“Oh, honest pharmacist, your drug is quick. I die with a kiss.” (V.iii.119-20) William Shakespeare utilizes a variety of examples to illustrate motifs, and this is just one of many. What exactly is a motif, one might wonder? A motif is a pattern that appears frequently in literature and is essentially a symbol that helps to establish the central idea of a literary work. The theme in literature is perhaps the most significant element of any literary work, as what is the point of literature if the reader doesn't take anything away from it to apply to life? On that note, William Shakespeare uses the motif of haste in the play and production Romeo & Juliet to further the concept that hasty decisions usually have negative consequences.
In Acts, I and II the reader witnesses our characters in the tragedy behave extremely instinctively and come face to face with negative
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Here the reader finds Benvolio and Mercutio talking to each other, “Why you'd even quarrel with a man for having one hair more or less in his beard than you have.” (III.i.16-18) In this scene, Mercutio talks about Benvolio’s impulsive actions in terms of arguing explaining how he is very short-tempered. The author uses these characters like Benvolio and even Tybalt to teach a lesson to the reader. Shakespeare does not just show the reader characters fighting off impulse he even shows the reader characters taking love and marriage too fast, in fact this is seen in act IV. “I'll tie this wedding knot tomorrow morning.” (IV.ii.25) This is what Capulet says to Juliet when calling for Paris. The author gives Capulet this impulsive trait to show how hasty he is for Juliet to get married. The reader finds out in these two sections of the play that split-second decisions aren't always the best move. While these decisions may seem extreme the reader sees even more drastic decisions in Act