The Influence Of Choices In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Every once in awhile, we need an extra opinion from our closest peers; but what they say should not affect us every time. Throughout our lives, we are required to make numerous amounts of choices and some of them just have to be made on our own. The opinion of others, no matter how strong, should never affect your own decisions or the path you want to take. Adults and children in today’s society as well centuries ago, have to choose their desires and life paths without the influence of others. Romeo and Juliet, Pyramus and Thisbe, and Bosko and Admira, all followed their own destinies to be together. They disregarded the fact that there were relatives out there that didn’t approve of their relationship, but stayed together to the end no matter
The time period and city that they lived in deemed it unacceptable for Capulets and Montagues to correlate in any way. The two affluent houses were in an ongoing feud and didn’t want to have to deal with anything involving one another (Shakespeare 377). Everyone in the town of Verona had the opinion that the houses should stay separate. However, Romeo and Juliet didn’t let the citizens’ beliefs get in the way of their love. During the famous balcony scene of the play, Juliet asks, “O Romeo. Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” wanting to know why he must be a Montague, her enemy household, if he is her love (Shakespeare 404). They both know their relationship would not be allowed by either of their families, but they proceed to exchange vows at their own private wedding (Shakespeare 418-420). Romeo and Juliet chose to violate the opinion of everyone in the town, including their parents, form the unbreakable bonds of marriage, and follow their own desires without the intervention of anyone
Asking others what they think or their advice is a natural habit for everyone, therefore, whatever your peers say, should have an effect on your final choice. Claims defending this position may have the advantage of saying that the opinions of parents, in earlier parts of your life and childhood, have an enormous effect on who you become and what your desires are later in life. On the other hand, once you become an adult, you have the freedom to choose whoever you wish to be with. In Shakespeare’s play, the Nurse tells Juliet to just marry Paris after Juliet just argued with her parents about that issue. However, Juliet doesn’t take the Nurse’s suggestion to mind and decides to do anything not to marry Paris (Shakespeare 445-446). When making life-changing decisions you are not obligated to let the beliefs of your friends or relatives make a difference in what you really