Comparing Icarus In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

The story of Icarus is one of the most commonly known myths. Daedalus, a skilled Greek craftsman, fashioned two pairs of wings out of wax and feathers; one was for him, the other for his son, Icarus. Before the two of them took flight, Daedalus warned his son not to fly too high for the wax would melt and Icarus would fall. Once they started to fly, Icarus was overwhelmed with joy and excitement, and flew too close to the sun. His wings melted and sent him tumbling down into the ocean, where he drowned. Icarus’ tale demonstrates a common theme in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: acting impulsively will only lead to tragedy. Romeo and Juliet shared an extremely passionate love, but their relationship was too rushed to be wise. When Romeo speaks
The joy of love that she experiences is similar to the exhilaration of flying, and just like Icarus, the consequences do not seem worth restraining the passion she is feeling. During the balcony scene, she says to Romeo, “It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden, /Too like the lightning which doth cease to be” (II.II.125-126). The comparison she makes between their love and lightning shows that just as the lightning flashes bright for a second, it fades to nothing afterwards, similar to how Romeo and Juliet love passionately for several days before tragedy
The rock concert, featuring many popular rock bands including the Rolling Stones, drew a wild and unruly crowd and used the Hells Angels as security guards. Once the Rolling Stones took the stage, there was an outburst in the crowd. A man tried to climb on stage and was stabbed to death by one the Hells Angels guards. This scene is perfect for Romeo and Juliet because it exemplifies acting without thinking or considering the consequences. Not only did the guard kill the man without thinking about what he was doing, the victim also acted impulsively. At the time of his murder, the victim was high and stupidly tried to climb on stage. Although he could not have predicted it would lead to his death, he should have known that climbing on stage would not have a great outcome for him. The victim’s situation is similar to that of Romeo because they both made impulsive decisions that ultimately lead to their deaths. Perhaps if they had stopped to think about what they were doing, they would have lived longer