William Shakespeare was a playwright and poet who worked in the English Renaissance era

William Shakespeare was a playwright and poet who worked in the English Renaissance era. Most, if not all of Shakespeare’s works are revered as classics, and must be read. One of these works is Romeo and Juliet, a tragic love story of two star-crossed lovers. Romeo falls in love with Juliet, which is forbidden, based on their families’ hatred for the other. They get married, become separated, and die for each other all within five days. Five days is quite a short time to materialize a romance, and the short time can bring some problems. The hastiness and rash decision-making lead to many of the issues and the results of Romeo and Juliet.
All of the events in Romeo and Juliet occur due to some character’s hastiness or blind-passion. Romeo and Juliet’s love arose at her family’s party, a party that Romeo went to to see Rosaline, a girl who, it seemed, he was madly and desperately in love with. As soon as he laid his eyes on Juliet, his love for Rosaline was forgotten. Within an hour of meeting her, he is already at her window, professing his love for her and wanting her, in turn, to profess her love for him. In this exchange, though, Juliet, through instinct and good insight, acknowledges ” Although I joy in thee, / I have no joy of this contract tonight. / It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden, / Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be / Ere one can say ‘It lightens'” (2.2.116-120). She realizes that their love is emerging too quickly, yet she disregards this apprehension towards their love, and asks Romeo to marry her no less than thirty lines later.
Although Romeo and Juliet’s love ignites the spark, the fighting between the Capulets and Montagues kindled the fire which was the dire defeat and untimely deaths of the young lovers. The battle between Tybalt, Mercutio, and Romeo is one only of rashness. Tybalt, determined on striking up a fight with Romeo, would not listen to Romeo when he said he would not engage in a duel. As Romeo keeps denying Tybalt a fight, Mercutio, without thinking about further implications, calls Romeo a coward and battles Tybalt. In an effort to stop the fight, Romeo comes between Mercutio and Tybalt, but its end is disastrous. Mercutio dies at the hands of Tybalt, and according to Romeo, he stepped in between the two because he “thought it all for the best” (3.1.72). Then, to avenge his friend’s death, Romeo sets aside all qualms and rashly decided to duel Tybalt. Romeo, in his rage at Tybalt, declares “Alive in triumph—and Mercutio slain! / Away to heaven, respective lenity, / And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now. / Now, Tybalt, take the “villain” back again / That late thou gavest me, for Mercutio’s soul / Is but a little way above our heads, / Staying for thine to keep him company. / Either thou or I, or both, must go with him” (3.1.84-91). Romeo, then, kills Tybalt, and flees, as he realizes what his passion had brought. The Prince exiles Romeo, showing him “mercy,” as Mercutio was a relative of the Prince, yet both Romeo and Juliet see this as a fate worse than death.
The true demise of Romeo and Juliet is the ill-fated plan devised by Friar Laurence. Both lovers have conditions that are met within the scheme. Juliet is set to marry the County Paris by her father, which she both does not want to do, but also cannot do, as she is already married to Romeo. Romeo is banished from Verona, and if he returns, he will be killed. According to the friar’s plan, Juliet must take the potion he provides for her on Wednesday night. This potion will make it appear as though Juliet is dead, but she will wake up forty-two hours later. She must take the potion on Wednesday night, as her wedding to Paris is on Thursday morning. From there, her family will place her in their family tomb, where she will be “dead.” Friar will write to Romeo telling him of this plan, as well as telling him that he will need to be there when Juliet awakens so that he may collect her and they can run away together. This strategy is open to many errors, and according to Murphy’s Law, what can happen, will happen. Juliet goes home and tell her father that she will marry Paris, only to have Capulet mistake obedience for eagerness. Capulet moves the wedding up to Wednesday instead of Thursday, forcing Juliet to take the potion a day earlier. The friar had already sent a man to give the letter to Romeo, and would not be able to tell his man or Romeo that the plan must go into effect a day sooner. Friar Laurence’s man steals to another town to find a man to take the journey with him, but is kept there, as there is a risk he may be infected with the plague. Due to ignorance and misunderstanding, Romeo’s servant Balthasar comes to Mantua, where Romeo is staying, and notifies him of Juliet’s death. Romeo, still unknowing of Friar Laurence’s plan, wants to kill himself, bringing up again the notion of hastiness. He proclaims ” O mischief, thou art swift / To enter in the thoughts of desperate men!” (5.1.37-38). He is desperate to get rid of the agony of his lover’s death, and his actions remain sudden and hurried. He goes to a poor apothecary and buys poison off of him, then returns to Verona and to the Capulet’s tomb. There, Paris is mourning over Juliet, who it seemed he truly loved and wanted to marry. Romeo kills Paris, then looks upon the face of his bride, who still has “crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, / And death’s pale flag is not advancèd there” (5.3.104-105). He kills himself, only to have the Friar arrive just after he gave his last breath, as well as Juliet awakening. The friar tries to persuade Juliet to come with him, but runs off when she refuses. She kisses Romeo to see if there is still any poison remaining on his lip, but when nothing happens, she finds Romeo’s dagger and stabs herself in the heart.
The impetuosity and passion of the characters in Romeo and Juliet led to every death in the tragedy. The hasty emergence of their love started the train of unfortunate happenings, and the fighting between families kept the train rolling. The wedding of Juliet and Paris brought that train to a grinding halt, leaving behind a gruesome story of disastrous love in the wrong place at the wrong time. The consequences of their love brought both death and a new era of light in fair Verona, a time without the fighting of the Capulets and the Montagues. A time that, most likely would not have come around were it not for the deaths of a thirteen-year-old and a seventeen-year-old.