Romeo And Juliet Disobeying Their Parents Essay

Although the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet may be their own faults for disobeying their parents, the excessive control and inconsiderate actions of the Capulet's who raised Juliet prove to be the major cause of it in Shakespeare's play. In scientific research, whilst it is true that what motivates a teenager to take risks depend on the individual, "it is important for adults to help children make plans and set rules.. to provide their children with a lend-lease prefrontal cortex during all those years that it takes to grow one" (Weinberger, page 2). One of the greatest reasons the Capulet's are to blame for the deaths in the scenes of the play is due to their failures as adults, instead of helping Juliet (who not only was in her teen years but also had many conflicts surrounding her), they just took control over her life. One example of this could be when they tried forcing Juliet into marrying

... get thee to church a Thursday or never after look me in the face" (Line 180, page 1068). As a parent, Capulet refused to consider Juliet's feelings and even went as far as to threaten her, putting Juliet in an overwhelming situation that made her feel helpless and desperate. When Juliet herself states that "if all else fail, myself have power to die" (Line 272, page 1070), she uses these words to show how powerless she felt and how destroying herself was the only "power" she has. The fact that Capulet could just order Juliet to get married and expect her to follow his orders proves the lack of control Juliet herself has over her life. The overwhelming feelings Juliet has for Romeo and her distress in having to marry someone else caused Juliet to make rash decisions such as going to Friar Lawrence and going along with the plan that ended up killing both Romeo and herself. To conclude, in William Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet, the actions of the Capulet's not only lead to their own failures as parents but also lead to the deaths of the