Honesty and the Power it Provides: An Examination of Honesty in Romeo and Juliet
Honesty is one of the most important qualities to have. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, honesty is a deciding factor in Romeo and Juliet’s fate. The play is set in 15th century Verona and focuses on the two young lovers, Romeo and Juliet, whose families are bitter rivals. As the play progresses, Romeo and Juliet lie to their friends and family which causes a strain on their relationships with them. In Romeo and Juliet, telling lies to family and friends results in a worse outcome for Romeo and Juliet as seen in the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, Juliet 's relationship with her parents and the death of Romeo.
Mercutio and Tybalt die because of Romeo and Juliet …show more content…
One of the reasons for this is because they did not understand why Juliet did not want to marry Paris. This is shown when Capulet says, “Soft, take me with you, take me with you, wife. How, will she none? doth she not give us thanks? Is she not proud? doth she not count her blest, Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought So worthy a gentleman to be her bride?” (3.5.142-145) Capulet is confused and angry that Juliet does not want to marry the man that he picked and that she isn’t being very thankful to him. He thinks he is being a good father marrying her to Paris. Another example is when Juliet begs her mother to delay her marriage to Paris, she refuses to help her daughter. She says: “Talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word. / Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee”. (3.5.202-203) Lady Capulet does not understand why Juliet would not want to marry Paris and thinks that she is just acting up for no reason. If she had understood that her daughter was already married, she could have tried to help. This shows again how being honest would have been a much better alternative for Juliet in this …show more content…
Friar Lawrence’s plan requires Juliet to tell no one she plans to fake her death, even though she could have trusted the Nurse. This is demonstrated when Friar Lawrence says, “Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone, / Let not the Nurse lie with thee in thy chamber. / Take thou this vial, being then in bed, / And this distilling liquor drink thou off, / When presently through all thy veins shall run / A cold and drowsy humour; for no pulse (4.1.94-100)” This quote shows that the Friar’s plan is to make everyone think Juliet is dead. This included the Nurse who already knew about Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. This was an unnecessary secret to keep that could have prevented Romeo from killing himself. In this situation, Juliet took the more risky and difficult path by not being honest. Another example is when Romeo hears that Juliet died, since Friar John was unable to reach him. Instead, Romeo here 's the new from Balthasar who says: “Her body sleeps in Capels’ monument, / And her immortal part with angels lives. / I saw her laid low in her kindred’s vault, / And presently took post to tell it you. / O pardon me for bringing these ill news,” (5.1.20-24) Juliet’s plan was kept from all of her and Romeo’s friends and family, which caused Romeo’s friend Balthasar to hear that Juliet was dead. He delivered the news to Romeo, who ended up killing himself because of it. With all the secrets being kept
Honesty is one of the most important qualities to have. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, honesty is a deciding factor in Romeo and Juliet’s fate. The play is set in 15th century Verona and focuses on the two young lovers, Romeo and Juliet, whose families are bitter rivals. As the play progresses, Romeo and Juliet lie to their friends and family which causes a strain on their relationships with them. In Romeo and Juliet, telling lies to family and friends results in a worse outcome for Romeo and Juliet as seen in the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, Juliet 's relationship with her parents and the death of Romeo.
Mercutio and Tybalt die because of Romeo and Juliet …show more content…
One of the reasons for this is because they did not understand why Juliet did not want to marry Paris. This is shown when Capulet says, “Soft, take me with you, take me with you, wife. How, will she none? doth she not give us thanks? Is she not proud? doth she not count her blest, Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought So worthy a gentleman to be her bride?” (3.5.142-145) Capulet is confused and angry that Juliet does not want to marry the man that he picked and that she isn’t being very thankful to him. He thinks he is being a good father marrying her to Paris. Another example is when Juliet begs her mother to delay her marriage to Paris, she refuses to help her daughter. She says: “Talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word. / Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee”. (3.5.202-203) Lady Capulet does not understand why Juliet would not want to marry Paris and thinks that she is just acting up for no reason. If she had understood that her daughter was already married, she could have tried to help. This shows again how being honest would have been a much better alternative for Juliet in this …show more content…
Friar Lawrence’s plan requires Juliet to tell no one she plans to fake her death, even though she could have trusted the Nurse. This is demonstrated when Friar Lawrence says, “Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone, / Let not the Nurse lie with thee in thy chamber. / Take thou this vial, being then in bed, / And this distilling liquor drink thou off, / When presently through all thy veins shall run / A cold and drowsy humour; for no pulse (4.1.94-100)” This quote shows that the Friar’s plan is to make everyone think Juliet is dead. This included the Nurse who already knew about Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. This was an unnecessary secret to keep that could have prevented Romeo from killing himself. In this situation, Juliet took the more risky and difficult path by not being honest. Another example is when Romeo hears that Juliet died, since Friar John was unable to reach him. Instead, Romeo here 's the new from Balthasar who says: “Her body sleeps in Capels’ monument, / And her immortal part with angels lives. / I saw her laid low in her kindred’s vault, / And presently took post to tell it you. / O pardon me for bringing these ill news,” (5.1.20-24) Juliet’s plan was kept from all of her and Romeo’s friends and family, which caused Romeo’s friend Balthasar to hear that Juliet was dead. He delivered the news to Romeo, who ended up killing himself because of it. With all the secrets being kept