Hasty Decisions in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Essay Example For Students

Hasty Decisions in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Essay Luigi da Porto originally wrote Romeo and Juliet in a prose format. Shakespeare took the basic story line and transformed it into a play. The affair of the two lovers lasted a period of several months in the original prose whereas Shakespeare dramatised the play into a period of five days. This could well have been a deliberate ploy on Shakespeares part to emphasis the tragic nature of the story. The action begins shortly before nine oclock on a Sunday morning in the middle of July and ends at dawn the following Thursday. The time of events in the play is very precisely accounted for. The only discrepancy is in the matter of the sleeping potion. Friar Laurence tells Juliet that she will awake forty-two hours after she takes it and on Wednesday morning he sees her asleep from the potion, but on Wednesday night, about twenty-four hours after she has taken the potion, he expects her to awake soon, and she does. Shakespeares play opens with a prologue. It tells us twice that Romeo and Juliet will fall in love, die, and so bring about the end of the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. And all this will be shown in the two hours traffic of our stage This immediately creates a sense of haste as it tells us that a lot of action will be happening in a very short period of time. The play begins on a Sunday. It opens with two servants of the Capulet household, Sampson and Gregory talking of the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. When Abram and another Servingman (Montagues) enter, the two houses begin to jest with one and other. Gregory says to Abram, Do you quarrel, sir? Abram replies, Quarrel, sir? No, sir. They continue to jest until Benvolio appears. Suddenly, when Benvolio and Tybalt enter, the street in Verona becomes host to a violent brawl. Benvolio tries to stop the fighting by asking the brawlers, Put up your swords. You know not what you do. but he is ignored and suddenly finds himself in the middle of a riot. This continues the theme of haste through the first act as from a simple argument a brawl suddenly develops. In the afternoon the invitations are sent out for the Capulets party. In the third scene Lady Capulet urges Juliet to marry Paris. During their conversation a servant rushes in with an urgent message: Madam, the guests are come, supper served up, you called, my young lady asked for, the nurse cursed in the pantry, and every thing in extremity. I must hence to wait; I beseech you, follow straight. Lady Capulet responds to the servant and tells her daughter that Paris is waiting for her. The Nurse also urges Juliet on, saying, Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days. The Nurse and Lady Capulet both expect Juliet to make the most important decision of her life in the next few minutes. This emphasises the haste of the play. At the entrance of the party Romeo suddenly becomes reluctant to enter, and his friends urge him to hurry. Romeo answers them by saying, I fear, too early: for my mind misgives / Some consequence yet hanging in the stars. In other words, Romeo feels he is rushing into danger. Nevertheless he enters the party. During the ball Romeo and Juliet meet but are soon separated by the Nurse, who was sent to fetch Juliet by Lady Capulet. The two lovers meet later that evening in Capulets garden. After Romeo has overheard Juliet saying that she loves him, and after he has sworn his love for her, Juliet says, Although I joy in thee, / I have no joy of this contract to-night: / It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden; / Too like the lightening, which doth cease to be / Ere one can say It lightens, Sweet, good night! But Juliet decides to ignore her reluctance and before Romeo departs they agree that Romeo will make the arrangements for their wedding and let her know of them by nine oclock the next morning. This is extremely hasty as at this stage they have only known each other for a matter of hours and earlier on in the day Romeo had been lovesick for Rosaline, also a Capulet. He had told Benvolio, In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman. When Benvolio suggested that they go to the Capulet party and that he would show Romeo other beauties, Romeo was adamant that he could feel no love for anyone other than Rosaline, telling Benvolio, Thou canst not teach me to forget. Versions of Romeo and Juliet EssayOn the Wednesday morning Juliet is found to be dead by the Nurse. Away in Mantua Romeo is awaiting some joyful news concerning Juliet when he is interrupted by the sudden appearance of his servant Balthasar. Balthasar quickly delivers the news of Juliets death. Romeos response is swift and simple: Is it even so? then I defy you, stars! Romeo asks for no reason of Juliets death but hastily decides that he will go and commit suicide at Juliets side. He says to himself, Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night. / Lets see for means: O mischief, thou art swift / To enter in the thoughts of desperate men! / I do remember an apothecary Romeo is so desperate to lie with Juliet that he asks the apothecary for a dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear / As will disperse itself through all the veins / As violently as hasty powder fired / Doth hurry from the fatal cannons womb. This shows that even as the tragedy is coming to a climax, hasty decisions are still being made and that hasty actions are still being completed. Once in the Capulet tomb Romeo kills Paris and after viewing Juliet he drinks the poison. Early on the Thursday morn Juliet awakes to find Romeo lying dead alongside her. She decides, I will kiss thy lips. / Haply some poison yet doth hang on them / To make me die with a restorative. The haste of the poison is significant at the end of the play as when Juliet kisses Romeo his lips are still warm indicating that she is only marginally too late. If the poison had not been so hasty then the play may not have ended as tragically. When hearing a noise in the background she hastily snatches Romeos dagger and kills herself. The Prince is called to the tomb and at the end of the play the Montagues and the Capulets and united. The last sentence is that of the Prince. He says For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. This final sentence sums up the tragedy of the play. As the entire play takes place in a period of five days Shakespeare includes characters, which have great depth. He uses them to keep the plot realistic. He makes especial use of the Nurse and Capulet. He successfully uses their emotions to put Juliet and her Romeo into perspective. Shakespeare also makes it clear that Capulet is an old man although he has a daughter just out of childhood and a wife of twenty-eight years or so. At the party Capulet says, I have seen the day / That I have worn a visor and could tell / A whispering tale in a fair ladys ear, / Such as would please. Tis gone, tis gone, tis gone! This contrast between youth and age is deliberate, as Shakespeare wanted to emphasis the fading energy of youth. Overall it cannot be disputed that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of haste. It is a tragedy as it sees the death of five characters: Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet and Lady Montague. It is hasty because of the personalities of Tybalt and of Capulet, Friar Laurences actions and Romeo and Juliets passionate love for each other. I believe it would have been impossible for Shakespeare to create such an intense plot with such varying emotions if it had remained in its original form rather than being compressed into a time-span of just five days.