Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare

Throughout the years, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been celebrated as one of the great tragedies of all time. William Shakespeare is an English playwright born in Stratford upon Avon during the 1500’s. Two innocent young hearts are caught in the middle of an everlasting conflict. How is the most romantic love story of all time also the most tragic? Is it the burning passion that the two lovers share? Or is it the pure hatred that their families have for each other? A force more powerful than love is expressed in this timeless tale. That force is chaos.

The most visual form of chaos is physical violence. The beginning of the play itself, involves the two families, the Capulets and Montagues, threatening each other, insulting each other and creating turmoil in the town. The magnitude of hostility between them is clearly evident when the Prince of Verona proclaims them as, “Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace.” This violence intensifies as the play goes on leading to the massacre of two loved ones; Mercutio, by Tybalt’s sword under Romeo’s arm and Tybalt, slain by Romeo with anger sparked by revenge. A “plague on both of your houses,” curses Mercutio as he dies. The climax finally busts when Friar Lawrence’s prophesy comes true, “These violent delights have violent ends.” This violence doesn’t only derive from the chaos between the families, but among the families themselves. The families are caught up with their rivalries that the relationship between the parents and the children are torn apart. In the beginning of the play, it took long for Romeo’s parents to find out that he has gone missing but didn’t show much concern when they found out that he did. In fact, the nurse has a much closer connection to Juliet th...

... middle of paper ...

..., ”die strangl’d ere my Romeo comes?” For woman who is positive to marry someone after knowing him less than a week, Juliet somehow shows a lack of trust that Romeo will be there on time. This demonstrates their weak relationship and her emotional instability. Inner chaos leads to bad decisions, and bad decisions lead to irreversible consequences.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play involving a pair of two, “star-crossed lovers’,” whose undying affection for each other sparks a fatal romance. This affection creates mayhem that surpasses their claim of eternal love. This exact same mayhem is what leads them to make decisions that ultimately instigate their collapse. The root of this tragedy is undoubtedly the chaos, not only between the characters but also within them. Chaos breeds more chaos, violence breeds more violence and lies only end up in suffering.