Emotions In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Elizabeth Gilbert, a famous American journalist, once stated "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." It has been said that one’s emotions are the main influencer to the motivation process, the first step of action. Not only do emotions make us feel, but they can drive one to act. David Dobbs collected numerous pieces of evidence that show the impact emotions have specifically on the teenage brain. Psychologically, there are many things that contribute to the body’s response to emotion. Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, discusses two star-crossed lovers who allow their emotions to control their lives, which leads to their suicides. There is an endless array of feelings, but some are more

Juliet is hopeless because of the numerous hardships she is facing. Feeling lost, she comes up with a plan to escape her life and run away to Romeo. The first step is faking her death. Juliet cries out, “Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink. I drink to thee” (IV.iii.58). Prior to Tuesday night, nothing in Juliet’s life seemed to be in her favor. During a duel in the streets of Verona, Romeo kills Tybalt. Juliet’s heavy mourning makes her emotionally unstable. After addressing the state of the Capulet house, Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, decides to arrange a marriage between Paris and Juliet. Juliet, already being married to Romeo, feels that marrying Paris would break her loyalty to her husband. Caught in a mess of emotions, Juliet decides to take the poison Friar Lawrence gave her. She dedicates the poison to Romeo because he is the only person Juliet truly loves. Overtime, she has grown extremely attached to Romeo. She hopes that in the end, she will wake up and run away with her true love. Knowing the possible risks, Juliet takes the poison on Tuesday night. “Beautiful Brains”, an article by David Dobbs, mentions that the brains of young teenagers are not fully developed. In fact, they lack the key components used to balance impulse and stay focused. When teens participating in a study were motivated with an incentive, their

After realizing his plan is ruined, the Friar grows irritated over Romeo’s dramatic behavior. Friar Lawrence, a neutral character, has extreme perseverance towards uniting the enemy houses. Once he tells Romeo about his banishment, Romeo breaks down. Frustrated, the Friar yells, “Hold thy desperate hand./Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art./Thy tears are womanish” (III.iii.108-110). Friar Lawrence is desperate to maintain the relationship between Romeo and Juliet because he hopes that it will mend the tension between the two enemy houses. When Friar realizes that Romeo is being exiled by the Prince, he scrambles to find a way to lessen the punishment. Unfortunately, he has to be the one to break the news to Romeo. Romeo has a mental breakdown because he believes that life outside of Verona is worse than death. Romeo’s crying frustrates the Friar. He snaps at Romeo, telling him that his behavior is dramatic and unnecessary. Friar's frustration motivates him to come up with the first of many plans. He strategizes with Romeo to find a way to ease the ongoing chaos. His plans cause an immense amount of disarray in the lives of Romeo and Juliet. These plans put their lives in danger by encouraging dangerous behavior to them. Romeo and Juliet were two vulnerable teenagers, and the Friar manipulated them in hopes of achieving his desired outcome. Secondly, the Prince’s frustration drives him to declare extreme action.