Romeo and Juliet, the famous Shakespearean tragedy, is well known for its starcrossed duo of the title’s namesake who eventually commit suicide out of love for one another. However, underneath the surface of this tale, Shakespeare demonstrates how one’s childhood influences their character development. a Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet heavily embodies childhood naiveté towards the beginning of the play, yet it later goes on to depict the grief that adolescence brings, which affects not only the characters’ behavior, but their fate. Near the play’s start, the pair expresses a love of an innocent nature. For example, their first interaction is filled with religious connotations and pure intentions that show Juliet’s youth. In their famous sonnet, the two declare that “‘This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.’ ‘Good pilgrim… For …show more content…
In the beginning of the play, Juliet is introduced as a quiet, respectful, reserved young lady, and she listens to her parents’ and the Nurse’s commands. However, as time progresses, she becomes disobedient, and eventually kills herself for a man. Right before her death, she cries, “‘What’s here? A cup, closed in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. O churl! Drunk all, and left me no friendly drop to help me after? I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them to make me die with a restorative… This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die’” (5.3.161-170). This exhibits the shift in Juliet’s overall attitude and personality, as she is not nearly this dramatic or outspoken before meeting Romeo. Furthermore, this change in attitude is a suitable depiction of how the pair’s immense love alters their fate. In summary, Romeo and Juliet’s relationship causes Juliet to become tainted by the trials of