Emotionally Motivated Problems in “Romeo and Juliet”
Introduction
There are many different emotional motivations in the play “Romeo and Juliet.” These emotions cause problems in the play, and there are a couple of ways this theme is shown. The ways I will analyze and explain today are conflict and dramatic irony. Both of these strategies cause problems, and these problems are usually driven by one’s emotions.
The Conflict Strategy
Here I will talk about the conflict strategy. Points of conflict in the play prove my theme. Tybalt, angry that Romeo will not duel with him, kills Mercutio by accident. Then Romeo who is overcome by anger, kills Tybalt in revenge. Later in the play, Romeo kills Paris. This is because he is trying to stop him from seeing Juliet, even though Paris doesn’t even know that is why he’s there. All of these examples of conflict are related to emotions. These characters make these decisions without much thought because their emotions cloud them. That is how conflict develops my theme.
The Dramatic Irony Technique
Another way my theme is developed is through dramatic irony. That is when a certain group of people do or do not know something, causing terrible events. When someone thinks something that is not true or doesn’t know something, it can cause lots of problems. An example of this is Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. If Romeo looked past his initial emotional judgment, things would’ve been very different. Romeo didn’t know that Juliet was merely sleeping when he found her. Overcome with sadness and regret, he poisoned himself. If he had examined her, he would’ve known she was breathing and only took a sleep potion, but he was clouded with sadness and acted rashly. This connects to my theme because the strategy itself develops it. These misconstrued events cause problems because the initial judgment based on emotion reigns supreme over logic and reasoning.
Conclusion
As just shown here, one’s emotions can cause problems. I developed this by showing that conflict and dramatic irony in the play contribute greatly to creating the emotions that cause the problems. These strategies cause people to do things they wouldn’t have done if they thought for a little longer. Sadly, they were clouded by their own initial emotions, causing the many tragedies of this play.
(Credit to: Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”)
