Examples Of Loyalty In Romeo And Juliet

Loyalty is often considered a positive and admirable trait but it can also have a down side. Loyalty can cause more harm than good and Romeo and Juliet is a perfect example of this. Romeo and Juliet is the story of two lovers whose families are at odds and their feuding is what leads to these lovers' deaths. Throughout the play many characters meet their end because of the loyalty to the houses or to their friends. This includes Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo, and Paris who all die because of their loyalties.

The first one to die because of their loyalty is Mercutio. Mercutio is a loyal friend of Romeo and this leads him to conflict with Tybalt. “Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo.” (117) The only reason that Tybalt and Mercutio are fighting is

He is killed by Romeo who wants revenge for Mercutio. Romeo's loyalty to his late friend is what drives him to kill Tybalt. “Now, Tybalt, take the “villain” back again. That late thou gavest me, for Mercutio’s soul is but a little way above our heads, Staying for thine to keep him company. Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.”(123) After they fight and Romeo kills Tybalt, he realizes that it was a pivotal mistake. “O, I am Fortune’s fool!”(125) This is because Romeo will be exiled for killing Tybalt, so he may never see the love of his life again because of his loyalty to

Paris loses his life because of his loyalty to Juliet who is believed to be dead. When Romeo comes to see the love of his life one last time, Paris stops him believing that the exiled Romeo is here to desecrate Juliet's grave. “This is that banished haughty Montague. That murdered my love's cousin, with which grief It is supposed the fair creature died, And here is come to do some villainous shame To the dead bodies.”(223) This is the cause of the fighting and leads Paris to lose his life because of his loyalty to Juliet.

After Paris’s death is when Shakespeare gives us our last example of how loyalty causes someone's death. This person is Romeo who is so distraught after seeing Juliet dead that he takes his own life. If Romeo wasn't loyal to Juliet, he would not have come to see her in her grave, but even if he did, he still wouldn't have taken his life if he was not loyal to her. “If they do see thee, they will Murder thee.”(73) This shows us that Romeo is willing to die for Juliet. If Romeo had been less loyal to the people around him, many lives would have been