Teen Suicide In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet Literary Analysis Teen suicide is a serious problem in today’s society. In the US about 20% of teens in high school report genuine thoughts of suicide, and 9% have made an attempt at their life, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Suicide may not seem like something that would carry over generations, and be such a common form of death for teens over the span of humans. In Romeo and Juliet, the main characters kill themselves due to reckless and irrational thoughts, just as teens do in the modern world. The Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet is a relevant play in the modern world as a result of the relationship between teen suicide back in Shakespeare’s time and today.

Oftentimes teens are impulsive when

This is very important because if the kids felt someone heard them, maybe that would change the outcome. Especially when the most important people, their parents, don’t listen to their problems or their opinion, it can push the kids over the edge. This is evident in Romeo and Juliet, when out of the blue Capulet changed his mind and decided to force Juliet into marrying Paris when she was heavily against it. Never once did Capulet listen to Juliet and he even became verbally aggressive towards her. After the ordeal with her father, Juliet goes to the friar for advice, as her best plan is, as she states, “And ere this hand, by thee to Romeo’s sealed, shall be the label to another deed, or my true heart with treacherous revolt turn to another, this shall slay them both” (Shakespeare 4.1.56-59). This proves how Lord Capulet's uncompromising parenting leads to Juliet genuinely considering suicide, as she feels she has no say in her future and her dad doesn’t want to hear her side of it. Today parents often implement authoritarian-like parenting, where they never let their children express feelings or opinions and if they do so they are wrong and shamed for expressing themselves. As a result of such parenting teens feel there is no other option but to kill themself, similar to Juliet wanting to kill herself to get out of her

It brings great grief upon the parents and all people who were close to them, similar to the end of the play where all of the characters grieved over the many deaths that happened in the past couple of days. First, Romeo takes Tybalt’s life in the grief of his late friend Mercutio who was slain by Tybalt. Then, in a fit of anger, from Tybalt’s death, Capulet forces Juliet to marry Paris. Juliet then fakes her death and her parents grieve over that. Finally, Montague announces, “Alas my liege, my wife is dead tonight! Grief of my son’s exile hath stopped her breath” (Shakespeare 5.3.210-211). Lord Montague is informing everyone of his wife’s sad and untimely death due to grief over her late son’s suicide. This conveys how important grief of a suicide is, and how disastrous the result can be. Today many parents have to grieve over their children committing suicide, as it is the third leading cause of death in teens. Since teens taking their own life is such a pressing issue today, the connection in suicide keeps Romeo and Juliet