Romeo And Juliet Deception Essay

A person can deceive another person for many reasons. Though these reasons can be good or bad, lying tends to lead to a negative outcome. In William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, everything could have been avoided had it not been for deception in the first place. The two main characters deceive those around them to solve their problems, but the lies only make the issue bigger and lead to more deception. In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare demonstrates deception eventually leads to tragedy.

At the masque, Romeo’s identity-related deception begins a series of events that ultimately leads to Romeo and Juliet’s untimely deaths. After much begging on Benvolio’s part, Romeo agrees to go to the Capulet’s masque in secret, saying,

Mere hours after the masque, Juliet and Romeo are surreptitiously married under the supervision of Friar Lawrence, who hesitantly states, “Come, come with me, and we will make short work; / For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone / Till Holy Church incorporate two in one” (2.6.35-37). Friar Lawrence agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet in hopes of ending the feud between their families. Though he has good intentions, the Friar creates far more problems than he solves in his action of marrying the two partners, mainly because he agrees to keep it a secret and deceive the rest of Verona. Soon after the star-crossed lovers’ wedding, Juliet’s father marries her to Paris because he is unaware of her situation. Because of Romeo and Juliet’s secret wedding, Juliet resolves to do anything in her power to avoid a decided marriage with Paris. She observes, “Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble- / And I will do it without fear or doubt, / To live an unstain’d wife to my sweet love” (4.1.87-89). Juliet is willing to go to drastic measures to stay true to Romeo, which, while admirable, leads to future deception that