Freedom In Romeo And Juliet

“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo” (Shakespeare 5.3.314-315). In the final lines of the play, the Prince says that the story of Romeo and Juliet will always be the most somber story there is, but it did not have to be that way. In Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, six people died of differing causes. However, these could have been prevented if more freedom had been allotted to the characters of the play. This is one of the subthemes of the play, that giving people freedom and having open minds can stop violence and death. The six deaths in the play could all have been prevented if Romeo and Juliet were able to marry each other. If Romeo and Juliet had been allowed to pick who they wanted to marry,
He died after he got into an altercation Romeo in Juliet’s tomb. “O, I am slain! If thou be merciful, open the tomb, lay me with Juliet” (Shakespeare 5.3.72-73). He would never have been there if Juliet had the freedom to marry whomever she wanted to. Paris was at her grave because he was engaged to her when she died. Paris promised to visit Juliet’s grave nightly because they had planned to be married, but he would not have been there to be slain if he knew that Juliet did not want to marry him. “Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew… Which with sweet water nightly I will dew” (Shakespeare 5.3.12, 14). If he had never courted her because she could say that she was not interested in him, then he would not have been killed at her
She died of what we can infer to be a heart attack. The heart attack was brought on because of the intense grief she suffered after Romeo’s banishment, but he was banished because of his role in the street fight. “Alas, my liege, my wife is dead to-night! Grief of my son’s exile hath stopp’d her breath” (Shakespeare 5.3.214-215). If the street fight had never happened, Lady Montague could have lived to see her son happily married. Instead she only added another life to the list of deaths that could have been prevented by the freedom to marry for love.
As a result of the limited freedoms enacted upon the characters in this play, six people met their untimely demises. These six lives could have been saved if more freedoms were given to them. Even the simple freedom of being able to marry for love without the fear of social standing or feud would have halted the calamity. The story of Romeo and Juliet is truly a tragedy. The direction of the story could have taken a far different turn if it had not been for the limited freedoms of the