Skip to main content

How does Romeo and Juliet offer valuable insight into human behavior?

This play can teach its audience about the terrible lengths to which we will often go for love, for pride, or for power.  It isn't just about the teenagers who fall in love at first sight; although their story has value, too.  The play also focuses on the terrible, but human, behavior of the Capulets and Montagues in terms of their feud, a grudge that is so long-standing that no one even seems to discuss...

This play can teach its audience about the terrible lengths to which we will often go for love, for pride, or for power.  It isn't just about the teenagers who fall in love at first sight; although their story has value, too.  The play also focuses on the terrible, but human, behavior of the Capulets and Montagues in terms of their feud, a grudge that is so long-standing that no one even seems to discuss the disagreement with which it began.  For family pride then, the feud continues, and it is responsible, ultimately, for Tybalt's death, as well as the deaths of Mercutio, Paris, Romeo, and Juliet.  Were it not for the ridiculous and proud fight between the family patriarchs, Tybalt would not have felt dishonored by Romeo's presence at the party.  He would not have challenged Romeo, and thus Mercutio would not have become involved (which he does, also, for honor).  Romeo would not be banished for slaying Tybalt, he would not have killed Paris and Juliet's tomb, and the tragedy could not have unfolded as it did.  


Further, Lord Capulet's proud insistence on his daughter's absolute obedience when he orders her to marry Count Paris denies her speech, opens a gulf between Juliet and her parents, and makes her desperate.  His need to rule over her, and his unwillingness to hear her at all, leads, ultimately, to her death as well as Romeo's and Paris's.  


In the end, most of adults behave immaturely and selfishly.  They think only of themselves and their own pride,  They have little care or concern for others, and they drive their children to desperate lengths.  In terms of human behavior, we see that humans will most often act in order to retain or acquire power or to preserve their pride.  We see how the practice of such selfish behavior leads only to tragedy and pain.  From this play, we learn that we often fail to consider all the possible repercussions of our selfish behaviors and how they can, and often do, return to plague us in the end.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more