Romeo and Juliet Essay - Grade: A PDF

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This essay discusses William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and the forces against them. ...

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Pacelli 1

Laura Pacelli Professor Del Guercio Shakespeare I 20 September 2019 Romeo and Juliet: Forces Prohibiting Love The famous play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare has a very detailed and specific course of events that would not have occurred without most characters and circumstances. There are many aspects of the culture that prohibited their love. The main forces against Romeo and Juliet’s love are hatred and miscommunications in the society. The hatred is seen through the families of Romeo and Juliet and the miscommunication happens though Friar Lawrence’s plan. Therefore, the stronger forces of miscommunication and hatred prohibit the love of Romeo and Juliet from being prosperous in this earthly world. Now, one character in the play Romeo and Juliet that ultimately impacted the course of events was Friar Lawrence, the well-known friar. Friar Lawrence is the whole reason Romeo and Juliet were able to marry in the first place. Without his involvement in their love and supporting them the events of the play would not have come to the same outcome. If Romeo Montague had turned to another friar, the guidance he would have received would have been different. Therefore, Friar Lawrence highly affected everything leading to the events of the plays last scene. To begin, upon Friar Lawrence’s first appearance in the play it was after the balcony scene where Romeo and Juliet have just planned to get married. Romeo visits Friar Lawrence to confide in him. In Act 2 Scene 3 Friar Lawrence agrees to marry the young couple that had just met that night the same one as their engagement. “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove /To turn your

Pacelli 2 households’ rancor to pure love.” (2.3.95). By agreeing to the wed them, he is setting up a foundation for them to be in love, so much in love that they would not be able to live without one another. Not only that, he even predicted the ending of the book that a Montague and a Capulet’s love will end their families feud but it ended it in a way no one expected due to the Friar’s miscommunication with the lovers. Friar Lawrence, being the adult that guided young Romeo and Juliet into a mistake that leads them to all of the horrible series of events that happened. If they hadn’t gotten married Romeo would move on to another girl after moping about it, and Juliet would have eventually married County Paris, and they would both be alive and that would be a boring story. Therefore, his action of agreeing on marrying the couple created the whole story and made the outcome come to be. Furthermore, aside from being a holy man, Friar Lawrence is also an apothecary or a person who makes medicines and remedies that can help, or even hurt people. He is the friar Juliet Capulet went to for her problem of being forced to marry County Paris, after the tragic death of her cousin Tybalt. He is the person that came up with the master plan to get Romeo and Juliet together again. Without his ideas of giving Juliet the potion that makes her appear dead, and them getting Romeo to get her from her tomb, Juliet would have just killed herself thus making the story have no meaning. Since she was very much unwilling to marry County Paris that would be her last hope. This is how he explained his plan to Juliet “ Take thou this vial, being then in bed / when presently through all thy veins shall run a cold and drowsy humor; no pulse / Shall Romeo by letters know our drift /And hither shall he come…” (4.1.95-115) His plan made Juliet very nervous, but it was her only hope to be with her lover. This plan would have worked if there wasn’t a lack of miscommunication. Moreover, if his plan had not got messed up by the miscommunication of Romeo not receiving the letter the outcome would have been different and the lovers would have ended up together. Friar John, who was supposed to take the letter to Romeo had gotten stuck in plaque quarantine. If the plaque hadn’t been prominent at this time the plan would have been better communicated. This is a classic case of miscommunication. If the letter had got to him in time, they both would not have committed suicide from

