The Cause Of Lust In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the “star crossed lovers” mistake their lust and infatuation for love, causing catastrophe. Romeo’s infatuation with Juliet, Juliet’s lust for Romeo, and the catastrophe caused by their poor choices all play a part in the tragic story. Their mistaken love, causing both parties to make questionable choices throughout the novel, which causes them to end with their treacherous fate: “For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo” (V.3.320-321). Romeo believes that his physical attraction to Juliet is true love, even though it is nothing more than pure lust. Upon their first interaction at the Capulet’s party, Romeo is overwhelmed by his hormones saying, “Did my heart love until now? …show more content…
Because he covets Juliet, Romeo believes that love can be felt with minimal introduction and he also believes the concept of love at first sight to be true. His belief leads him to further pursue Juliet and mistake his attraction for love. However, Romeo and Juliet cannot feel true love because he is of young age and his brain does not have the mental capacity to recognize true love, let alone act upon that love. With the inability to act upon their feelings properly, Romeo and Juliet make questionable choices and in turn wreak havoc on the fair city of Verona. When first meeting, Romeo and Juliet are seen by a power-thirsty, violent Tybalt who despises all of the Montagues. Tybalt then swears revenge on Romeo for coveting Juliet, accidentally killing Romeo’s friend and in turn being killed, as recounted by Romeo’s cousin, Benvolio: “There lies the man slain, by young Romeo, / That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio” (III.1.152-153). Romeo would have never killed Tybalt, nor Tybalt, Mercutio, if he had never snuck into the Capulets’ party and coveted Juliet. Due to the inability to process what he was truly feeling, Romeo could not think straight, nor make responsible decisions, such as waiting to marry Juliet and waiting for the law to punish Tybalt for Mercutio’s murder, rather than kill him, himself. Romeo’s rash decision to kill Tybalt, followed by the sudden …show more content…
Though their feelings of lust were strong, they were not feelings of love because the pair had known each other for less than a week, and acted childishly upon their feelings. These actions, in turn caused turmoil in the city of Verona and in the end, the only outcome was their bitter end, and the end to the long-standing feud of the Montagues and