Youth and Age in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

1558 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on death in romeo and juliet

Youth and Age in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Thesis

Youth and age are in conflict in Romeo and Juliet. This conflict

affects all of the characters in some way: The most deeply affected

characters are Romeo and Juliet, who both commit a double suicide

because of the failure of their families to accept their love for each

other. The families are consumed with a single-minded hatred of each

other that surpasses all reason.

There is a lot of conflict in Romeo and Juliet including physical

conflict Mercutio Vs Tybalt Mental conflict Juliet Vs the Nurse

Psychological conflict Samson and Gregory Vs the Montague's Emotional

conflict Juliet Vs Lord Capulet Hatred conflict Capulet's Vs

Montague's Anger conflict all fights in the play Frustration conflict

Romeo Vs Tybalt Power struggle conflict Romeo Vs Prince Escales

Act three scene five

Mercutio and Benvolio are out in the streets of Verona. Tybalt appears

looking for Romeo to accept his challenge to duel, in response to

Romeo gate-chrashing the Capulet's party. When he finally encounters

his chosen target Romeo he challenges him to a fight, but

unfortunately Romeo is married to Juliet now making Tybalt his cousin

so he refuses his challenge. Then Mercutio calling Romeo a coward

draws his rapier says to Tybalt "Good king of cats nothing but one of

your nine lives that I mean to make bold" he then starts to brawl with

Tybalt who slays him with Romeo's unintentional assistance he then

dies cursing the feud.

Act three scene five

Romeo has been banished to Manuta, exiled from the one he loves, for

murdering Tybalt. Juliet, who is grief-stricken over Tybalt's de...

... middle of paper ...

... she goes to the Friar for her salvation

. Using his divine wisdom he concocts an ingenious but devious plan: a

serum to make Juliet appear dead, so her family buries her. The serum

will wear off, then with Romeo at the tomb, she will wake up and they

will survive, run away together and live happily.

Romeo, unaware, of the scheme goes to Juliet's grave. He kills Paris

who is guarding the tomb; sees the corpse of Juliet, his one, his

love, his soulmate, and drinks the poison and dies. Then Juliet wakes

up sees his corpse and stabs herself. Then the families end the

quarrelled history and bury Romeo and Juliet together.

Conclusion

This essay proves conclusively that all of the points in the thesis

statement are true.

The two most affected characters are Romeo and Juliet as they both die

and end the war.

Show More
Related

  • Fate, Traits, And Choices in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, is a story of two young lovers. These two hearts, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet belong to feuding families. The family feud causes them to keep their love a secret and therefore only Romeo, Juliet, Benvolio, the Nurse and Friar Lawrence know of their love. Romeo and Juliet are able to look past the feud and let themselves fall in mad love with the other. They let themselves do almost anything for the other and at times it seems like too much to do, even for the one they love. Although fate and character traits play a key role in the play, ultimately Rome and Juliet’s personal choices lead to their downfall.Fate originates all of the conflicts in Romeo and Juliet, from when they met until they die.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Tragedy Quotes

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo senses tensions are high with Tybalt, so he states, “I do protest I never injured thee but love thee better than thou canst devise.” (Lines 65-66 Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is trying to diffuse the situation because he realizes that Tybalt is his love's cousin. Mercutio is surprised by Romeo’s behavior, so he decides to fight Tybalt himself. Mercutio’s decision to fight Tybalt leads to his own death. Romeo is angered by the death of Mercutio and states, “Now, Tybalt, take the “villain" back again/ That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio’s soul.” (Lines 123-124 of Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is indicating that Tybalt is the villain now, because he slayed Mercutio. Romeo forgets about his attempt to befriend the Capulets and slays Tybalt. Romeo, murderer of Tybalt, solely focuses on Juliet and states “Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say “death"/For exile hath more terror in his look.” (Lines 12-13 of Act Three, Scene Three). Romeo does not care about Tybalt’s life, but only cares for the way it affects his relationship with Juliet. Romeo’s mother dies out of grief because of his banishment. Romeo’s recklessness in loving Juliet has led to the death of three

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Romeo And Juliet

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    In act one scene three of Romeo and Juliet Lord Capulet states “…She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” This means that Juliet is not quite fourteen years old and her father is not sure if she is ready to become a wife and mother. There are many differences between how people marry today, and how they married in the time of Romeo and Juliet. Some of the differences are when the people marry, why people marry, and also the level of maturity people marry at.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    of a book a person may want to know what’s the basic outline of the

    Read More

  • Exploring Contrasting Natures from Romeo and Juliet

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare plays have fascinated audiences with their ability to seemingly portray the depth of the meanings and descriptions of each scene. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was for many years the world’s best love story and influenced readers and writers from around the world. Understanding the contrasting natures is one of the most important themes in this play and underpins the plot. Love and hate, life and death, lastly, missions and reality will only increase every reader’s sense of curiosity.

