Teenage Suicide In Romeo And Juliet

To many teens, suicide may be the idea of escaping from their reality. They gain this overwhelming sense that if they are dead, everything will be better. But will it really? Teenage suicide has become more and more of an increasing contention in recent times. Even more so since the times of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has the suicide epidemic evolved. What started as a every so often thing you would see on the news has turned into something you hear about more often than you should. Suicide has become a common way of escape and dealing with problems for teenagers, along with many other groups of people. As for in Romeo and Juliet, this is exactly what happens. Romeo and Juliet both use suicide as their way of coping and escaping from what

You don’t have to have something “wrong” with you that would make you a suicidal person, anyone could be. Yes, there are people more at risk for suicide, so let’s explore the risk factors increasing your risk of suicide. Many people may feel that depression is one of the only reasons people commit suicide, but in reality there are many other things that put people at risk. Something like a family history of suicide or suicide attempts could put one at risk, an unsupportive family on a feeling could put one at a greater risk, or even distress, agitation or irritability (kidshealth.org). In Romeo and Juliet, there are limited warning signs because suicide is the last straw for them both. But, looking into the story more in depth, you see that both Romeo and Juliet’s families are very unsupportive of them being in love. A good example of this would be Juliet’s soliloquy (act 2, scene 2). In this soliloquy, Juliet speaks of how she wishes Romeo were not a Montague so she would be able to be in love with him. Due to this family feud, the two families are so unsupportive that they don't even have the guts to come forward to their families, before committing suicide, to tell them they are married and in love. Knowing that a teenager has a family so unsupportive of them, as they were in Romeo and Juliet, may put them at more of a risk for suicide, though any person is capable of

Some warning signs, such as talking about death and/or suicide or hinting about not being round anymore may be easier to pick up on, though (kidshealth.org). Looking into Romeo and Juliet, you don't really see many warning signs from either Romeo nor Juliet. The main sign you may notice would be the continuous sadness both children speak of for not being able to be together. With a suicidal person, they may also never show a single warning sign. This was mainly how it was in Romeo and Juliet. Neither of them showed any signs that they may be suicidal, and unless you knew the story and how it ended, you may never have guessed that suicide is how it would end. All in all, it may be impossible sometimes to ever guess someone is suicidal, but warning signs may occasionally give you a bit of a forewarning and give you time to prevent