Lusts In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

One of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies, Romeo and Juliet, is a story about two teenagers of rival houses that fell in love at first sight, but did they really? It seems quite odd that two literary characters as well-known as these, were amorous with one another after a brief meeting at a ball. Teenagers, since the Elizabethan era have been called impulsive, their decisions often sudden and have an unhappy ending. They have also been accused of being lustful and over-dramatic, due to their intense, temporary feelings. These beliefs apply to the two “star-crossed lovers” as well as the decisions they made, both of which caused pain and regret for both themselves and others as well, even if it wasn’t intended.

“Teenagers are stuck in a limbo, neither children nor adults,” (Parry) their minds in the process of maturing and developing. The mood swings, feelings, and emotions they have are because of the changes occurring in their heads, which is also what makes them so inconsistent. Romeo had met his wife when he was seventeen and she, thirteen, meaning that their still-growing brains inspired all the “feelings” they had for each other. This has also influenced their hasty decision to get married despite having only known each other for less than a

Juliet faked her death, thinking that Romeo would know that she was alive, only to awake and find him dead by his own action. Her cortisol level became too high and she decided to follow Romeo into the after-life, neither of them thinking of how everyone else had been affected. In the words of Prince Escalus, “And I for winking at your discords too have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are punish'd” (Shakespeare). In conclusion, they did not truly love each other, for it was only the work of their growing and changing minds and