William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is different from his other tragedies because there is no clear distinction of the heroes. Both of the characters are less active and more passive; the two are immature and lack comprehension of others’ feelings. The hero is almost always assumed to be the romantic Romeo. But Romeo’s corrupt upbringing, emotional tantrums, accidental murders, and imprudent actions make him a poor contender for a hero. Juliet shows that she is more innocent than Romeo because she tends to make better choices. Juliet is also better at overpowering the difficulties that she is met with throughout the production. While both characters have their own flaws, there is more understanding towards Juliet’s bad decisions than that …show more content…
Romeo tends to party with his lusty relatives, such as Mercutio and Benvolio, who prowl the town streets at night, talking about getting women as if it were a sport. It is very obvious that Romeo is easily persuaded by lust in the start of the play,, but when Juliet is mentioned, “the mutual attraction is so strong that any further of his fickleness is wasted” (Stauffer 29). Halfway through the story, the friar reprimands Romeo, “for doting, not for loving…” (2.3.82). However, the friar does appear to approve of Romeo and Juliet being together, which is confirmed when, at the end of the story, he marries them and attempts to help them be together. With Romeo and Juliet’s love, the friar was attempting to end the seemingly never-ending feud between the Capulets and Montagues by, hopefully, bringing the two families together. . Paul Jorgensen states, “Juliet has not had to improve; but Romeo, at first a whining lover of himself in the role of lover, passionate but not truly reaching out of himself, has much to learn” (33). Juliet continuously proves her destiny throughout the story and begins to come out from underneath her parents and their shadows. But unfortunately, because of her love for Romeo, she is isolated by her parents and her nurse. When Romeo is eventually exiled, she already almost completely alone. But she refuses to turn her back on Romeo and marry Paris …show more content…
But they do not slow down, even with these intuitions. Even before his meeting with Juliet, Romeo says, “For my mind misgives Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars, Shall bitterly begin this fearful date With this night‟s revels, and expire the term Of a despised life closed in my breast, By some vile forfeit of untimely death.” (1.4.106-11). Later, Juliet has the same threatened feeling, saying about Romeo, “O God, I have an ill-divining soul! Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb. Either my eyesight fails, or thou lookest pale. (3.5.54-57). If either Romeo or Juliet had paid attention to the feelings they were experiencing, they probably both would have ended up living. Even from the start, Romeo is seen as a man of frequent emotional outbursts, with strong desires all throughout the play. After Romeo kills Tybalt and is exiled from Verona, his moments of hysteria seem to become more frequent, and his sad behavior goes to an entirely new level when he contemplates