How Do Choices Test Our Maturity?

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In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, two fated lovers try to overcome the odds as they find a way to be together. Their love escalates as rapidly as it falls and when faced with challenging situations, their levels of responsibility are put to the test. We see a change in both Romeo and Juliet during the span of the five days in which the play takes place. Making rash decisions reveals how the two teenagers suffer for not being cautious. Both characters show similar levels of maturity at parts of the play and different levels elsewhere. Their relationship creates a new level of emotional maturity that neither has encountered before. Shakespeare uses the differences and similarities between Romeo and Juliet to show how teenagers are uncautious in their decision-making.
Initially, Juliet is emotionally immature, yet her relationship with Romeo expands her knowledge of feelings. When Romeo comes to her balcony, Juliet hesitates for a moment, a sign that she is not ready for the relationship: “It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden,/ Too like the lightning” (2.2. 125). Minutes later when Juliet is being called back inside, she hastily proposes the idea of marriage to Romeo: “If that thy bent of love be honorable, thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow” (2.2. 150). By asking for this commitment from Romeo, it shows that perhaps she feels ready for it herself. It is likely that her love for Romeo is what sparks such a change in character.
Her obedience at the beginning of the play contrasts with the rebellious teenager that Romeo turns influences her to become. Holding her parents with high respect, she will do just as they say. This includes whom they think she should or should not marry. One can conclude this when Jul...

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...hat decisions and high pressure are a bad combination for teens, because teens tend to behave unwisely under challenging circumstances. It is more difficult for teenagers to see the consequences of a decision in the moment which is what Shakespeare is getting at by weighing the levels of maturity between Romeo and Juliet. What we decide to do in a given situation shows how responsible we are. When teenagers have to decide something quickly, often times they make a less responsible choice than an adult would if put with the same scenario. Shakespeare illustrates this idea by comparing Romeo and Juliets’ maturity. As we as people mature, making wise decisions under pressure is something that we learn to do better. In the story of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare presents the idea that we make the wrong choices when we are young so that we avoid doing so later in life.

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