As many may already know, in the Disney story of Sleeping Beauty, Sleeping Beauty is asleep for a hundred years, and Prince Phillip decides to risk his life to find her after being specifically told that many have died in the journey. Face to face with a dragon over twenty times his size, he still uses a puny sword to fight the dragon’s deathly breath of fire, instead of finding a logical plan and avoiding it. Likewise, in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, a play written by William Shakespeare, the two star-crossed lovers are faced with the issue that even though their families are enemies, they still desperately want to be together, leading to many unfortunate events, the greatest being them dead. Men, especially, play a great role in the leading
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In Mantua, Romeo finds out about Juliet’s death from his loyal servant Balthasar. Hearing the news, he urgently states, “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight./ Let’s see for means. O mischief, thou art swift/ To enter in the thoughts of desperate men” (5.1.34-36). Romeo is directing the message towards Juliet, and states that he will die with her once he returns to Verona. ‘O mischief, thou art swift’ means that Romeo is quick to resort to destructive actions, demonstrating that Romeo is reliant on his instincts of what is happening rather than on planning. He even claims that it happens not only himself, but to all men, by ending with the words ‘desperate men’ to describe what it takes for men to be disastrous. The fact that Romeo is still in the destructive state of mind the entire ride back to Verona is also very dangerous. Consequently, Romeo reaches Verona, to which he should never return, and looks for Juliet. Furthermore, when he arrives at the monument of the Capulets, he stands in front of the tomb and demands, “Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,/ And in despite I’ll cram thee with more food” (5.3.47-48). Romeo is speaking to the tomb, and claims that because it ate the dearest creature on earth -- Juliet -- it must eat Romeo too. Using the phrase ‘cram thee with more food,’ Romeo orders that after the tomb took in Juliet, it must take in Romeo as well, meaning that he must join Juliet in death. Romeo indicates that he indeed wants to be devoured into the tomb’s ‘rotten jaws,’ which symbolizes death since bodies eventually rot after they die. However, it is only for love that Romeo is eager to die with Juliet, and he is so desperate he ‘enforce[s]’ the tomb to open, which is similar to strictly enforcing a law that one must
In Mantua, Romeo finds out about Juliet’s death from his loyal servant Balthasar. Hearing the news, he urgently states, “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight./ Let’s see for means. O mischief, thou art swift/ To enter in the thoughts of desperate men” (5.1.34-36). Romeo is directing the message towards Juliet, and states that he will die with her once he returns to Verona. ‘O mischief, thou art swift’ means that Romeo is quick to resort to destructive actions, demonstrating that Romeo is reliant on his instincts of what is happening rather than on planning. He even claims that it happens not only himself, but to all men, by ending with the words ‘desperate men’ to describe what it takes for men to be disastrous. The fact that Romeo is still in the destructive state of mind the entire ride back to Verona is also very dangerous. Consequently, Romeo reaches Verona, to which he should never return, and looks for Juliet. Furthermore, when he arrives at the monument of the Capulets, he stands in front of the tomb and demands, “Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open,/ And in despite I’ll cram thee with more food” (5.3.47-48). Romeo is speaking to the tomb, and claims that because it ate the dearest creature on earth -- Juliet -- it must eat Romeo too. Using the phrase ‘cram thee with more food,’ Romeo orders that after the tomb took in Juliet, it must take in Romeo as well, meaning that he must join Juliet in death. Romeo indicates that he indeed wants to be devoured into the tomb’s ‘rotten jaws,’ which symbolizes death since bodies eventually rot after they die. However, it is only for love that Romeo is eager to die with Juliet, and he is so desperate he ‘enforce[s]’ the tomb to open, which is similar to strictly enforcing a law that one must