In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, there are many important events that change the storyline. The moment where Romeo mistakenly finds out Juliet is dead is the moment that had the biggest influence on the plot of the story. I found this particular event to be important because after this moment everything started to go wrong, ending with both Romeo and Juliet killing themselves and the conclusion of the play. Up to the moment where Romeo hears of Juliet’s passing, it seemed like there might have been a happy future for the couple. But as soon as the news comes through that Juliet is dead many unfortunate events start to tumble into the plot. As soon as Romeo hears the news of his youthful rashness comes out “Is it e’en so? Then I defy you, stars!”, we learn that Romeo is looking to defy fate and kill himself so he can be with Juliet. However, his determination to kill himself only succeeds in bringing his and Juliet’s real death, a fate we learn of at the start of the play. So the consequences of human rashness and the inevitability of fate are the two themes that cause everything to go wrong from this moment onwards.
This moment is the main twist of the play as all that happens afterwards could have been avoided by a single letter being delivered. This miscommunication causes Romeo to make a whole number of sadness-fuelled decisions that ultimately ends up killing both him and his lover. If the truth of Juliet’s death actually being faked so the two of them could run away together had been known by Romeo then the plays ending would have been completely different.
This moment is the point that ultimately leads to the unnecessary death of Romeo and Juliet and the two families making peace because of the harm they have caused. Because of this moment Romeo heads immediately