Pacelli 3 the heartbreak of thinking their significant other was dead. Yet, if they hadn’t died their families would never have made peace like in the ending. “ The letter was not nice but full of charge/Of dear import, and the neglecting it/May do much danger.”(5.3.20) In this quotation, Shakespeare shows how important that letter was, and how the neglect of communication could be dangerous. It was half as much Friar Lawrence’s fault because although he cannot control what happened he could have waited and set up a better way to communicate his plan. Thus, miscommunication is one of the big forces against the love of Romeo and Juliet. Next, hatred is something that divides groups. Hatred starts wars and separates families. Hatred is a huge force that blockades love. In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet hatred between the Montagues and the Capulets is a strong force that prohibits their love. Romeo and Juliet are madly in love with each other and will go to any lengths to be together. It's because of this conflict that Romeo and Juliet feel they must hide their love which, in the end, is the cause of their deaths and the death of their earthly love. To support the idea that the conflict between the Montague and Capulet families are responsible for Romeo and Juliet's downfall, In a quote from Romeo and Juliet, “Capulet! Montague! See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate/That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! / What the Prince is saying is that, see what dreadful punishment has been laid upon your hatred/ Heaven finds a reason to kill your joys with their love!”(V, iii, 291-293). This quote shows that the family’s hatred is stronger than the love and will kill any hope of the families being happy and in love together in this life. To continue, Hatred is bred which is evident when Tybalt, who is Lady Capulet's nephew, joins the fight against the Montague family. Tybalt hates Romeo and doesn't hesitate to let it be known. The force of hatred and it is widespread and commonplace in this play, it sometimes seems necessary for others to join the fight in order to portray loyalty for a particular person. Romeo wanted the fighting to end so he could announce his love and marriage to Juliet, so he wasn't happy when his best friend, Mercutio, decided to stick up for him against Tybalt. In desperation, Romeo intervenes between the two, which in turn breaks Mercutio’s concentration and allows Tybalt to stab him. Like any good friend,

Pacelli 4 Romeo now has to challenge this death and fight Tybalt. Romeo kills Tybalt, which ultimately leads to his banishment. Romeo spent one night of passion with Juliet before going into "hiding" after killing Tybalt. He chose to hide in the countryside where nobody would recognize him. Since this hatred was so evident it caused Romeo to have to end a life and seek hiding. This prolonged him to be with his beloved Juliet as well adds to the miscommunication because he must be physically separated from the fair Juliet. More than ever, this absurd focus on honor and disgrace is to blame for the continuation of the Capulet and Montague family’s hatred which forces Romeo and Juliet to sneak around this to be together, following a precarious plan that ends in their deaths. (Prologue 3) Society’s unreasonable obsession with dignity threatens to disgrace either enemy who tries to make amends, so that the two families, who cannot even remember the reason of their feud, are burdened to continue fighting or face utter social humiliation. If this fixation was put to an end, the two foes would have made peace years before, and most importantly, Romeo and Juliet’s life would be spared, since their families’ harmony would render their risky and uncommunicated plan unnecessary. In this time period, the senseless death of innocent young people was worth holding on to the tradition of hatred. Society in this timeous toxic doctrines into its people’s minds, creating a vicious cycle of unnecessary hatred.

Additionally, this hatred, eventually senselessly ends in the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, and Romeo and Juliet. Society’s lack of laws helps Friar Laurence who acts as the apothecary to misguide the couple to their death. This, in turn, leads him to agree to sell Romeo poison because the apothecary needed the money desperately, which then led to Romeo’s death by poison and Juliet’s suicide by stabbing when she saw him dead. The society also labels the characters with specific roles, Friar Lawrence with “peacemaker” and Lord and Lady Capulet with “patriarch” and “wife”, respectively, and forces them to follow or face losing their reputations. The true killer of Romeo and Juliet is the root of all complications and motives for the character’s decisions. Think back to the reason from any character’s judgment or action. Society and their hatred and miscommunication is the root that became the greatest

Pacelli 5 obstacle for their love to blossom. Overall, society during the time of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet instilled this idea of hatred and miscommunication of morals and plans that acted as a force against the couple. he main forces against Romeo and Juliet’s love are hatred and the failure to communicate adequately in society. The hatred is seen through the families of Romeo and Juliet and the miscommunication happens though Friar Lawrence’s plan. Therefore, the stronger forces of miscommunication and hatred in society prohibit the love of Romeo and Juliet from being prosperous in this earthly world.

