Emma Giles Mrs. Pryor English 1 21 April 2023 What Can Poison Do in the Hands of Young Love? Poison is an intimidating substance for everyone especially when being used without good intentions. Poison's purpose is to kill or get rid of therefore poison is not anyone's first thought when it comes to a love story. In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the symbol of poison is seen in Juliet faking her death, Romeo purchasing a vial with the intention of killing himself, and Juliet kissing the remnant of poison on late Romeo's lips with hopes of death. Poison is seen multiple times during the play. Shakespeare wanted to symbolize to the audience the level their love was at and how bad it could and would turn. Friar Lawrence makes a master plan for the lovers, in this plan, Juliet is supposed to drink a vial of fake poison that will make her appear deceased. “Hold daughter…I'll give you thee remedy.” (Shakespeare 4.1.68) In this scene, the Friar is handing the poison to Juliet as well as feeding into the later deaths that occur. Friar Lawrence may have started this domino effect of deaths, but he is not the only one to …show more content…
After Romeo downs the poison she almost immediately wakes up, and she notices Romeo is lying dead right beside her. She acknowledges Romeo has excess poison on his lips from his previous suicide. “Go get thee, hence….Thy lips are warm!” (Shakespeare 5.3.160) Just like Romeo she believes she should join her love in death so she kisses his dead lips with hopes of joining her love in death. This scene shows her obsessive tendencies, clearly, Juliet has no hesitation or delay in her decision-making. Earlier in the play it was evident that she did not think situations through, without a doubt, she has shown this trait numerous times. Her quick way of acting caused her and Romeo to die