Romeo's Fatal Flaws: Demise Of Romeo And Juliet

Alex Rioux
Ms. Staples
English 9H, Block B
27 March 2023
Romeo’s Fatal Flaws: A dive into his accountability for the demise of Romeo and Juliet
Not many people actually get held accountable for their actions, accountability is often ignored in a chain of events where it is hard to track down exactly where it went wrong. In the play Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare all of the events culminate until they reach the climax, where the two protagonists end their own life. Often people overlook who is most accountable for Romeo and Juliet’s death. The impulsivity and inconsideration of consequences are prime examples of Romeo’s recklessness. Romeo’s romanticism is an instance of Romeo’s obliviousness to the events around him, these three traits are

Romeo makes the final decision to end his own life the same night he is informed of Juliet’s passing. In the final act of the play, Romeo is led to believe that his love, Juliet, has passed. Romeo quickly makes the impulsive decision to rush to the capulet tomb and end his own life beside her. Romeo orders to the Montague servant “And hire those horses; / Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night.” (5.2.81). Romeo has never been one to consider consequences as proved already, another part of that is his impulsiveness, when Romeo is provided with a choice, he wastes no time to make his decision, demonstrated in the quote Romeo is provided the information that Juliet has passed away, Romeo wastes no time after he finds out and he quickly orders to “hire those horses” for him to rush to the Capulet tomb end his life. Romeo announces “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night” an important idea to consider is that when Romeo says this the to-night he speaks of is the same night he found out about Juliet's passing, being the primary example of him making an impulsive decision without really thinking anything through. Romeo’s impulsive actions such as Romeo’s decision to end his life are decisions that all led up to himself and Juliet’s demise, the actions built up over time and ultimately is the reason that Romeo decided to romantically end his life

After Romeo found out about Juliet’s death, he impulsively rushed to Juliet’s grave. After neglecting signs that Juliet’s alive, he dramatically ends his own life with poison. Romeo declares with his poison in hand prepared to end his life “Here’s to my love! O true apothecary! / Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (5.3.87). Romeo has always been a romantic, since the beginning of the play we have seen Romeo make rash decisions usually because of his “love” of Juliet. Even in his last moments he was dedicated to love, before his life ends he declares “Thus with a kiss I die.” Romeo’s romanticism overwhelmed any reasonable thought and overrides it with a worse decision and recklessness. Romeo starts his last phrase with “Here’s to my love!” signifying he is doing it for love and love is the only thing he can clearly feel at this point, Romeo would rather die in Juliet’s arms than live without Juliet, showing how he romanticizes his entire life even to his last minutes. Romanticism has lead Romeo to many of his decisions, romanticism is intertwined with his impulsiveness and incapability to consider consequences, it is another reason Romeo is blinded to any reasonable decision, his intense