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Works Cited Shakespeare, W. and Bourgy, V. (n.d.). Romeo and Juliet.

Professor Del Guercio

Pacelli 6 Shakespeare I 20 September 2019 Romeo and Juliet: Forces Prohibiting Love The famous play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare has a very detailed and specific course of events that would not have occurred without most characters and circumstances. There are many aspects of the culture that prohibited their love. The main forces against Romeo and Juliet’s love are hatred and miscommunications in the society. The hatred is seen through the families of Romeo and Juliet and the miscommunication happens though Friar Lawrence’s plan. Therefore, the stronger forces of miscommunication and hatred prohibit the love of Romeo and Juliet from being prosperous in this earthly world. Now, one character in the play Romeo and Juliet that ultimately affected the course of events was Friar Lawrence, the well-known friar. Friar Lawrence is the whole reason Romeo and Juliet were able to marry in the first place. Without his involvement in their love and supporting them, the events of the play would not have come to the same outcome. If Romeo Montague had turned to another friar, the guidance he would have received would have been different. Therefore, Friar Lawrence highly affected everything leading to the events of the plays last scene. To begin, upon Friar Lawrence’s first appearance in the play it was after the balcony scene where Romeo and Juliet have just planned to get married. Romeo visits Friar Lawrence to confide in him. In Act 2 Scene 3, Friar Lawrence agrees to marry the young couple that had just met that night the same one as their engagement. “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy prove /To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.” (2.3.95). By agreeing to the wed them, he is setting up a foundation for them to be in love, so much in love that they would not be able to live without one another. Not only that, he even predicted the ending of the book that a Montague and a Capulet’s love will end their families feud but it ended it in a way no one expected due to the Friar’s miscommunication with the

Pacelli 7 lovers. Friar Lawrence, being the adult that guided young Romeo and Juliet into a mistake that leads them to all of the horrible series of events that happened. If they had not gotten married Romeo would move on to another girl after moping about it, and Juliet would have eventually married County Paris, and they would both be alive and that would be a boring story. Therefore, his action of agreeing on marrying the couple created the whole story and made the outcome come to be. Furthermore, aside from being a holy man, Friar Lawrence is also an apothecary or a person who makes medicines and remedies that can help, or even hurt people. He is the friar Juliet Capulet went to for her problem of being forced to marry County Paris, after the tragic death of her cousin Tybalt. He is the person that came up with the master plan to get Romeo and Juliet together again. Without his ideas of giving Juliet the potion that makes her appear dead, and them getting Romeo to get her from her tomb, Juliet would have just killed herself thus making the story have no meaning. Since she was very much unwilling to marry County Paris that would be her last hope. This is how he explained his plan to Juliet “Take thou this vial, being then in bed / when presently through all thy veins shall run a cold and drowsy humor; no pulse / Shall Romeo by letters know our drift /and hither shall he come” (4.1.95-115). His plan made Juliet very nervous, but it was her only hope to be with her lover. This plan would have worked if there was not a lack of miscommunication. Moreover, if his plan had not been messed up by the miscommunication of Romeo not receiving the letter the outcome would have been different and the lovers would have ended up together. Friar John, who was supposed to take the letter to Romeo, had been stuck in plaque quarantine. If the plaque had not been prominent at this time the plan would have been better communicated. This is a classic case of miscommunication. If the letter had got to him in time, they both would not have committed suicide from the heartbreak of thinking their significant other was dead. Yet, if they had not died, their families would never have made peace like in the ending. “The letter was not nice but full of charge/of dear import and the neglecting it/May do much danger” (5.3.20). In this quotation, Shakespeare shows how important that letter was, and how the neglect of communication could be dangerous. It was half as much Friar

