Essay Romeo and Juliet

Paola Gonzalez I.

Cover letter
For this essay I chose the last topic, number 18, which consists of choosing a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent and a son or daughter. I chose “Romeo and Juliet”, the play by William Shakespeare because I think it’s a perfect example of how the relationship between parents and their son and daughter influenced a lot more than they intended to. Even if it was not directly, Romeo and Juliet’s parents are to be held responsible for their early and meaningless death.
Throughout the essay I put quotes to lines present in the play that I considered important to support my point of view and that are useful as evidence of what I’m saying.
This is a persuasive essay. It is narrated in the third person, it uses a tone of persuasion with the finality of convincing the reader that Romeo and Juliet’s parents are guilt of their death. It uses a little bit of irony, because of the fact that the parents are responsible for their death, when the role of a parent is to protects their child.

Killer Parents
Why not letting the person you love the most be the happiest person in the world? This is a question that should be answered by Romeo and Juliet’s parents. In William Shakespeare’s novel, “Romeo and Juliet”, the main characters love each other so hard that they literally died for each other. As it is known generally by the people who is familiar with Shakespeare’s work, Romeo’s and Juliet’s parents are to blame for ending their son’s and their daughter’s life. The reasons for the responsibility of their death can be generalized into 3 important ones. First of all, for being unsupporting parents; second, for being selfish; and third, for the rivalry the two families had between each other.
Both the Capulet and the Montague families were unaware of the existing love Romeo and Juliet felt for each other, but after noticing all the hate the families had in between, it’s obvious that they wouldn’t support them as a family. Lady Capulet even asked for Romeo’s death to the Prince after Romeo killed Tybalt in revenge for killing his good friend Mercutio. This is evident in the quote, “I beg for justice, which thou prince must give! Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live!” (1).
Both families were selfish. When you don’t let someone be happy with his or her own life and love, you are being selfish, and that is exactly what this two families did to Romeo and Juliet. Lord and Lady Capulet, Juliet’s parents should have paid more attention to Juliet’s wishes when she refused to marry Paris. At first they threatened to throw her out onto the streets as in Act three Scene 5, Capulet says to Juliet “Thursday is near lay hand on heart and you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend, and you to be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, For, by my soul, I’ll ne 'er acknowledge thee”(1). Instead of letting Juliet decide if she wanted to marry Paris or not, her parents were selfish, and they decided for her by screaming, scolding, and getting mad at her.
The biggest mistake these two families made, and the mayor reason for making them guilty of their son and daughter’s death is their rivalry. The two families hated each other and made Verona a constant fighting place, “two households both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean”.(1) Their hate for each other made them look immature. Romeo and Juliet didn’t care about their lastname; they said it was just that, a simple name, nothing important enough to separate them. The hate between both families made Romeo and Juliet hide their love, which made them see each other secretly and even do crazy things like pretending one was dead and killing themselves just to be with the other.
This conflict between father and son contributes to the outcome of the play. The feud between the Capulet and Montague remained strong all throughout the play until the death of Romeo and Juliet. The dispute between the Montague and Capulet families is the major cause of the tragic deaths of the two lovers, as being together became impossible and it was unspeakable to have anything to do with the opposing family. Juliet and Romeo had fallen deeply in love with their enemy – an appalling thing to do in their family’s eyes.

Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. “Romeo and Juliet.” Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall Inc. 2002 771-874.

Cited: Shakespeare, William. “Romeo and Juliet.” Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes. Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall Inc. 2002 771-874.