Trust, decisions, and fate, these together decide what
your future will be, and how you arrive there. Sometimes, you should take the
advice of others, the people you trust, your family, and friends. Other times,
you have to walk the road onward alone, and choose what you believe is best. No
matter what you choose, you will always know that your decisions are what you
think is right. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare teaches us that we
aren’t alone, and that we can sometimes trust them to lead you accurately to a
better future. There are also times that we can’t depend on others, when you
can tell if they turn out to be a friend or an enemy.
We, as humans, always encounter obstacles. Sometimes, we
discover that there is a seemingly endless wall you can’t get around. This is
when we should seek or receive the assistance of others. Friar Lawrence tells
Romeo, “Young men’s love then lies / not truly in their hearts but in their
eyes.”(2.3.71-72) He says this to question Romeo if his newly found love would
work out, because he had given up so easily on Rosaline, the one Romeo believed
he had loved. If he had discarded his love for her so quickly, then why would
he stay loyal to Juliet? If he does not love her with his heart, then it’s like
saying he doesn’t love her for who she is at all, but rather because of her
appearance. Romeo was given a chance at a possibly better life if he had
listened to Friar Lawrence. It may not have lead up to the fateful death. He
was offered a ladder to climb the hindering wall, but turned it down and
continued to blunder on, looking for another way through. For Juliet, obeying
her mother may have given her a happier life. Lady Capulet tells Juliet, “Speak
briefly. Can you like of Paris’s love?”(1.4.102). If she had more interest in Paris,
Juliet may not have been so tempted to pursue a pointless and painful venture
that left her with nothing at the end. She did not believe in the future her
parents gave her, and walked along the endless wall, which led to the fateful
meeting of Juliet and Romeo.
There are times when we see the path ahead of us as
clear, when there are no fallen trees barricading the forks of decision. This
is when it is our turn to act upon our impulses, which drives us to where we
think we should belong. After Tybalt had murdered Mercutio, Romeo says, “This
day’s black fate on more days doth depend. / This but begins the woe others
must end.”(3.1.124-125). Romeo calls this incident “black fate,” because he had
lost one of his best friends. “This but begins the woe others must end” means
that he has to avenge his comrade’s death. He believes that even though it will
draw him and Juliet farther apart, he must end the conflict by bringing the
death of Tybalt. Even though he should not have done that, even though he knows
it will bring heavy consequences, it is acceptable if he truly believes it is
the right thing to do. Sometimes there are things you must decide alone, especially
if it affects who you are, and what is in your heart, because nobody can feel
how you feel, experience what you experience, and the same is said for Romeo.
When he feels that certain way, he knows immediately what he has to do, because
Mercutio holds a place in Romeo’s heart, and that part has been abruptly torn
out. When someone really feels strongly about something, they will act on it.
For Juliet, she disobeys her parents. When Capulet tells Juliet that she is to
marry Paris, she says, “Not proud that you have, but thankful that you have. / Proud
can I never be of what I hate, / but thankful for that hate that is meant love.”(3.5.151-153).
By this she means that she cannot marry Paris. She is not proud that she has to
marry him, but she is thankful that her parents are giving her this opportunity
for this new life. She also says that she is not proud of what she hates, but
she is thankful to them because they actually mean to give her love. Juliet
chooses between her love for Romeo, and an easier life without perils and dangers.
Her love for Romeo overrides the latter because she believes that she will one
day meet up with Romeo, even after he is exiled from Verona. She can’t betray
him, because he is both her husband, and the person she actually loves. She stays
with her ideals to the end, and when she commits suicide, she proves her
undying love for Romeo. Juliet has made her decision, and it is to travel on
the same trail until it finally fades at the end.
Tragic stories have things we can gain from them, a
lesson to be understood. The lesson here is about the decisions we make, the
people we hold trust in, and how it all ties in to our fate. Why do we make the
decisions we make? What causes us to act this way? Do we really know what
consequences or choices may bring? Unwise choices and stubbornness can
unintentionally cause harm to ourselves, and the people around us. The arrogant
families of Montague and Capulet are an example of this. Their feud has done naught
but destruction to their lives. Why do they fight in this pointless squabble?
They do not have trust. They do not trust each other. They may not even trust
themselves. This is the reason for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Without the
feud, they would be able to see each other freely, but instead, their love was
forbidden. “As rich shall Romeo’s by his lady’s lie, / poor sacrifices of our enmity.”(5.3.314-315).
Their deaths are what shocked the families to finally waking up and to see daylight.
They have realized their wrongs when they discovered what had occurred between
their son and daughter. In the end, everyone seemed to have made the decision
they deemed right, even though it may have concluded in a tragedy.
Out of all the lessons Shakespeare may
teach us in Romeo and Juliet, the themes of decision-making, trust, and
fate are the most important, and most often are bound together. He teaches all
of us that we know when to seek help and when to achieve something alone. These
themes can connect easily to the real world. An example of this is when you are
struggling in school. When you need help because you don’t understand a
subject, you know that you may have to go to a teacher for support. Making the
right decisions is usually beneficial, and it is what you are expected to do.
We know that there are choices that tell us something that is a “bad” or “good”
thing to do, but we also need to take into account that there are decisions
that we have to make that are based on our situation. Making decisions is a
hard concept to understand, but once experienced, will become clear.
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