Romeo And Juliet Immaturity Essay

1106 Words5 Pages

Nick DiVasta
Mrs. Darcy
English 9 Honors
12 June 2023
The Cataclysmic Consequences of Confusion
The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is one that is known by many as the greatest love story of all time. It is a story that appears time and time again in pop culture, and is constantly being analyzed by scholars even today, after more than 400 years. But something that almost never makes an appearance in a conversation regarding the book is who is the primary cause of the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Using the play itself, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (Source 1), A Critical Essay on Romeo and Juliet by Lois Kerschen (Source 2), and an article titled “Teenagers - Inside the Teenage Brain” by Marty Wolner, this essay will show why Romeo and …show more content…

With him being so young, it stands to reason that his judgment and ability to determine what is or is not a good or bad idea would be much less than that of an adult from the time period. Romeo is particularly lacking in the area of admitting he was wrong, a sentiment shown when Lois Kerschen writes this: “Instead, Romeo succumbs to an irrational and violent reaction and then feels sorry for himself as "fortune's fool" who has been pushed by fate into committing the terrible deed.” (Source 2) Time and time throughout the play Romeo makes these impulsive decisions that lead to a negative result in one way or another, but what truly shows his immaturity is his complete inability to show any sign of remorse or responsibility. He blames everything that happens on fate, and lacks the self fortitude to take responsibility for his actions. Romeo says, “O, I am Fortune’s fool!” (Source 1) after Mercutio and Tybalt have been killed and he is told the prince is coming to punish him. Even though the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio were caused by him, he still cannot bear to accept the fact that his immaturity was responsible for the death of someone he cared deeply for, something that ironically only furthers his immaturity. And it is because of this immaturity that the tragedy occurs. Romeo gets so caught up in everything that “wasn't his fault” that he fails to realize the path he is walking down only leads to tragedy, and that, inevitably, is what gets him