Lessons in Romeo and Juliet

Lessons

In many classic novels, lessons are hid within the pages. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare many lessons are learned, such as love is blind, violent delights have violent ends, or consider possible repercussions. First off, Romeo and Juliet is a traditional story of two teenage lovers who blindly fall in love at first sight and marry while their families have been enemies for years. In pursuit of their love, the couple thoughtlessly tried to be together, ending in tragedy. Everyone thinks of Romeo and Juliet as the tragic tale of two inseparable lovers. But, there are many lessons within the pages. Romeo and Juliet’s violent end is a result of hasty decision-making. Firstly, when Romeo and Juliet decide to get married, not thinking about feasible outcomes. Second, Romeo’s sudden decision to kill himself when he gets banished from Verona for murdering Tybalt almost gets him killed. Third, Juliet takes the potion too early and unknowingly sabotages the plan because she is scared. She makes a brash decision without thinking. Do not make quick, hasty decisions without thinking about possible outcomes and consequences.

Romeo and Juliet’s impetuous decisions and apparent lack of thorough thinking are the cause of their death. When Romeo so meekly stepped upon Juliet’s balcony, they had met but once, yet his feelings for her were strong. They decide to get married, knowing that their relatives, friends and pretty well their town will disprove of it. Juliet says, If that thy bent of love be honourable, Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow, By one I’ll procure to come to thee, Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite; And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay, And follow thee my lord throughout the world. (II.ii.143-148)
It is evident that Romeo and Juliet are not thinking about the results their decisions will receive. Romeo thinks that if Juliet is nice and likes him, they will be able to get married and live a happy life. But they did not think about their families being upset and non-approving. Ultimately speaking, this is the first incident of many to come where impulsive actions lead to severe aftereffects. The next step to the tragic ending occurs in Romeo’s reckless reaction to his banishment. This is obvious when Romeo reveals,
There is no world without Verona walls,
But purgatory, torture, hell itself.
Hence banished is banish’d from the world,
And world’s exile is death; then “banished,”
Thou cut’st my head off with a golden axe,
And smilest upon the stroke that murders me. (III.iii.17-23)
Romeo takes no second thoughts and is convinced that death is the better option over banishment. Thankfully, Friar Lawrence was present to put some sense back into him. He does not even think past living in banishment, but instead gets beset and overreacts. The next fatal misstep was that of Juliet’s, relieving Romeo of all the fault.

Juliet, idiotically, takes an unknown potion from the Friar earlier than planned. Ensuing in repercussions unknown to her until it was too late. By herself in her chamber, she states: “My dismal scene I needs must act alone. / Come, vial.” (IV, iiii, 19-20) In this quote, Juliet proves herself to be a childish character. She does not think at all about the potential consequences of taking the potion too early. None the less about ruining the entire established plan. She also does not think about other options that could have been more effective, like trying to postpone the wedding, not ruining everything. A lot of the blame is Juliet’s for Romeo’s death because if he had gotten the note Friar Lawrence sent telling him the plan, instead of getting news that she was dead, he might have acted differently. She is mainly to blame for her, and her soul mates death.
In conclusion, Romeo and Juliet choosing to marry the day they met, Romeo wanting to kill himself after getting banished, and Juliet stupidly drinking the potion early result in a cessation that Romeo and Juliet’s heedless decisions killed them. They let their strong personal feelings overpower common sense, making failure inevitable. If logic and valid thinking played a larger role in this tragic love story known as Romeo and Juliet, ends would have been improved for all.