Romeo and Juliet: A play about love

I believe strongly that Romeo and Juliet is a play centered on love and the lengths that people are willing to go to for it. Almost all of the main events are focussed on the two lovers' actions that are made in the name of love.

This is demonstrated most strongly in the death scene of Romeo and Juliet, when the two of them kill themselves because they believe the other is dead (even though one was mistaken), and would rather join the other in death instead of living without them. Although it was extremely impulsive and a little silly of the two to suicide immediately upon seeing the other's body, it has always been known that they did it for love.

In addition, many other important events were the cause of love between Romeo and Juliet. Their marriage (obviously because the two loved each other) rendered Romeo unable to fight Tybalt, leading to Mercutio fighting in his play and being killed, which then led to the death of Tybalt. Of course, this resulted in Romeo being banished, which was the sole cause of Juliet's desperate measures against getting married with Paris, which was drinking the Friar's potion.

In short, Romeo and Juliet is a play about love and what people will do when they are in love.

Sonnet: Goodbye

A word, some sounds, in many minds still dwell

That reaches every watchful angel's ear

Not weeping nor morning can sadness quell

Nor any anger that saints would fear.

This word, for all must one day be spoken

Even our love will soon unwillingly yield.

For I must leave, I don't want to see you broken

Lying on altar named Love, by a knife I wield.

So if you are to stay your true fair self

And stay simply shielded from love's sharp sting

A task there is, must be done by myself.

I must leave you only with these small things.

This blessed word of such sweet pained sorrow

Erased only by promise of morrow.

Romeo and Juliet: Fate or human error?

I believe that in the play "Romeo and Juliet", the ending is really influenced by coincidence and human error that is passed off as "fate". 

When Romeo meets Juliet at Capulet's feast, fate is thought of as being the reason they meet. However, the true reason was because the hopelessly lustful Romeo gatecrashed the gathering to see Rosaline and compare her to other women. Because he was so in love with her, he had to see her another time, thus creating the plot device for the two future lovers to meet. It is perfectly natural for both Juliet and Rosaline to be at the feast, because they are Capulet's daughter and niece. 

In addition, the little accidents that befell Romeo and Juliet are simply coincidences. For example, when Friar Lawrence's message is unable to reach Romeo, it is because the messenger was delayed by a mistaken (but common) encounter with health officials, not because the lightning of fate struck him.

However, the real human errors were Romeo's impulsive choices. From killing Tybalt to buying the poison that he would later drink to kill himself, Romeo made all the wrong choices because he acted instead of waiting for a little while. Even though Mercutio and his death acted as the catalyst to Romeo's banishment, it was mainly Romeo's fault for impulsively killing Tybalt as revenge for Mercutio's death.
The other huge mistake that Romeo made was to immediately declare that he would "lie with" Juliet, and to kill himself with poison by Juliet's side. If Romeo had waited and mourned properly, instead of instantly committing suicide, he might have lived to see Juliet alive again. Of course, his impetuous character would not let him do this.


There were many other human errors, such as Tybalt's violence, Mercutio's troublemaking and Sampson and Gregory's starting fights with the Montagues. For these reasons, I believe that the ending of "Romeo and Juliet" is not the result of fate, but of the numerous mistakes that the characters make.