Examples Of Hastiness In Romeo And Juliet

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Lessons in Literature
Every piece of literature that one has read or heard about, no matter when it was written, has a lesson. These lessons are often timeless and can still be applied to current life. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a world-renowned play which contains numerous lessons that one can still benefit from today. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare warns the audience about the repercussions of hastiness, infatuation, and holding grudges.
A valuable lesson in Romeo and Juliet is hastiness and how it never ends well. The quote “And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!” (3.1.123) is an exemplification of this lesson as Romeo hastily decides to fight Tybalt which ultimately leads to his demise. This is one of the multiple times in Romeo and Juliet where Shakespeare cautions the audience about the ramifications of hastiness. Shakespeare further notifies the audience about hastiness and its consequences in Act 3 Scene 5, when Capulet opts to marry Juliet to Paris hastily without consulting her. What ensues is Juliet’s desperate attempt to avoid the marriage, leading to the star-cross’d lovers’ deaths. In addition to the instances mentioned above, Shakespeare again warns the audience about hastiness during the death of Romeo. When Romeo receives news of Juliet’s death, he carelessly decides that he will “lie with thee to-night.” (5.1.34) while in reality, Juliet is simply
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The measure done, I’ll watch her place of stand,
And touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night. (1.5.44-53)
This shows that the feelings that Romeo is currently exhibiting isn’t love, like he believes, but rather infatuation. This leads Romeo to hastily profess his love for Juliet. By the end of the night, both Romeo and Juliet are infatuated and promise to marry one another. Their sudden marriage ultimately ends in the downfall of both Romeo and