    Read More

  • Gender Relations in Shakespeare´s Romeo and Juliet

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet has different roles for different genders. During the Shakespearean period, when Shakespeare writes, most women had to marry when they were teen, when they were in adolescence or even before. However, the men who they were marrying were in their early to late twenties. In the household that the women lived in, the men basically owned them. The women always followed men’s word, which says that the male was the dominant gender of the society. Romeo and Juliet reflects this in a number of ways. Juliet was forced to marry Paris, by the word of her father, who said that if she did not marry Paris, she would go to the streets(Shakespeare, 3.5.154-62). Women were thought to be weaker and less important than men in Romeo and Juliet because men are trying to be the strongest out of everyone, women have a lower social status, and men think they owned women in Romeo and Juliet.

    Read More

  • Examining the Characters and their Weaknesses in Romeo and Juliet

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    Juliet’s weakness to be controlled by love leads her to make unadvised and irresponsible decisions that contribute to her choice of ending her life. Characterized as a young and rash teenager, with no interest in love and marriage at first, Juliet wants to be independent. However, after she first lays eyes on Romeo, Juliet’s perception of love is quick to change. Their strong love easily manipulates and clouds her judgment. Even if she is cautious and realizes their love is too fast, the rush of feelings from having a first love overcomes her.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    691 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo is the only son of Lord Montague, the head of a reputed and rich

    Read More

  • Romeo and Juliet: The Play

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    Another episode of fate, or rather dramatic irony, happens when Romeo somehow misses getting a letter from Tybalt Capulet, his enemy, challenging him to a duel. Romeo, unknowing of the tragic letter sent to him, but not gotten, goes to tell his friends of his beautiful bride, but, in return, comes face-to-face with none other than Tybalt, his loathed enemy, the kin to his new bride, Juliet. As soon as Romeo shows up, though, he is greeted by Tybalt’s insults, calling him a villain, but instead of stepping up to Tybalt’s challenge, though, Romeo backs down, saying, “Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee doth much excuse the appertaining rage to such a greeting. Villain I am none. Therefore farewell. I see thou knowest not me.” After harsh words are spoken, families are disgraced, and names are scorned, Romeo finally just backs away. Mercutio, though, cannot let his man be put to disgrace, so he decides to defend Romeo’s name.

    Read More

  • Young Misleading Love in Romeo and Juliet

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    Young love is a very deep immature feeling, which tends to misguide those affected by it, and the affected ones fall too deeply in love, which leads to a tendency of self-destruction. The concept of the young misguiding love is emphasized in the drama, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet are young when they first see each other and make the mistake of loving each other without knowing their family names. Their deep love without any understanding of the concept of love leads to the young lovers committing suicide, which is a rash decision. They do not embrace their situation, and think about other solutions other than suicide. Romeo and Juliet act on impulse and make rash decisions without thinking about the consequences, which results in self-destruction, because of the burden and the extremity of love.

    Read More

  • The Immature Love of Romeo and Juliet

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    Just as the Friar says in the beginning of the Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet, “Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast.” (II.iii.94). this was a sign of foreshadowing for for the death of the lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Even though fate was a factor that had contributed to a tragic end, there was also personal choice involved, and ultimately, the story may have had a different ending if it weren’t for the flaws of the lovers and their inability to have a grip on reality in dire circumstances. Over the course of the play, the lovers from the conflicting households have not matured and remain rather static in development. Furthermore, in this tragedy, the only son of the montages remains rather childlike, Juliet still seems immature and their relationship over all seems more like a play act on lover rather then something mature and sustainable. Overall, from start to finish, Romeo and Juliet were living in the moment, being absurd and silly rather then focusing on the future and trying to work problems out effectively.

    Read More

  • The Development of Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    give her a command as she is used to getting told what to do. This

    Read More

  • Understanding Romeo and Juliet

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    The value Romeo most cherishes is privacy between him and Juliet. The value of privacy is expressed through the metaphor of night. Through night, darkness is a veil that removes any obligations to social institutions and implications, rules and regulations. In short, night is the individual’s escape from the public world. In a way, the lover’s eventual suicides may be viewed as an eternal night. Romeo rejects the values of his surrounding public and social institutions. The placement of familial power on the head masculine figure of the household creates a profound obstacle between Romeo and Juliet. Both lovers must rebel against their lineage especially Juliet. Because of the patriarchal power structure, Juliet’s love is not hers to give away. There is a strong hostility between their two families that conflict with the renaissance value of honor.

    Read More

  • Romeo and Juliet Literary Analysis

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    When people hear of Romeo and Juliet most think about a tragic love story of two young people who died because they could not bear being without one another, but how did that tragedy come about? Romeo and Juliet meet at a party one night and immediately fall in love. They soon find out they are from families that greatly despise one another and know that they should not be together but they are already too far fallen for one another. Romeo and Juliet's parents were bad influences on their kids because of their refusal to end a long lasting feud, teaching hate towards the opposing family and pushing their kids to do things against their will.

    Read More

  • Comparing Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare in Love

    1781 Words  | 4 Pages

    When the friar hears of this, he devises a plan so that the two lovers can be together. The major climax of the play comes when the friar gives Juliet a potion that will make it seem as though she has died, when in fact she is alive the whole time. While in Mantua, Romeo mistakenly hears that Juliet has actually died and he goes to lay by her side. Just as he takes a vile poison and dies, Juliet awakens to find her love lying dead at her side. She cannot fathom living in a world without Romeo, so she takes his sword and ends her own life.

    Read More

More about Youth and Age in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Open Document