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Teenagers Make Bad Choices In William Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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On the Great River Shakespeare Festival website, it reads, “Teenagers make bad choices. It was true in Verona in the 1400s; it is true today. For more than 400 hundred years we’ve been telling this story, and we don’t appear to have any desire to stop.” Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, where there is a violent feud between the Montague and Capulet families. In the prologue, the Chorus foreshadows the plot of the play. (“Two households, both alike in dignity…What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.“- 1.1.1-14.)
In Act 1, a street-fight breaks out between young men of rival houses, Montague and Capulet, but the Prince of Verona ends it. (“What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word/ As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.”-1.1.70-71.) Lord and Lady Capulet ponder marriage between the County Paris and Juliet, their daughter. Introductions are made at a Capulet feast. Romeo, Lord and Lady Montague’s son, gate-crashes the masquerade party with his friends. Romeo and Juliet experience love-at-first-sight. (“If I profane with …show more content…
When the lights go down, we learn again that the world isn’t as simple as we’d like it to be. Mercutio is loyal. Tybalt believes in justice. Neither will survive the evening. And yet there is something grand in this single minded desire to live without compromise or die trying.” For Scholz-Carlson, Romeo and Juliet is about being completely present in a moment. He believes the play explores complete commitment to one’s purpose, a refusal to accept anything but one’s heart-felt desire. He further explains, “Teenagers do make bad choices – bold, idealistic, passionate, bad choices. Romeo and Juliet remind us what it is to truly live and to love truly. No matter what age we are, we can all use that story. As Shakespeare puts it: “What love can do, that dares love

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