Romeo And Juliet's Decisions Essay

What important factors that we control in our lives decide the future for us and others? In William Shakespeare’s tragic drama, Romeo, and Juliet, we watch as the forbidden young lovers fight the feud between their families which eventually ends in their untimely death. The decisions of characters such as Lord Capulet, Juliet’s father, and the feelings behind them immensely deter the chances of these lovers being together. They also change the future for an abundance of people. Our emotions and actions can heavily affect the events of the future.

In the beginning, Lord Capulet had Juliet’s best interest in mind with marriage. He expresses in many ways his intent on making this marriage to Paris comfortable and loving for her. “My child is

When he first heard of this news, Capulet immediately grew livid with Juliet leading him to threaten her. “An you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend,/An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,/For, by my soul, I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee,/Nor what is mine shall never do thee good.” (3.5.192-195) In this quote, Capulet warns Juliet of what will happen to her if she decides not to marry Paris and he essentially tells her that she will be disowned. When Juliet and the Friar make their plan for her and Romeo to be reunited again, she goes to her father and begs for his forgiveness, and in doing so, Lord Capulet accepts but his changed plans for the wedding change everything. “Send for the county. Go tell him of this./I’ll have this know knit up tomorrow morning.” (4.2.25-26) In this quote, we learn that Lord Capulet has moved the wedding up because he doesn’t trust Juliet to keep her word, which puts earlier plans off course. Clearly, Lord Capulet has let his emotions about Juliet’s decisions get the best of him and his words and actions show us

Since Lord Capulet has pushed the wedding forward, Juliet and Romeo’s plans to meet have been impaired crucially which leads to the miscommunication of Juliet’s “death”. “Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide./Thou desperate pilot, not at once run on/The dashing rocks thy seasick, weary bark./Here’s to my love! (drinks the poison) O true apothecary,/Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (5.3.116-120) In this quote, we see Romeo commit suicide by drinking poison because he believes that his lover, Juliet, has died. When Juliet awakens, she finds Romeo’s dead body beside her and just as he has, she looks for a way to end her life after this tragic discovery. “This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die.” (5.3.170) This quote shows us how Juliet ends her life because she too has lost her lover due to all the past events and changes that built up to this moment. When the people of Verona learn about the deaths of the young lovers, the heads of the households, Lord Montague, and Lord Capulet, come together to end the ongoing feud that was the cause of their children’s death and build tributes to them. “As rich shall Romeo’s by his lady’s lie,/Poor sacrifices of our enmity.” (5.3.303-304) In this quote, Lord Capulet feels the grief of his daughter’s death and admits that the cause of both her and Romeo's deaths is because of the ancient feud between their two families.