Parental Figures In A Tragedy Romeo And Juliet

“Oh Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”(Shakespeare Act 2 Scene 2). This is just one example of the love that Romeo and Juliet felt for each other. They were so attached that all other elements of their lives and what was going on at the time seemed pointless, and all they cared about was each other. “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun,”(Shakespeare Act 2, Scene 2) The Shakespearean tragedy Romeo and Juliet is written about two young people, who fall in love from rivaling families. Romeo, from the Montague family, sees Juliet at a party and decides he must have her. He kisses Juliet and they begin to fall in love. They marry in the next few days, but with complications, they are seperated and eventually die by a plan going wrong when they try to be together. It is debated that it is only Romeo and Juliet’s fault that their plan went wrong, but something else. For example, it can be said that it was the family’s fault that this happened. FOr example, they put too much pressure on their kids to follow what they think is right and they try to persuade them to not follow their own path. This is what made them want to disrespect their parents because too much pressure was put on them. Romeo and Juliet’s death was a result of their parents pressuring them to marry different people, and because they put too much pressure on their kids.

In Romeo and Juliet, their deaths were partly because their parents put too much pressure on them to marry other people. In the beginning of the play when Romeo first enters, the main focus of him is his attitude. He is sad that a girl named Rosaline had rejected him. Romeo was utterly convinced that this girl was the one. The other Montagues liked her and he loved her. His family was also relatively upset that she had rejected him because they were counting on them getting married. “Out of her favor, where I am in love,” (Shakespeare Act 1, Scene 1). Later in the story, Juliet was to marry paris. Paris was a man that knew the Capulet family close, but he had been instructed to marry Juliet from childhood. Her parents had pressured her to marry him after she had already married Romeo, so she tried to back out but her father lashed out at her. “How will she be none? Does she not give us thanks/ Is she not proud?” (Shakespeare Act 3 Scene 5). He reacted horribly because it was as if she wasn’t grateful for the goals her parents had laid out for her.

The families of Romeo and Juliet were always very strict with them. They didn’t want trouble, or forbidden romance(which went out the window with Romeo and Juliet), and they wanted to present their children to society. The Capulet family was always very reliant of Juliet to become something that other people wanted. They wanted her to have a good life with a good man, such as Paris. When she started disappearing with Romeo, her parents, especially her father, lashed out at her because he’d thought she didn’t want the life she had at home. “Not proud you have, but thankful that you have,” (Shakespeare Act 3 Scene 5). Juliet tells her father that she appreciates what her family has done for her, but that she must not follow. She might be considered disobedient in her father’s eyes, but she follows her own path. “How, how, how, and how? Chopped logic!” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 5). This reaction is what causes Juliet to eventually try to be with Romeo forever, because she doesn’t want the pressure and the life that her family wanted. Romeo wanted this too, which is why they strived to be together for eternity.

Some might argue that it is not in fact the parent’s fault, but the Friar. Not Friar Lawrence, but Friar John. This is because Friar John failed miserably to relay the message from Juliet and the Friar Lawrence to Romeo. When Juliet took the potion to cause her to fall asleep, Romeo thought she was dead. Little did he know that it was all a plan to convince everyone that she was dead. This plan would have worked, if not for the Friar. “I could not send it – here it is again -,” (Shakespeare Act 5, Scene 2). While this may seem like a plausible argument, Romeo and Juliet would have not had to go to such drastic measures if it were not for their parents harsh reality that they put their children through. If they had understood what Romeo and Juliet were saying, then they might have loosened the reins a little bit and allowed Romeo and Juliet to marry someone of their choice. While this may have caused more problems down the road, it would have prevented this plan from taking action.

In conclusion, Romeo and Juliet would not have gone to such drastic measures to be together if it weren’t for their parents. The Montague and Capulet families put too much pressure on their children to go with what their families had given for them. Neither Romeo nor Juliet wanted the life that was prepared for them, and they wanted lives of their own. The two families should have also not tried to persuade each of them to marry the family’s first choice. This is part of the reason Romeo and Juliet pushed away from their family’s ways and tried to go their own path. If the Montague and Capulet families had not put so much pressure on their kids, and if they had not tried to force them into marrying someone of their choice, then results of the “star crossed lover’s” romance could have ended differently.