Teenage Suicide In Romeo And Juliet

Four hundred thousand deaths, six hundred thousand attempts, and two hundred thousand considerations in a single year. The seeming epidemic that is teen suicide plagues the minds of teachers, students, friends, neighbors, and parents. Despite this wide range of victims, teenage suicide most directly affects the parents of these children, who commonly feel an overwhelming sense of guilt due to their inability to help their children. However, to many it appears obvious that there are not many things parents can do to prevent suicide, for many reasons. Furthermore, William Shakespeare proves this with his tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” in which two teenagers take their lives. In other words, Shakespeare expertly portrays two young people battling

For example, both the Montagues and the Capulets mistake many of the blatantly obvious signs of depression and suicidal thoughts in Romeo and Juliet for common behavior. “Grief’s of mine own lie heavy in my breast, which thou wilt propagate to have it pressed with more of thine. This love that thou hast shown doth add more grief to too much of mine own” (1.1 177-180). In other words, Romeo is very obtrusive in telling Benvolio that he is extremely dismal and cannot handle the stress under which he is. However, Benvolio writes this behavior off as an effect of teen romance, leaving Romeo in isolation with his sad thoughts. In contrast, if Benvolio were to understand this behavior as abnormal, Romeo could receive the help he needed in order to escape this feeling of terrible pain and stress. Therefore, with proper education of depressive behavior, parents and relatives could provide help for their children. In addition, a parent of a child with suicidal tendencies, who wishes to remain anonymous, explained a very similar statement. “I would feel like a failure. Like I didn’t realize my child was in that much pain and I wasn’t there for them.” In other words, this parent saw an abundance of common warning signs, but she ignored the signs in her child because she was not aware her child needed help. So, if this mother, along with all others, receive education on the behavior of suicidal teenagers, help can be given to the teens before it becomes too late. Additionally, Lady Capulet in “Romeo and Juliet” demonstrates a clear ignorance for the signs of depression in her child. “Evermore weeping for your cousin’s death? What, wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears? An if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him live. Therefore have done. Some grief shows much of love. But much of grief shows some want of wit” (3.5 69-73). To explain further, Lady Capulet