Emotion and Logic in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Essay Example

In the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, emotion overrules logic many times in the play by characters. 

Romeo is a great example of that. For example, in act 2, scene 3. Romeo states, “Then plainly know my heart's 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 woo'd and made exchange of vow, I'll tell thee as we pass; but this I pray,That thou consent to marry us to-day” although Romeo and Juliet have only known each other for a few days, they already want to get married. It shows that love has made them impulsive, also Romeo is known for fawning over women easily, because of that when Romeo saw Juliet ‘dead’ he immediately drank the poison, which led to his death.

Another example of emotion overruling logic is when Juliet says she would drop her last name for Romeos in act 2, scene 2. “O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? 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.” This is a huge example because the feud between the Montagues and the Capulet family is very well known and she states she would leave the Capulet name for a man she's known for a few days, also while knowing that if she did that, the families would go to fight over the situation. This also led to her killing herself. 

Romeo and Juliet have been two examples of the emotion Love dominating logic. Tybalt is a character that shows immense anger for the Montagues, he also shows how the history of the families affects everyone differently. This is shown in act 1, scene 1. “What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues,” This displays that the hatred for the Montagues has become his whole personality, it’s what drives him. It’s also the cause of his death. His hostility against the family clouds his logical thinking when he gets in an argument with Mercutio or Romeo. Emotion just influences his actions. 

These three characters show how emotion drive their actions in a bad or good ways. There are many other characters that demonstrate it but Romeo, Juliet, and Tybalt are huge examples of when passion overrules reason, tragedy often follows.