Many people know what it is like to have their lives changed drastically, and these changes can affect someone greatly, but do these changes cause differences in our actions and personalities? In “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, one of the main characters, Juliet goes through many traumatic events that have forced her to change. Her life changes dramatically due to these experiences. Throughout the course of the play, Juliet is a dynamic character who changes from a child who knows nothing of the real world to someone who knows all too well the harsh realities and consequences that can come from the hate in the world that is prevalent when one is isolated with no one to shield them. Throughout the beginning of the play, Juliet is …show more content…
When Juliet has learned of Romeo’s banishment and has been crying about the news, her mother arrives and Juliet expresses feelings of “hate” towards Romeo, she uses wordplay to talk about how she really feels about Romeo, and Lady Capulet tells her that she is to be married to Paris on Thursday. At this news, Juliet lashes out and tells her mother how she really feels about Romeo and Paris, “I will not marry yet, and when I do I swear/It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,/Rather than Paris. These are news indeed!” (3.5.126-128). In this quote, Juliet makes it known that she is going against her parents and their wishes for Juliet to marry Paris. This is a transition from the beginning of the book, when she did everything that was asked of her from her parents, to the end of the book, where she explicitly goes against them. One might interpret this as Juliet being more independent, although she goes from being dependent and obedient towards her parents to being dependent and obedient towards Romeo. When Juliet’s parents inform her that she is to marry Paris in the coming days, she runs to Friar Lawrence and tells him that she would rather kill herself than be apart from Romeo and marry Paris, “And with this knife I’ll help it presently./God joined my heart and Romeo’s, thou our hands;/And ere this hand, by thee to Romeo’s sealed,/Shall be the label to another deed,/Or my true heart with treacherous revolt/Turn to another, this shall slay them both” (4.1.55-60). This quote demonstrates that although Juliet has become independent from her parents, she has now become dependent on Romeo’s existence. Romeo has only been sentenced to banishment and Juliet has resorted to killing herself. She is