Gracie Fox Ms. Tingley Language Arts 1, Period 2 28 March 2024 The Cause of Romeo and Juliet's Death Teenagers across the globe are notoriously known for their poor impulse control and inability to control their emotions and actions. This is because a teenagers prefrontal cortex, which controls emotional regulation and impulse control as well as other actions, is still developing which causes them to "think with their feelings", because they tend to use their amygdala, which makes us feel emotions, rather than their prefrontal cortex to understand emotions they see in daily life (Lessienko). "In other words, they are using their emotions to try and understand emotion" (Lissienko). This causes teens to be more likely to act on impulse, misread …show more content…
If Romeo never met Juliet, then they would have never ended their own lives for each other. However, because Lord Capulet did allow Romeo to stay and meet Juliet, this caused them to take the path described by the rest of the play leading to both of their deaths. However, Romeo's underdeveloped prefrontal cortex is actually to blame because Romeo was not able to determine good or bad and ignored the warnings his prefrontal cortex was telling him about going to the party. When Romeo first heard of the party at Lord Capulet's house from the Capulet's servant, he began to talk to his friends of a dream premonition he had about that party, stating that, "I fear, too early; for my mind misgives/ Some consequence yet hanging in the stars/ Shall bitterly begin his 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./ But On, my lusty gentlemen!" Act 1.4, Lines 106-113. Romeo's underdeveloped prefrontal cortex is to blame because he failed to listen to his prefrontal cortex's warnings about not going to the party and ended up dismissing the warnings and making a bad