Love, Death, and Tragedy in Romeo and Juliet (Free Essay Sample)

Of the 37 plays Shakespeare had written, Romeo and Juliet is one of his most famous. This iconic tragedy truly encompasses the idea of true love and tells the story of Romeo and Juliet’s love and the many obstacles that intrude on it. The play starts off with a lovesick Romeo and his group of Montagues who sneak into a Capulet party; the place where Romeo Montague falls in love with Juliet Capulet. Lord Capulet has already arranged a marriage between Juliet and Count Paris, but with the help of her nurse, Juliet marries Romeo. The next day, Romeo attempts to stop a street fight which leads to the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, for which Romeo is banished. In a desperate attempt to be reunited with Romeo, Juliet follows the Friar’s plan and fakes her own death. Romeo never gets the message and believes that Juliet has died. He visits her tomb, slays Paris, and takes his own life besides Juliet. When she wakes up with Romeo's corpse next to her, Juliet takes his blade and kills herself. The grieving families agreed to end their feud to prevent more death in their diminishing families. Not only did Romeo and Juliet kill themselves, but they also never tried to prevent their deaths. The Montague and Capulet feud also forced their hands to take the actions they took, but it is clear that fate had no part in Romeo and Juliet’s deaths.

From the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, there had been many subtle and not-so-subtle hints of the tragedy for this pair of lovers. Both of these characters had noticed all the warnings and, yet, ignored them. At every chance they had to save themselves, they continued on the path that inevitably lead to their demise. In Scene 4 of Act 1, Romeo states, “I fear, too early; for my mind misgives / Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars, / Shall bitterly begin his fearful date / With this night's revels and expire the term / Of a despised life, clos'd in my breast, / By some vile forfeit of untimely death. / But he that hath the steerage of my course / Direct my sail! On, lusty gentlemen!” Romeo is having doubts about going to the party, believing that this event may lead to his death. However, the quote also shows that Romeo doesn’t believe that he can change his “fate,” since it is up to whoever is in charge of it. Even when his friends had tried to convince Romeo to go to the party, he had given in easily. Another example of this is in Act 2, Scene 6, when Friar Lawrence had said, “These violent delights have violent ends / And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, / Which, as they kiss, consume.” He is trying to warn Romeo of the possible outcomes of their hastiness. Even though Romeo is unable to respond since Juliet had arrived, he still acted nonchalantly about this warning. I believe that this reaction only proves that Romeo would rather risk his life than preserve it. Later in Act 3, Scene 5, Romeo and Juliet have one final conversation before Romeo leaves to carry out his banishment. During this, Juliet said, “O God, I have an ill-divining soul! / Methinks I see thee, now thou art below, / As one dead in the bottom of a tomb. / Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.” Romeo responded, saying, “And trust me, love, in my eye so do you. / Dry sorrow drinks our blood.” Both of them were well aware that this imagery could become truth, yet they continued to do anything to be with each other. In fact, from that moment on, Romeo and Juliet began making hasty decisions and acting in desperation.

It’s well known that Romeo and Juliet were from two different feuding families. These characters had a forbidden love that they had to hide from everyone. They had both made risky moves to see each other, but they were protected, for the most part, under the prince’s order. As it was stated in Act 1, Scene 1, by Prince Escalus, “Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, / Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel … If ever you disturb our streets again, / Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace. / For this time all the rest depart away.” This newly enacted law had lessened the punishment of being caught with one another since it stops the opposing houses from fighting. Even with the new law, Tybalt wanted to get back at Romeo for imposing on the Capulet’s party. Later in Act 1, Scene 5, Tybalt vows, “Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting / Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting. / I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall, / Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall.” This vow later killed Mercutio and forced Romeo to avenge his death by killing Tybalt. When Romeo is banished from Verona, Juliet is forced to marry Paris. This only drives her to want to be with Romeo more. Act 4, Scene 1, shows Juliet talking to the Friar about what she needs to do to stop the marriage with Paris. She says, “O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris … Or bid me go into a new-made grave / And hide me with a dead man in his shroud- / Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble- / And I will do it without fear or doubt, / To live an unstain'd wife to my sweet love.” This quote reveals how desperate Juliet is to be with Romeo and be faithful to him. Juliet had stayed rather focused and collected until she found out that her marriage to Paris was moved to the next day, which at that point, she became distraught and reckless.

Others may argue that it was fate that had taken Romeo and Juliet’s lives. They may claim that the couple was used by fate to create peace between the Montagues and Capulets. However, if that were true, then why did so many people die? If fate had truly had a hand in their deaths, was it necessary to kill Tybalt, Mercutio, Paris, and Lady Montague? It may have been easier to enact peace by killing Lord Capulet and Lord Montague since they were the origin of the feud in the first place. Instead, it was the actions of the characters that had caused all of these deaths. The word “fate” implies that the characters had no control over their actions and no way of preventing the outcome. In Act 3, Scene 1, Romeo had held Mercutio back from Tybalt, in order to stop the fight between them, which is punishable by death. At this time, Tybalt had taken the opportunity to stab Mercutio, who died from his injuries a few minutes after. The only reason that Tybalt had ever died was because Romeo wanted revenge for Mercutio’s death. The character's actions throughout the play are based on what they want or how they feel, proving that they do have control over their actions. 

In the end, no one is to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths but themselves and their rash love. Every hint of death and tragedy was ignored and the feuding families pushed the couple closer to desperation. “Fate” is just a word that has been used to poorly justify their deaths rather than look at the truth. True love can make you do crazy things that you wouldn’t do otherwise. To avoid things such as death, you may want to take note of the mishaps of the characters in Romeo and Juliet and avoid doing any of them.