence’s cell to hide. Romeo is, “Blubb’ring and weeping, weeping and blubb’ring-” (3.3.95) because he can’t be with Juliet. Romeo keeps acting like a baby and can’t handle the penalty like a man. Fortunately, Friar Lawrence orders him to get it together and explains his plan to Romeo. In addition to behaving like adolescents, Romeo and Juliet are unaware of how to be patient.
The couple’s naivety is displayed in their lack of patience to further their relationship. The rushing caused many misunderstandings and ultimately, their deaths. They are both immature in that they believe suicide is the quick solution to a temporary problem because they can’t wait for the right time. When Juliet goes off to Friar Lawrence’s cell for his help, she confesses,“I long to die If what thou speak’st speak not of remedy.” (4.1.67-68). Juliet is commanded by her father to marry Paris, but she does not want to marry him because she is still in love with Romeo and plans to commit suicide, unless Friar Lawrence comes up with a better plan. Juliet’s plan of killing herself is no way to solve a problem because she can always wait for the right time to run away with Romeo. Additionally, after Romeo finds out that his wife is dead, he wants to immediately visit her. His servant, Balthasar, adds to his explanation,“I do beseech you,sir, have patience. Your looks are pale and wild and do import Some misadventure.” (5.1.29-30). Romeo orders Balthasar to fetch him horses to go to Juliet’s tomb, but he advises Romeo to wait awhile because his expression shows that he may do something that he will regret. Unfortunately, Romeo ignores this because he can’t delay his meeting with Juliet.Their ignorant personalities lead them to make hasty decisions.
Romeo and Juliet prove themselves to be immature because of their impetuous behavior. They tend to jump into things without properly thinking it through prior to their actions. In Romeo’s case, he is deeply saddened by his unrequited love of Rosaline. However as soon as he sees Juliet, he is in love. When Romeo asks Friar Lawrence to marry him and Juliet, the friar responds with, “Young men’s love then lies Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” (2.3.67-68). During the exposition, Romeo had just met Juliet at the Capulet feast and instantly fell in love with her, forgetting all about Rosaline. Judging by how quick he admired Juliet, his love for her can’t be from his heart, but from his eyes because he just saw Juliet from afar and thought she was attractive. Because of his abrupt change of crushes, he made a rash decision about his marriage with Juliet and did not decide to get to know her more before making an important judgement. As for Juliet, her spontaneous demeanor is presented during the climax. She comes back to life and finds Romeo dead. She find his dagger and exclaims, “O, happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die.” (5.3.174-175). Because Juliet is willing to do anything to keep their love, she commits suicide to be with Romeo, using his dagger. She didn’t take time to think it through like how it would affect her family, she just stabbed herself just to be with Romeo, who may not even truly love her.
Overall, Romeo and Juliet are incredibly immature. They are still young to be in love and making their own decisions. Furthermore, they are extremely impatient and usually plan to kill themselves. Because of their unwillingness to wait, they have an attitude that makes them act without thought. Due to their ignorance, their lives have taken a turn for the worse.
Glossary:
- immaturity- (n.) act of being not fully grown yet and lacking knowledge of maturity
- obstruct- (v.) to block
- impulsive- (adj.) suddenly done with no planning
- naivety- (n.) act of having a lack of experience; innocent
- beseech- (v.) to ask someone urgently
- hasty- (adj.) done with hurried manner
- impetuous- (adj.) done with no care
- unrequited- (adj.) not shared or returned by someone else
- exposition- (n.) the part of the story where the main characters, plot, and setting is introduced
- abrupt- (adj.) sudden and unexpected
- rash- (adj.) displaying lack of consideration of the outcomes of an action
- demeanor- (n.) behavior
- climax- (n.) the turning point of a story
- sheath- (n.) a close-fitting cover for something
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