“Action expresses priorities” (Mahatma Gandhi). These include priorities to your family, priorities to a friend, priorities towards your job, priorities to the one you love. What we do on a daily basis is evidence to what we really care about. Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy by William Shakespeare depicts two young star struck lovers who fall in love despite the prejudice between their families. The play was published in the 1500’s, yet its message of anger, hate, loyalty, lust, and love still stand true today. Over the span of four days, Romeo and Juliet fall in love, deny their families, and kill themselves in the name of love. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare suggests love changes your priorities for the worse through the actions of the lovers Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. …show more content…
Romeo professes to her that he will give up his name “because it is an enemy to thee” (2.2.61). So smitten with this beautiful young Juliet, Romeo is willing to give up his name, the name that has defined him his entire life. In a single instance, Romeo forsakes his identity only hours after meeting Juliet. Not only does he swear to give up his first name, Romeo also says he will abandon his last name should Juliet so desire him to. Giving up one’s surname is a sign of separating from your family. The Montague family was an honored family in Verona, and Romeo’s priorities would have initially been to maintain that honor, to protect his family’s name. Should Romeo have gone through with his statement of forsaking his name for Juliet, it would’ve been no small matter. Neither Romeo or Juliet ended up denying their names, however, their priorities to each other still became more important than their loyalty to their