Romeo and Juliet

A tragic and thought provoking play that I have recently read and studied was ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare. I found this play interesting to read because it all happened in such a short time. In my essay I am going to write about what lead to the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

Shakespeare uses a short time sequence in the play which inevitably accounts for the tragedy of the play. Encouraged by Romeo, Juliet rushed headlong into a situation that led to misfortune and tragedy. The play starts on Sunday morning. On Sunday evening Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time at the Capulet’s party where they fall in love. The next day they are married by Friar Lawrence and by a series of unfortunate events, both Romeo and Juliet are dead by Thursday morning. The sudden sequence of events makes the play pitiful.

The character of Friar Lawrence is another aspect of the play which may have led to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. Friar Lawrence was someone Romeo and Juliet could confide in. In act two scene three, Romeo goes to Friar Lawrence to tell him that he had fallen in love with Capulets daughter at the party. Friar Lawrence is shocked at Romeo’s sudden change

. . .
But Romeo was persuaded to go to the party by Mercutio.

The nurse should not have acted as a messenger for Romeo and Juliet because if she had not Romeo and Juliet would not have been able to rush into anything too quickly and therefore the play would not have ended so tragically. Juliet decides not to tell the nurse as she thinks that she would try and stop her taking the remedy. of heart and says “God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?” Romeo tells Friar Lawrence that he has forgotten about his last girlfriend, Rosaline, and that he wishes him to marry himself and Juliet.

Romeo assuming that Juliet is dead, decides to return to Verona to kill himself beside Juliet. The Friar helps Juliet by giving her a remedy which will make her sleep for forty two hours, but will appear dead. When Balthasar returned to Mantua he tells Romeo “Her body sleeps in Capel’s monument, and her immortal part with angels lives”. The clown can not read and just happens to meet Romeo who can. Throughout the play the nurse always knows what is going on between Romeo and Juliet until near the end of the play when Juliet is going to take the remedy. When Romeo arrives at the party though, he completely forgets about Rosaline because he meets Juliet for the first time.

Friar Lawrence agrees to help Romeo and Juliet in an attempt to stop the family feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, but I think he should have told Romeo and Juliet to not rush into things too quickly and maybe the play would not have ended in such a tragic way. Yet Romeo’s last girlfriend was also an ‘enemy’, but their relationship was not forbidden. Hoping to cheer Juliet up Capulet arranges for Juliet to marry Paris in three days time. Capulet organised the party in order for Paris and Juliet to get to know each other, but Juliet falls in love with Romeo the very same night.

As Romeo arrives at the vault to kill himself beside Juliet, it is a coincidence that he arrives there and kills himself just before Juliet wakes up.

Common topics in this essay:
Romeo Juliet, Friar Lawrence, Friar John, Romeo Romeo, Paris Capulet, Romeo Juliets, romeo juliet, William Shakespeare, Paris Friar, Juliet Romeos, Paris Juliet, friar lawrence, act scene, juliet dead, deaths romeo juliet, deaths romeo, juliet remedy, throughout play, capulets party, marry paris, lead deaths, lead tragic deaths, tragic deaths romeo, marry paris friar, thinking juliet dead,

Approximate Word count = 1491
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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