Aristotle’s Golden Mean and Romeo and Juliet
How does one define a successful life? For centuries civilization has pondered the concept of a perfect life. Aristotle believed that in order to have a happy and prosperous life one had to walk the narrow path of the median between two extremes. In The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare alludes to Aristotle’s Golden Mean philosophy in order to point out his characters’ tragic flaws and emphasize the necessity of a balanced life.
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who is best known for his writings, ethics and logic. “Aristotle was primarily a metaphysician, a philosopher of things, who uses the objective method of proceeding from being to thinking”(Case 1). He was under the wing of many other famous philosophers.
Aristotle follows Socrates and Plato in taking the virtues to be central to a well-lived life. Like Plato, he regards the ethical virtues (justice, courage, temperance and so on) as complex rational, emotional and social skills. But he rejects Plato's idea that a training in the sciences and metaphysics is a necessary prerequisite for a full understanding of our good.(Kraut 1).
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One of his most well known philosophies is his Golden Mean. “It discusses especially those admirable human qualities which fit a man for life in an organised civic community, which makes him ‘a good citizen,’ and considers how they can be fostered or created and their opposites prevented”(Aristotle 1). In short, it discusses how to have a successful and balanced life by following a golden path of serenity. By staying in between two extremes, one can avoid the complications of being excessive .Between arrogance and self-consciousness lies confidence.Between obsession and indifference dwells composure. There is a good balance to every