Romeo And Juliet Identity Essay

Romeo and Juliet is chock full of various themes such as fate, hate vs. love, the impetuousness of teenage decisions, and identity. Each theme plays a very important role in the story, but identity plays the most important part. The identity of each character plays a part in their beliefs, as well as their actions. Character’s classes, families, and ages dictate their entire life. First of all, the differences in class are extremely evident in Romeo and Juliet. The first example in Act 1, Scene 2. Peter, a Capulet servant, approaches Romeo with a guest list in hand. He asks Romeo, “I pray, sir, can you read?” (I, ii, 57-64) Peter, being a lower class servant, doesn’t have proper education. Therefore, Peter can not read the guest list Lord Capulet gave him. The second piece of evidence can be found in Act 5. When

Juliet says, during her soliloquy on the balcony, “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?/ Deny thy father and refuse thy name./ Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love/ And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” (II, ii, 33-36) Juliet is saying that if she was not a Capulet nor Romeo a Montague, then the two could be together. The conflict between their families forbid their association. Another conflict caused by the differences between the two families is the death of Mercutio. In Act 3, Scene 1, Tybalt is searching for Romeo to kill him. Tybalt’s only motive for killing Romeo is the fact that Romeo is a Montague and Tybalt is a Capulet. Instead of finding Romeo, Tybalt finds Mercutio, subsequently challenging him to a duel. Mercutio isn’t a Montague; he just spends time with Romeo, which Tybalt decides is a good enough reason to kill him. Being part of a certain family, or even just associating oneself with a family, seals people’s fates in Verona. Another important factor that impacts characters heavily is