Examples Of Mood-Congruent Theories In Romeo And Juliet

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Romeo Montague is a drama queen. He’s impulsive, melodramatic, and acts upon his impulses. His every action begs the question if he stops to think about what he’s doing or, perhaps, if he lets his sudden moods control him. Romeo’s flare for the dramatic might just be a part of his character or, he simply lets his emotional bias and feelings dictate his life. Romeo Montague is an example of someone with strong mood-congruent judgement, behavior, and memory- perhaps too strong even.The mood-congruent theories, specifically the mood-congruent judgment effect and mood-congruent behavior are related theories stating that one’s actions, perception of the world, and choices are directly affected by, and can be linked to, one’s moods and emotional state. These theories exhibit themselves at large in Romeo and Juliet, particularly by the ill-fated lovers, Romeo and Juliet themselves. Romeo, especially, shows the mood-congruent theories in practice through the way he acts, interacts with others, and expresses himself and his desires. Throughout the play, Romeo is shown to be foolhardy, rash, and …show more content…

When confronting Paris near the Capulet tombs and Paris tries to stop him from harming the graves, even though he wasn’t actually there to do so, Romeo himself even acknowledges that the emotions he is currently feeling could lead him to doing dangerous things and he is not thinking clearly. He speaks, “Good gentle youth, tempt not a desp’rate man./ Fly hence and leave me. Think upon these gone./Let them affright thee. I beseech thee, youth,/ Put not another sin upon my head/ By urging me to fury. O, begone!/ By heaven, I love thee better than myself,/ For I come hither armed against myself/” (V.III.59-65). Because of his strong emotional-bias that moment, as he is so grief stricken and sad, Romeo acts before he can think and soon enough Count Paris lies dead at his

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