Pacelli 8 Lawrence’s fault because although he cannot control what happened he could have waited and set up a better way to communicate his plan. Thus, miscommunication is one of the big forces against the love of Romeo and Juliet. Next, hatred is something that divides groups. Hatred starts wars and separates families. Hatred is a huge force that blockades love. In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet hatred between the Montagues and the Capulets is a strong force that prohibits their love. Romeo and Juliet are madly in love with each other and will go to any lengths to be together. It is because of this conflict that Romeo and Juliet feel they must hide their love, which, in the end, is the cause of their deaths and the death of their earthly love. To support the idea that the conflict between the Montague and Capulet families are responsible for Romeo and Juliet's downfall, in a quote from Romeo and Juliet, “Capulet! Montague! See, what a scourge is laid upon your hate/that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! / What the Prince is saying is that, see what dreadful punishment has been laid upon your hatred/ Heaven finds a reason to kill your joys with their love!”(V, iii, 291-293). This quote shows that the family’s hatred is stronger than the love and will kill any hope of the families being happy and in love together in this life. To continue, Hatred is bred which is evident when Tybalt, who is Lady Capulet's nephew, joins the fight against the Montague family. Tybalt hates Romeo and does not hesitate to let it be known. The force of hatred and it is widespread and commonplace in this play, it sometimes seems necessary for others to join the fight in order to portray loyalty for a particular person. Romeo wanted the fighting to end so he could announce his love and marriage to Juliet, so he was not happy when his best friend, Mercutio, decided to stick up for him against Tybalt. In desperation, Romeo intervenes between the two, which in turn breaks Mercutio’s concentration and allows Tybalt to stab him. Like any good friend, Romeo now has to challenge this death and fight Tybalt. Romeo kills Tybalt, which ultimately leads to his banishment. Romeo spent one night of passion with Juliet before going into "hiding" after killing Tybalt. He chose to hide in the countryside where nobody would recognize him. Since this hatred was, so evident it caused Romeo to have to end a life and seek hiding. This prolonged him to be with his beloved Juliet as well

Pacelli 9 adds to the miscommunication because he must be physically separated from the fair Juliet. More than ever, this absurd focus on honor and disgrace is to blame for the continuation of the Capulet and Montague family’s hatred which forces Romeo and Juliet to sneak around this to be together, following a precarious plan that ends in their deaths. (Prologue 3) Society’s unreasonable obsession with dignity threatens to disgrace either enemy who tries to make amends, so that the two families, who cannot even remember the reason of their feud, are burdened to continue fighting or face utter social humiliation. If this fixation was put to an end, the two foes would have made peace years before, and most importantly, Romeo and Juliet’s life would be spared, since their families’ harmony would render their risky and uncommunicated plan unnecessary. In this time, the senseless death of innocent young people was worth holding on to the tradition of hatred. Society in this time put toxic doctrines into its people’s minds, creating a vicious cycle of unnecessary hatred.

Additionally, this hatred, eventually senselessly ends in the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, and Romeo and Juliet. Society’s lack of laws helps Friar Laurence who acts as the apothecary to misguide the couple to their death. This, in turn, leads him to agree to sell Romeo poison because the apothecary needed the money desperately, which then led to Romeo’s death by poison and Juliet’s suicide by stabbing when she saw him dead. The society also labels the characters with specific roles, Friar Lawrence with “peacemaker” and Lord and Lady Capulet with “patriarch” and “wife”, respectively, and forces them to follow or face losing their reputations. The true killer of Romeo and Juliet is the root of all complications and motives for the character’s decisions. Think back to the reason from any character’s judgment or action. Society and their hatred and miscommunication is the root that became the greatest obstacle for their love to blossom. Overall, society during the time of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet instilled this idea of hatred and miscommunication of morals and plans that acted as a force against the couple. The main forces

Pacelli 10 against Romeo and Juliet’s love are hatred and the failure to communicate adequately in society. The hatred is seen through the families of Romeo and Juliet and the miscommunication happens though Friar Lawrence’s plan. Therefore, the stronger forces of miscommunication and hatred in society prohibit the love of Romeo and Juliet from being prosperous in this earthly world....