Teenage thought processes differ from person to person, but the cause of each choice and idea is heavily impacted by the adolescent brains’ decision making and feelings. Throughout Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Romeo Montague proves to be impacted by the adolescent brain. Initially, Romeo is heartbroken over a woman he feels is not replaceable - just hours later, he finds Juliet, the girl he will spend the rest of his shortened life with. Romeo’s strong feelings and change of heart for Juliet is due to his not yet fully developed mind. Soon after meeting Juliet, the two lovers find themselves encountering difficult family and friend conflicts, leading to their deaths at the end of the play. Romeo is impacted by the adolescent brain's …show more content…
In the beginning of the play, Romeo is introduced as having a dilemma. Many characters find him to be isolated and distant, and it is later revealed that the reason for this is that Romeo is heartbroken. He feels he is ‘in love’ with a woman who doesn’t care to be with him. Romeo’s devastation affects him for many days, but quickly after he sees Juliet for the first time he changes his mind. He asks himself, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night” (Shakespeare 1.5.51-52). After Romeo obsesses and complains about one girl, Romeo quickly changes his mind and says that he has never loved before or seen someone beautiful immediately after seeing Juliet for the first time. His idea of love and crushes is false because if he had truly cared for Rosaline, his feelings would not have changed so quickly when seeing Juliet. His quick change of heart proves how he lacks permanence in his feelings and illustrates how he needs to mature in order to understand relationships that are full of love and heartbreak. In the article “Adolescence and the Teenage Crush” by Carl Pickhardt, research shows how teenage crushes can be complex and false to teens who don’t know how to recognise their own feelings. Pickhardt explains that teenage brains are very complex and that the hormones teens produce can lead to fluctuating feelings for others. He describes that “Crushes have more to do with fantasy than with reality…” and that “... they usually prove unrealistic that in a relatively short time they soon wear off” (Pickhardt 1). Crushes are extremely relevant to tenagers, although the feelings teens experience are often not accurate and true. The feelings teens experience are mostly based on false senses of how another person is instead of seeing them as their true self. Wearing off quickly is a result of how fake these