Impetuosity means acting without thinking about the consequences. A few of the characters in the play 'Romeo and Juliet' demonstrate

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Impetuosity Essay

Impetuosity is a tragic flaw that affects characters and their actions. This flaw within a character will ultimately cause the death of the protagonist. Write an essay in which hasty decisions or actions result in the final tragedy of the play.

Definition

Impetuosity means acting without thinking about the consequences. A few of the characters in the play 'Romeo and Juliet' demonstrate this characteristic through the things they do and say. The most prominent characters that show this trait are Romeo, Juliet, Lord Capulet, and Friar Lawrence.

Romeo

The essay shall start by talking about Romeo. As soon as Romeo meets Juliet, he doses something impetuous. He instantly falls in love with her, without thinking about what loving Juliet could mean for him, 'If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this Holy Shrine...'. They have one conversation with each other, and they believe they are meant to be together.

Another impetuous decision by Romeo was his decision to marry Juliet. He has known her for barely a day, and decides that he loves Juliet enough to marry her. He also does not consider the risk, as Capulet hasn't authorised the giving away of his daughter, especially to a Montague, and would surely send someone to threaten him, probably Tybalt.

A further impetuous thought of Romeo is that he believes it would be better to die rather than be parted from Juliet, 'Ha banishment? Be merciful, say 'death''. Romeo does not seem to realise that if he is alive and banished there is a chance he might see Juliet again, unlike if he is dead. Also he does not consider Juliet herself, and his family. Both these parties would probably be distraught to find out about Romeo's death, and would blame themselves and so on.
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Another impetuous action made by Romeo was the killing of Tybalt and Paris. These two murders, although he was provoked, were committed by Romeo on impulse. He did this without thinking about the consequences. Romeo did this because Tybalt had just murdered Mercutio, while Romeo was trying to prevent it. Romeo was therefore furious and enraged, and so killed Tybalt to balance the scales. The same happened with County Paris. Paris said a few things that Romeo didn't like very much, and so because he was so focused on what he was going to do, which was to ...

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