Romeo And Juliet Research Paper

Kaylee Schill
ENG 2DO
Mr. Dudley
May 14th , 2012
Literary Essay

Contributions to Tragedy – Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet are young, and foolish, which is apparent when their relationship starts and when it ends. Romeo rushes into things and appears to be in search of love, whereas, Juliet is young, naïve and easily seduced by his young attractive charm and by his constant declaration of love to her. These two confused lovers play a major role in the deaths of both Tybalt and Mercutio and the final grieving of the Montagues and Capulets. Romeo and Juliet cause tremendous grief and suffering to multiple characters by their own deaths. However, there are situations
The couple destroys every relationship throughout the play, emotionally, physically, and intellectually. Consider Romeo’s behavior during the first introduction of him. He describes his love for Rosaline in a way which suggests that he is infatuated with the idea of love, rather than actually in love. He can only can be described as a foolish, young boy because of his immaturity towards love, which gets the better of him and eventually directs him to a disastrous demise. His search for love at such a young age is absurd. Romeo proclaims, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” (1, 5, 51-52). In this line, he is saying that he is in love, or thinks he is, with a beautiful girl that he does not truly know. This verifies Friar Lawrence’s statement regarding Romeo: “Young mens love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” (2, 3, 67-68). Friar finds it very difficult to trust Romeo’s feelings, considering he had so effortlessly moved on from his brief relationship with Rosaline. Romeo’s immaturity and tendency to rush things is apparent when he proposes to Juliet, just four hours after they first meet. This raises the question, is there such a thing as love at first sight? The two young lovers, fully aware of the consequences and the repercussions that their marriage will summon,
She is youthful and naïve and has never been in love. She obviously enjoys feeling desired by a handsome, charming man, Romeo. She thinks situations through and is not desperately searching for love like Romeo. She is swept off her feet by a charming, good looking gentleman who appears as a gateway to a happier life. This could be an escape from her arranged marriage and a chance to disobey her overly strict father. Does she really love Romeo after knowing him only four hours? She feels this may be the only opportunity in her life to fall in love and become happily married. In the beginning, unlike Romeo, she does not encourage the enchantment, she likes the physical contact and compliments, but she does not go out of her way to encourage their love as he did later in that night. “O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?”(2, 2, 125). Romeo is forcing the relationship to happen quickly, whereas Juliet appears shocked by his impulsive proposal since she is not fully mindful of what he is suggesting. “What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?”(2, 2, 126). This line also shows Juliet’s further innocence and naivety towards the marriage proposal and love in general. Juliet is at least a little wary as she informs Romeo that the marriage would be forbidden and later questions his proposal as to whether his love is honourable. They both do not realize how much their decision will