How Do Romeo And Juliet Conform To Society

It is evident through the story of Romeo and Juliet, that the characters were unable to fulfill external requirements and needs, while also pursuing love with each other. Through Romeo, Juliet, and Lord/Lady Capulet, we can see the sacrifice that must be made. Romeo does not conform several times throughout the story. Firstly, after a street brawl at a public gas station in Verona by the Montagues and Capulets, the Prince makes a rule that there will be no street fights, and the next one would result in people being killed. Romeo had a personal desire for Tybalt because his friend Mercutio was killed by Tybalt. In this example, he was unable to fulfill the societal want of no fighting, for his own desire, and this led to his banishment from
Montagues and Capulets had a longstanding feud with each other, and Juliet was supposed to have an arranged marriage (majority of marriages worked this way at the time). However, Romeo went against the societal standard, and married Juliet in secret; this fulfilled his desire of love for Juliet, but further demonstrated his struggle to conform to the societal standard of arranged marriages and Montagues not being with Capulets. Juliet also struggles to conform to society several times in the play. Firstly, Juliet defies her father, who wants Juliet to marry Paris. Lord Capulet says he will disown her and let her die on the streets if she does not marry Paris. Juliet undertakes numerous actions to prevent this marriage to Paris. She says no to her father, but eventually when she agrees to the marriage, she secretly takes a potion that will put her to sleep for 42 hours and fake her death to avoid the marriage. Then, when she wakes up, she kills herself because she would rather die with Romeo than marry Paris. This demonstrates how she was unable to conform to her father’s needs because of her desire/love for Romeo, and how she struggled to avoid her father’s wants at all
Another example of a character who struggles between conforming and satisfying personal desires is Friar Laurence. Firstly, Friar Laurence defies societal norms by agreeing to marry Romeo and Juliet secretly. As a friar, he is expected to follow the rules and regulations of the church which usually require marriages to be conducted publicly and with parental consent. However, Friar Laurence follows his personal desire of helping the young couple keep their marriage private (this is what they requested), and also having a possibility of ending the Montague/Capulet feud. Additionally, Friar Laurence makes a plan that involves deception and manipulation by having Juliet take a potion to put her asleep for 42 hours, so she can fake her death and then escape to live with Romeo. He struggles to conform and be honest with society about the situation, and instead fulfills his personal desire of keeping the couple happy and together. Other examples of characters fulfilling personal desires rather than conforming is when Mercutio and Tybalt put their fighting wants and hate ahead of the no-fighting rule; this leads to them getting into