FRESHMAN

Critique of Romeo and Juliet

       Some call it the greatest of Shakespeare’s work, some call it a tragedy, and some call it a comedy. Others may say it is a story of pure romance. The story of two star-crossed lovers vying their way to get to a perfect ending. But the saying of “ nothing is perfect” truly shines in this beloved story. What is this story you may ask, it is the story of Romeo and Juliet.

The tragic and satiric story about two people, who are just so happened to be from the two families that have the utmost disgust for each other. The two coincidentally fall in love for each other, unaware of each other’s families. Even after knowing, they still can’t resist the undeniable connection and love for each other. They try to find ways so that they can marry and live together, but fate was not on their side.

       The story begins with the servants of the two families. Gregory, and Sampson are in a public place arguing with each other. While Romeo and his friend Benvolio goes to a party hosted by the Capulets. At the party, Juliet Capulet’s cousin, Tybalt recognizes Romeo by his voice. Romeo then sees Juliet and he instantly falls in love with her. Juliet and Romeo greet each other without knowing how much trouble they will bring to both of the families.

After the party, Romeo goes back to Capulet’s backyard. Romeo coincidently overhears Juliet talking to herself at her balcony.  Juliet and Romeo talk until the nurse calls Juliet. In the next Act, Romeo tells Friar Lawrence what happened. Friar Lawrence helps Romeo and Juliet get married. Tybalt figures out that Romeo married Juliet. He challenges Romeo in a dual. But Mercutio steps in. Tybalt then kills Mercutio which leads to Tybalt's death by Romeo. Then the Prince banishes Romeo from Verona.  

       The nurse tells Juliet the whole things which make her heartbroken. She goes to Friar Lawrence and he gives her a potion that will allow a person to be temporarily asleep. Capulet then makes Juliet marry Paris but, right before the marriage Juliet drinks the potion and pretends to die.

The news that Capulet’s daughter died reached outside of Verona where Romeo was staying. He then goes to the apothecary and demands for the strongest poison that the apothecary has. Despite the danger, Romeo decides to go to the tomb of Juliet to say goodbye. At the tomb, Romeo drinks the poison and dies. Right after Romeo dies,  Juliet wakes up. When she saw her true love on the ground motionless, she took her life with a dagger.

After Romeo and Juliet dies, everyone is full of regret and is sad about their deaths. The parents come together and decide to make an alliance, realizing that their children’s death was a result of their never-ending rivalry.

We think there is a myriad of meanings to this story. There are certain points to this story that we found intriguing that brings out what we think is the true meaning of this romantic and enticing journey that Romeo and Juliet embark on.

        The story, Romeo and Juliet was published in 1597. It is very famous and many people have different opinions on it. We believe Shakespeare wrote this story for many reasons. He wrote Romeo and Juliet to show a hidden meaning. Romeo gave his life to Juliet and thought that the world without Juliet was not worth living. It shows how much a person is willing to give up for someone that he or she loves. The Quote by an American author, Ray Bradbury “Love is the answer to everything. It's the only reason to do anything. If you don't write stories you love, you’ll never make it. If you don’t write stories that other people love, you’ll never make it.” really shows what Romeo was thinking when he decided to drink the poison when he saw Juliet laying in the tomb motionless. This quote also shows how Juliet was thinking when she killed herself. She did not think she can survive without Romeo.

Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight, falling in love with each other from their first encounter. Romeo describes Juliet as the most beautiful woman in the beginning of the story when he saw her at the Masquerade party. He says “Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear, Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear. So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. The measure done, I’ll watch her place of stand, And, touching hers, make blessèd my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.”(Act 1, Scene 5) He expresses his love for her when he never even talked to her. It is strange how his feelings for Rosaline disappeared and instantly fell in love with Juliet.

           Throughout the story, we learned how love can really affect a person. Romeo and Juliet made so many sacrifices so they can be together. They lost many things and even took their life away for love. The quote by Shakespeare, “Love is a smoke and is made with the fume of sighs” shows how he believes love can make a person blind to other things. Romeo and Juliet block out everything to be together. The quote by the famous philosopher Aristotle, “Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses.” shows how strong love is. The love Juliet and Romeo had for each other was really huge and they sacrificed so much for each other. When Romeo found Juliet motionless, he says “For fear of that, I still will stay with thee, And never from this palace of dim night Depart again. Here, here will I remain With worms that are thy chamber maids. Oh, here Will I set up my everlasting rest, And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars From this world-wearied flesh.” (Act 5, Scene 3)He sacrificed his life to be with her.

Other meanings in the story are how hatred between people can lead to a large problem and how a little misunderstanding can mess up many things. The rivalry between the Montague and the Capulet lead to many deaths. Mercutio, Paris, Juliet, and Romeo ends up dying in the story. Before passing out, Mercutio says “Take me inside some house, Benvolio, or I’ll pass out. May a plague strike both your families! They’ve turned me into food for worms. I’m done for. Curse your families!”(Act 3, Scene 1) This shows how Mercutio finds the hatred between the two group stupid. Hatred is really dangerous. A German poet, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said “Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture.” Small Problems can lead to a larger problem. This is like how the World War II started off with a small fight between 2 small countries. Also, like how an argument can break a friendship. Throughout the story, many misunderstandings happened to cause many tragic events. If the letter from the Friar explaining the plan reached Romeo, Romeo would not have killed himself. A small mistake can ruin a bigger matter. For example, if you lose an easy tennis match that you should be able to win, that would lead to a lack of self-confidence causing you to lose more matches in the future.

In the story, the hatred between the Montague and the Capulet caused many problems for Romeo and Juliet. They had to keep their relationship a secret, so their parents would not find out. Throughout the history, many people could not marry the person they wanted to because their parents did not let them. This still goes on today, people can’t marry due to their different religions. In Egypt, a Muslim man and a Christian woman went through so many hurdles just to marry, consequences as severe as death.  This shows how the story is relevant to the society now. Even though most things that happened in the story would not happen in the society anymore, some ideas are still the same. Many people still sacrifice for love and people are still restricted from marrying certain kind of people.

            All in all, the story of Romeo and Juliet to us is a very deep and meaningful story that talks about the sacrifices that a person goes through for love, not only for love but for many other reasons. Sacrifices can also be for various things such as parents, siblings, for a child's  job etc.  Love plays a big role in life and it should not be taken for granted, yet it should not affect a person’s view of life. It shouldn’t affect the person’s way of thinking, but somehow love plays an effective role in doing just that. Being aware of the things that occur around you and knowing what the true meaning of sacrifice, love, and life is important.