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Romeo and Juliet
It is known that in Shakespeare’s tragedies main characters die in the end, and in his comedies people marry. Romeo and Juliet, is a story of two young lovers, whose love was destined for destruction. They did not imagine that their love would lead to the tragedies that it did. These two young people did nothing wrong except fall in love. Three aspects of their destruction included the feud between the two families, the nurse and her betrayal of Juliet and the most important aspect of all is fate.
The feud between the two families was one factor that contributed to the love of Romeo and Juliet being destined for destruction. The first lines of the book tell us about how much hate there really is between the Montagues and the Capulets. “Two households, both alike in dignity… from ancient grudge to new mutiny.”(Shakespeare Prologue)
The two families, Montagues and Capulets, had many problems. There was hate between the two families so much that even the servants hated each other. This feud would
have caused many problems for Romeo and Juliet. “They confess that they love each other, already feeling the opposite knows and say goodbye with the plans of marriage in their heads.”(Internet 1) These two young lovers knew this and this is why they kept their marriage a secret. If their parents discovered their secret, they would have made their children's lives miserable. Romeo and Juliet would not have been able to see each other.
Both of these families were very stubborn and there was hardly any thing that would have made them become friends. In the prologue it says that the only way the strife could be ended was by the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Doth with their death bury their parent's strife. (Shakespeare Prologue) Neither the Montagues or the Capulets would have accepted the marriage. Keeping the marriage a secret caused Romeo and Juliet to turn to other people for help. Sometimes these people gave them the wrong advice or just betrayed them. The Nurse was one of these characters who betrayed the young couple. The Nurse who was also Juliet's friend turned against her at a very crucial time. The Nurse told Juliet that it would be best if she married Paris. I think it best you married with the county. (Shakespeare 101)
This betrayal by the Nurse left Juliet alone. She was a wise young woman but it still would have been beneficial for her to have the help of the Nurse. Juliet was left on her own to make some very important decisions. I think that if the Nurse had been around to help Juliet things may have turned out differently. Juliet had no one to turn to and ask for help. She could not have gone to her parents because they would not have understood. The Nurse was supposed to be one of Juliet's best friends. Now when it was important for Juliet to have someone there, for her she was betrayed.
When considering the destruction of Romeo and Juliet the most significant fact you must think about is fate. Fate, above all, destroyed Romeo and Juliet. “Romeo drinks the poison and takes his last breath next to his sleeping wife”(Internet 2) Many instances in the play reveal that the love of Romeo and Juliet would end in death. Like I stated in the opening paragraph, that Shakespeare’s tragedies end in a character death. A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life”(Shakespeare Prologue)
From the very beginning it is evident that they were destined by the stars to bad fortune. Some people may think that there is no way to control fate or change what is in the stars. It could be that the love of Romeo and Juliet was destined for death so that their parent's feud would be over. Also, in the prologue it states that the dreadful course of their love was destined for death. The fearful passage of their death marked love. (Shakespeare Prologue) Both of these quotes show that the love of these two was destined to end tragically.
The masquerade party was above all the most important aspect of fate. The fact that Romeo was wearing a mask and his face was hidden allowed Juliet to fall in love with him before she saw who it was. If Juliet had known who Romeo was she would probably have not fallen in love with him. Fate could not have been changed whatever was meant to be would happen and no one could change that.
In conclusion, from the very beginning, the love of Romeo and Juliet was destined to be destroyed. It is tragic that both these people had to die. There were circumstances throughout the course of their lives that led up to their deaths. If their parent's had not been feuding and if the Nurse had not betrayed Juliet, the outcome of this story would have been different, although fate could not be changed. This was the most important factor in the lives of Romeo and Juliet. In my own opinion the quote that tells the most about this play is For never was there a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo. (Shakespeare 138)
Bibliography
Works Cited
Shakespeare,William. Romeo and Juliet. Portsmouth:
Heinemann,1995
Pierson, Eliott. Home Page. Sept. 1997
www.cyberessays.com/English/139.htm
Randerson, Keith. Home Page. June. 1995
www.geocities.com/Broadway/1796/story.html
Word Count: 878
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