Shakespeare often plays with concept of comedies and tragedies sometimes even coexisting the two ideas in one play. These plays leave the reader analyzing this turning point between and comedy and tragedy and who is at fault for it. Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two lovers whose relationship complicates to a point that their love story turns into a tragedy that ultimately leads to their deaths. Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight and get married the next day. The Nurse, who raised Juliet, and Friar Lawrence, who serves as a mentor and father figure to Romeo, appear much more invested than Romeo and Juliet’s respective parents. This marriage remains a secret to their parents and things complicate further with the death of Tybalt,
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Many believe that Romeo and Juliet’s immaturity causes them to make impetuous and rash decisions like their marriage, and that they are ultimately responsible for their deaths. Despite popular belief, In Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, societal norms surrounding marriage and the role of parents in their childrens’ lives are at fault for the acceleration of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, which leads to their ultimate deaths. Both the norms of only having sex once married and parents imposing marriage upon their daughters were prevalent in Romeo and Juliet’s society, which motivated the acceleration of their relationship and their seemingly impulsive marriage. It was taboo at the time to have sex before marriage, and that is shown in the following passage. When the Nurse and Lady Capulet are discussing Juliet’s potential marriage with Paris, the Nurse tells an anecdote about Juliet falling on her face when she was young. The Nurse recounts, “‘Yea’, quoth my husband, ‘fall’st upon thy face? / Thou wilt fall backward when thou comest to age”’ (1.3.56-57). This joke is paralleling this incident of Juliet falling on her face with when she will “fall backward” or have sex when old enough. This …show more content…
If not discouraged by society then Romeo and Juliet could have confided in their respective parents and told them the truth about their feelings as opposed to having to go through the Nurse and Friar Lawrence. If this was the case then matters would not have complicated to a point that Romeo and Juliet could not see each other and were so in love that they resorted to killing themselves instead of living a life without one another. Additionally, because of their adolescence and their physical attraction, Romeo and Juliet were very compelled to have sex, but society did not allow them to do so until married, which was another society imposed accelerator of their relationship. Evidently, despite popular belief, these societal norms caused this ill-advised relationship to move at an unhealthy pace, which was the main driver in this tragedy that ends in the respective deaths of the two lovers, showing the power that societal norms can have of the decisions and fates of those
Many believe that Romeo and Juliet’s immaturity causes them to make impetuous and rash decisions like their marriage, and that they are ultimately responsible for their deaths. Despite popular belief, In Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, societal norms surrounding marriage and the role of parents in their childrens’ lives are at fault for the acceleration of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, which leads to their ultimate deaths. Both the norms of only having sex once married and parents imposing marriage upon their daughters were prevalent in Romeo and Juliet’s society, which motivated the acceleration of their relationship and their seemingly impulsive marriage. It was taboo at the time to have sex before marriage, and that is shown in the following passage. When the Nurse and Lady Capulet are discussing Juliet’s potential marriage with Paris, the Nurse tells an anecdote about Juliet falling on her face when she was young. The Nurse recounts, “‘Yea’, quoth my husband, ‘fall’st upon thy face? / Thou wilt fall backward when thou comest to age”’ (1.3.56-57). This joke is paralleling this incident of Juliet falling on her face with when she will “fall backward” or have sex when old enough. This …show more content…
If not discouraged by society then Romeo and Juliet could have confided in their respective parents and told them the truth about their feelings as opposed to having to go through the Nurse and Friar Lawrence. If this was the case then matters would not have complicated to a point that Romeo and Juliet could not see each other and were so in love that they resorted to killing themselves instead of living a life without one another. Additionally, because of their adolescence and their physical attraction, Romeo and Juliet were very compelled to have sex, but society did not allow them to do so until married, which was another society imposed accelerator of their relationship. Evidently, despite popular belief, these societal norms caused this ill-advised relationship to move at an unhealthy pace, which was the main driver in this tragedy that ends in the respective deaths of the two lovers, showing the power that societal norms can have of the decisions and fates of those