Impulsiveness In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Critiquing the Critic: A Response to “The Characters’ Impulsiveness is the Villain of the Play”

In his critique on the beloved story of Romeo and Juliet, Bert Cardullo, a well known drama critic makes an argument that the real cause of the tragic events occuring at the end of the story are a direct result of character’s impulsiveness and refusal to think logically throughout the story, and not chance as many people believe. To present his case, Cardullo uses a large cast of character to prove their impulsive behaviors and how it affects the overall story.
One of the first characters Cardullo uses as the focal point of his argument is Friar Laurence, but more specifically his actions involved in the marriage of Romeo and Juliet. It seems Friar

He argues that had Capulet thought about sending a servant that could read Romeo wouldn’t have met Juliet and both would have survived the play. In an attempt to explain this Cardullo states, “Capulet, in his typical rash manner, sends an illiterate servant on an errand that requires reading. The servant’s meeting with Romeo may be an accident, but Shakespeare undercuts this aspect of it and emphasizes Romeo’s own impulsiveness.” It is clear that Cardullo believes it was Capulets impulsivness that led to Romeo meeting Juliet, but this just isn’t true. Cardullo seemed to underlook all of the other variables that led to this situation. It just so happened that Romeo was in the exact city on the exact street and the exact same time and had a sexual attraction to a person on the list. When this is taken into consideration it seems that Romeo meeting and reading aloud the list wasn’t not a result of impulsiveness, but sheer luck. The greetings between the Servingman and Romeo goes to show that it was indeed an accident and Romeo was chosen at random: “ROMEO: Whipped and tormented, and—good e’en, good fellow. SERVINGMAN: God gi’ good e’en. I pray, sir, can you read?” (1.2.59-62). While this piece of text may be small it does provide a lot of meaning. The

He argues that the nurse was what kept Juliet going with Romeo. She was always there for her and supported her through the marriage and other parts of their love. Cardullo argues that when the nurse betrays Juliet, Juliet loses hope in her family which is why she wants to leave Verona which is ultimately what would lead to her demise, and Cardullo would be largely right in saying this. However, he claims that it was the nurses impulsiveness that led to her actions and that can be easily refuted. In his argument Cardullo states, “... Shakespeare contrasts it with the hesitation or delat of the nurse--the only other character (except perhaps Balthasar) with knowledge of Romeo and Juliet’s secret union, and one who exhibits her own bit of impulsiveness in switching her preference of husbands for Juliet from Romeo to Paris once the former has been banished from Verona.” He states that the nurses decision was impulsive which is not true. It would be a completely logical decision to vote for Paris and not Romeo since he’s been banished. The only way Romeo and Juliet could be together was if Juliet left Verona forever which is something both the Nurse and the rest of the Capulet’s oppose, so choosing a more stable husband would be the smarter choice. Also, the Nurse knows that Juliet has to get