Romeo And Juliet Love Essay

The Tragedy of Love in Romeo and Juliet

Love is the force of connection, passion, and commitment that causes individuals to take extreme measures to push them against their world, and at times, against themselves. This force of love brings mental and emotional strain on Romeo and Juliet’s families and themselves, which leads to a series of tragic events. Love is a destructive force in the play William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and is also a recurring theme which inevitably finds its way into Romeo and Juliet's lives in negative ways. Throughout the play, Shakespeare demonstrates the negative effects of love through the character's pride, clouded judgement and catastrophizing thought process.

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Furthermore, Romeo is shown holding a knife in Friar Lawrence's cell and threatening to murder himself after learning that he is banished from Verona and his lover. Later, Juliet pulls out a dagger to kill herself in the presence of Friar Lawrence. "If everything else fails, I have power to die"(Shakespeare 3.5.253). This demonstrates Juliet's threatening to end her life if she does not see his love Romeo, which is a perfect example of clouded judgement. Romeo came face to face with Juliet's lifeless body, and due to his clouded judgement at the time, Romeo vchose to appreciate his final moments. "Here's to my love!" (Shakespeare 5.3.110-120) . He died as a result of taking a sip of poison. Romeo saying this implies that he didn't think about his own life before committing suicide, hinting that his love for Juliet was far stronger than his own life. This demonstrates his clouded judgement, as life allows you to go on and find a new love, as Romeo did when he moved on from Rosaline. Romeo's inability to think properly was due to his overpowering love for Juliet, as evidenced by

This thinking pattern strongly affects both Romeo and Juliet by making Romeo’s banishment and their deaths way more out of proportion. After the death of Tybalt, Romeo gets the worst punishment fathomable.“Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say death.” (Shakespeare 3.3.13) This piece of evidence shows that Romeo was catastrophizing. He could've thought about how lucky he was to be alive, but instead he imagined the worst-case scenario, which was that he'd never see his love again. Romeo even believes that death is preferable since he will not have to cope with not seeing his Juliet. In addition, Romeo is later informed by Balthasar that Juliet is no longer alive. Romeo ignores the possibility that the news is false and imagines the worst-case scenario. "Is it even so? Then I defy you, stars!" (Shakespeare 5.1.24) He proclaims openly his opposition to the destiny that so grieves him . Without a second thought, he thinks his love is dead. As a result of their catastrophizing thinking, Romeo commits suicide, prompting Juliet to commit suicide, essentially ending both of their