Haste Essay : Romeo and Juliet

“Wisely and slow, they run fast” Haste is described perfectly with that one quote. People don’t take into considerations the consequences of their actions. In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet adolescents who lack the wisdom obtained from life experience and react with dramatic haste, failing to contemplate the possible risks consequences of their actions is revealed. Through this tale of love there are many events leading to the tragic endings of his two main characters, Shakespeare shows how if rationality and patience is not used it will lead to downfall. Many teenagers, four hundred years ago and to this day are like Romeo and Juliet; impulsive and do things with too much haste. First of all, the fact that their entire relationship was five days long goes to show this haste. They fell out and in of love very quickly, at the beginning of the play, Romeo says he is desperately in love with a girl who goes by the name of Rosaline. His friends decide to prove to him how ridiculous his love for Rosaline is, by bringing him to a party. Upon laying eyes on Juliet, Romeo’s obsession over Rosaline is instantly replaced with a new one for Juliet. He asks himself, “Did my heart love till now?”. This ironic sentence reveals exactly how Romeo allows himself to be dominated by his passion. Instead of having Juliet as some kind of example of how little he actually loved Rosaline, he allows himself to fall into deeper love. So we question our selves is it really love, or just lust, or maybe an obsession. In the balcony scene, before saying goodnight to Juliet, Romeo asks her for an “exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine”. Romeo asked Juliet to vow eternal love to him in return for his, after less than an hour of knowing her, this is in no way a rational action and is too spontaneous to be a wise decision to make. Romeo kills Tybalt in Act 3 Scene 1; he does so out of fury, another type of passion. Moments before, he had been willing to stop his best