Romeo and Juliet: Rivals by Blood LaToya Jackson once said, “I’ll never stop dreaming that one day we can be a real family together, all of us laughing and talking, loving and understanding, not looking at the past, but only to the future.” In the play, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, the same frustration that LaToya feels towards her non-unified family is felt by Romeo and Juliet towards theirs. For a very long time, the Montagues and the Capulets, two noble families in the town of Verona, have been feuding. Their children fall in love and feel that they need to sneak around behind their families’ backs in order to be together. Romeo and Juliet want to forget about their families’ pasts and think only about the future, but they
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Romeo and Juliet are forced by the rivalry to impulsively decide to defy their families. When Romeo and Juliet are discussing their forbidden love for each other on the balcony of the Capulet household, Juliet says to Romeo, “Deny thy father and refuse thy name;/or thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,/and I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (Shakespeare 2.2.34-36). Juliet also asks Romeo, “Art thou not Romeo, a Montague?” (2.2.60), to which Romeo replies, “Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike” (2.2.61). If the Capulets and Montagues were not feuding, the children would not feel the need to decide to defy their family name, and they could be honest to their parents about their love, rather than sneaking around behind their backs. For the reason of their fighting families, the children also impulsively decide to get married, which Friar Lawrence agrees to do. When Romeo asks Friar Lawrence to marry him and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is hesitant at first, but then finally replies, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be:/For this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your household’s rancour to pure love” (2.3.90-92). Friar Lawrence does not want to marry the children at first, but the reason he makes the decision to marry them is that he hopes it will stop the feuding between the families. If it were not for the fighting between the Montagues and the Capulets, Romeo and …show more content…
Firstly, Juliet is dishonest to her parents about where she is going in order to meet up with Romeo. To be able to get married, Juliet has to find a way to get out of her house and go to Friar Lawrence’s cell. The nurse tells Juliet to say she is going to shrift, but actually go to, “... Friar Lawrence’s cell,/There stays a husband to make you a wife”, (2.5.78-79). Juliet has to lie to her parents and sneak around behind their backs as they would clearly not approve of the relationship between her and Romeo. The nurse and Friar Lawrence are getting involved in Romeo and Juliet’s lies as well. As a result of the dishonesty between Juliet and her family, Juliet then has to lie about death. When Romeo Montague is banished from Verona, Friar Lawrence has a plan for Juliet: “Tomorrow might 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” (4.1.91-94). Juliet is skeptical, but because of Romeo, she drinks the vial: “Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Heres drink- I drink to thee” (4.4.58). Juliet’s lies about her marriage to Romeo to her family have backfired and now her parents want her to marry county Paris. Juliet cannot tell her parents that she is actually married to the son of their rivals, so she fakes her own death in order to
Romeo and Juliet are forced by the rivalry to impulsively decide to defy their families. When Romeo and Juliet are discussing their forbidden love for each other on the balcony of the Capulet household, Juliet says to Romeo, “Deny thy father and refuse thy name;/or thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,/and I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (Shakespeare 2.2.34-36). Juliet also asks Romeo, “Art thou not Romeo, a Montague?” (2.2.60), to which Romeo replies, “Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike” (2.2.61). If the Capulets and Montagues were not feuding, the children would not feel the need to decide to defy their family name, and they could be honest to their parents about their love, rather than sneaking around behind their backs. For the reason of their fighting families, the children also impulsively decide to get married, which Friar Lawrence agrees to do. When Romeo asks Friar Lawrence to marry him and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is hesitant at first, but then finally replies, “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be:/For this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your household’s rancour to pure love” (2.3.90-92). Friar Lawrence does not want to marry the children at first, but the reason he makes the decision to marry them is that he hopes it will stop the feuding between the families. If it were not for the fighting between the Montagues and the Capulets, Romeo and …show more content…
Firstly, Juliet is dishonest to her parents about where she is going in order to meet up with Romeo. To be able to get married, Juliet has to find a way to get out of her house and go to Friar Lawrence’s cell. The nurse tells Juliet to say she is going to shrift, but actually go to, “... Friar Lawrence’s cell,/There stays a husband to make you a wife”, (2.5.78-79). Juliet has to lie to her parents and sneak around behind their backs as they would clearly not approve of the relationship between her and Romeo. The nurse and Friar Lawrence are getting involved in Romeo and Juliet’s lies as well. As a result of the dishonesty between Juliet and her family, Juliet then has to lie about death. When Romeo Montague is banished from Verona, Friar Lawrence has a plan for Juliet: “Tomorrow might 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” (4.1.91-94). Juliet is skeptical, but because of Romeo, she drinks the vial: “Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Heres drink- I drink to thee” (4.4.58). Juliet’s lies about her marriage to Romeo to her family have backfired and now her parents want her to marry county Paris. Juliet cannot tell her parents that she is actually married to the son of their rivals, so she fakes her own death in order to