An Analysis of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Essay

Submitted By nguyxnjenny
Words: 857
Pages: 4

Jenny Nguyen-Pham

FINAL COPY ESSAY
In
Romeo and Juliet
, we are shown how the people around the “star cross’d” lovers create problems in their relationship, which eventually contributes to their tragic death. Capulet,
Juliet’s father tries to control her feelings and forces her to be with someone else in order to maintain social status. Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin does not want to make peace with
Romeo’s family, and seeks to create rivalry instead. Both Capulet and Tybalt embody and enforce destructive social elements of conformity to tradition and patriarchy. The Nurse,
Juliet’s best friend betrays her, making her desperate to be with Romeo at any cost. Having no family to turn to, Romeo and Juliet turn to the faithful Friar, who thoughtlessly plays with their lives and puts them in danger.
It is understandable for Capulet as a father to want the best for his daughter, however his selfish desires to maintain tradition of the family feud only ends in tragedy for the two lovers. Capulet’s short temper causes many problems with his relationships between family members. Capulet says to Juliet, “Out, you green sickness, carrion! Out, you baggage!/ You tallow face!” (III, v, 156­157) This verbal abuse shows how Capulet is disrespectful towards his own daughter and is not the ideal father figure for Juliet. He only cares about social status: “Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought/ So worth a gentleman to be her bride?” (III, v, 144­145) This displays Capulet’s disloyalty towards
Juliet and shows how dignity is very important to him, which is the reason why he forces her to marry a noble man named Paris. Capulet is extremely selfish and does not care about other people’s opinions: “And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,/ For, by my soul, I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee.” (III, v, 192­193) Capulet’s selfishness provokes
Juliet to rebel against him and even more desperate to be with Romeo.
Tybalt’s strong desire for conflict causes Mercutio’s death, as well as his own by the hands of Romeo, ultimately affecting the lives of the lovers. Tybalt only wants violence between the two households: “What drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word,/ As I hate, all
Montagues, and thee.” (I, i, 64­65) His desire for conflict separates the teens and ultimately causes their death. Tybalt is made to be complicit in the lovers’ tragedy because he wants to continue the family feud out of pure hatred: “To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin.” (I, v, 58) We can see how Tybalt’s pure hatred and conformity to the family feud results in absolute chaos and sparks personal conflict, which contribute to the death of Romeo and Juliet.
The Nurse is meant to be Juliet’s loyal confidant and counsellor, but she betrays her trust and leaves Juliet to make important decisions that leads to the end of her life.
She betrays
Juliet’s trust by insulting Romeo and recommending a false marriage:
“I think it best you married with the County.
O, he’s a lovely gentleman!
Romeo’s a dishclout to him.” (III, v, 217­219)
The Nurse shows her disloyalty with her ironic views towards Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. Her betrayal makes Juliet more desperate to be with Romeo under any circumstance. We can see Juliet’s distrust when she says: “Go counsellor! Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain!” (III,v, 239­240)