Impetuosity leads to the tragedy in the play

Impetuosity leads to the tragedy in the play

William Shakespeare is a famous writer from the XIV century. One of his most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet, is considered a tragic drama because the actions of the characters lead to their own downfall. In addition, many tragedies occur in a very short period of time and a large portion of the characters actions are made very quickly and thoughtlessly. Despite many other elements seen throughout the play, impetuosity leads to the tragedy in the play. Romeo, Tybalt and Lord Capulet all show this flaw in their character.

To begin, Romeo’s impulsive personality is seen in many different scenarios. After knowing Juliet for only a couple of hours he had fallen in love with her and was determined to marry her. He did not care to think of or consider the consequences that could come from the marriage of two members from different families in a family feud. In fact, he asks Juliet to marry him with the words “Th’exchange thy love’s faithful vow for mine.” (Shakespeare, II, 2, 126) A quick proposal, before he snuck out of her bedroom window, the night they met. Similarly, after killing Tybalt and fleeing the scene, Romeo is banned from Verona and once he finds this out attempts to commit suicide. This was a quick decision he made after only seeing the negative side of the situation. All these actions show that Romeo’s character is impulsive. Although he is not the only one, throughout the play Tybalt’s character also acts impulsively, influencing the final outcome.

Tybalt shows his impulsiveness as he is not able to control his temper. When he sees Romeo, who’s not welcome, at the Capulet party, Tybalt instantly wants to kill Romeo. He calls out to a servant “Fetch me my rapier, boy…” (I, 5, 56) Then, Lord Capulet stops him and Romeo is not killed that night. Tybalt still holds a grudge against Romeo which leads to him killing Mercutio later on in the play. In addition, his impulsive anger steers him to starting a chain reaction of killing and sorrow with the stabbing of Mercutio. If it was not for the grudge he held against Romeo, he would not have had the urge to start a fight with the Montague family, Mercutio would not have died, Tybalt would not have been killed by Romeo and so on. Tybalt’s actions were mostly fed by his impulsive behavior but, Lord Capulet was also guilty of acting in this manner.

Lord Capulet was a noble and honest man, but he was flawed with impulsive behavior. There are two scenarios in Shakespeare's play that demonstrate his impulsiveness. The first being when his daughter, Juliet, refused to marry Paris, the man he had rightfully chosen for her. In that moment, he said many hurtful things to Juliet. “Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch [...] and that we have a curse in having her.” (III, 5, 160- 167) After the death of Juliet, the reader sees how much Lord Capulet really cares about his daughter. The words spoken in that heated moment were unconsidered. Even though he did not truly mean what he said, Juliet was hurt by his words thus giving her an incentive to go to Friar Laurence to ask for help. Next, Lord Capulet makes Juliet marry Paris with the knowledge that it was not what she wanted. This decision was made very quickly and he did seem to care at the time how his daughter felt about the arrangement. Lord Capulet is one of three characters

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