Devin Dzumaryk

Dzumaryk 1

Mrs. King
English 9
27 May 2015

Romeo and Juliet Literary Essay

Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare was a play about two star
crossed lovers whose lives quickly end when tragedy strikes. Despite the differences
between their two families, faith take its toll and brings these two together. The play
takes place in Verona, Italy where one night at a Capulet ball, the two star-crossed
lovers meet and instantly fall in love. As shown as a recurring theme in Romeo and
Juliet, when caring about something too much that it clouds your judgment, tragedy
often strikes.
Juliets mad love for Romeo has her going crazy when she finds out that he has
been banished. She shows her passion for Romeo when Juliet drinks the potion that
was given to her by Friar Laurence. The potion was supposed to put Juliet into a deep
sleep for 48 hours. Once that time was up, she would be awoken by Romeo. Romeo, I
come! this do I drink to thee. (IV.3) These were Juliets final words before she drank the
potion. The poison didn't kill Juliet. It was the events that followed that caused her to
stab herself. This shows the theme by describing how affectionate they are for each
other, and if they are not together, they don't want to live. This particular scene over

Dzumaryk 2

rules reason because it isn't reasonable to take poison because someone you care
about deeply is in trouble.
The love of Romeo and Juliet is supported by some family members, but not
others. Tybalt is one of the family members that definitely does not support it. He shows
his hatred for Romeo and the Capulet party. Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe, A villain
that is hither come in spite, to scorn our solemnity tonight. (I.5) This line shows Tybalt's
true feelings for the Montagues. It reveals the theme by showing how Tybalt really feels
about Romeo and that now Tybalt has a reason to pick a fight or get into a fight with
Romeo. The readers learn that he surely has a short temper and does not make friends
easily.
Everything in their relationship is going smoothly until Juliet begins to doubt that
their relationship might be moving too fast. O, swear by the moon, the inconstant
moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise
variable. (II.2) This line shows that Juliet is starting to worry that things are going too
fast and that the relationship between the two might not last. This scene is important to
the play because it shows you just how fast their relationship was actually moving. This
shows that moving too fast when you know you should be moving slow, can often end in
a disaster.
The story of Romeo and Juliet has many examples of passion overruling reason
and tragedy following shortly after. Juliet shows her passion for Romeo when she drinks
Friar Laurence's potion. Tybalt displayed his passionate hate for Romeo at the Capulet
party. And finally, Juliet expresses her concern over their fast moving relationship.
These are all examples of when passion overrules reason, tragedy often follows.

Work Cited

The Language of Literature; Evanston, Illinois:

McDougal Littel. 2000. Print.