Impetuosity means acting without thinking about the consequences. A few of the characters in the play 'Romeo and Juliet' demonstrate
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.
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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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 lie next to Juliet, he would stop at nothing, least of all Paris trying to protect Juliet, and so challenged him to a fight. He was not thinking about the risks involved, such as someone appearing from around the corner, and discovering them fighting. Not only that, but he is doing the one thing that he banished for. Admittedly, Romeo wasn't thinking about these things because he had just been told that his wife was dead, and even if someone had found him, he would have been executed for coming back, which is what he was planning to do, as he was going to commit suicide anyway.
The final impetuous act of Romeo's was when he bought the poison from the apothecary, 'Hold, here is forty ducats; let me have a dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear as will disperse itself through all the veins, that the life-weary taker may fall dead'. Similar to the previous impetuous act about death, Romeo was being very selfish in the way he wanted to kill himself. He wasn't considering anyone else, he wasn't thinking about the fact that his mother would die from grief, he didn't think about how much his whole family would miss him.
Juliet
The next person to be discussed is Juliet, with the first point being her instant love for Romeo, which is obviously the same as Romeo's instant love for her. They only had one conversation, which was enough for them to fall in love, and die for each other.
Again, Juliet's decision to marry Romeo is equal to Romeo's, as they had only known each other a few days, which nowadays, is considered much too early to consider marriage, 'If that thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow'. However, for that time, it would be completely normal for marriage to be declared that soon. So, it might seem impetuous to us, but perfectly fine to them.
Juliet's death however, is not quite as impetuous as Romeo's. Romeo killed himself for Juliet, so she obviously believed she had to do the same. Romeo had no idea whether or not Juliet would kill herself for him, but he decided to do it anyway. It could be said that Romeo jumped in headfirst, whereas Juliet had proof that Romeo would die for her, because he was lying dead next to her.
Juliet's reaction to her learning that she was to be married was quite impetuous, 'I will not marry yet, and when I do, I swear it shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate, rather than Paris'. She loses her temper and argues back with Lord Capulet, which wasn't such a wise decision, because whatever Capulet says, goes, and now her parents are angry with her. However, she realises, or pretends to realise the error of her ways. She decides to be very crafty, and beg forgiveness form her parents. In this act, she shows herself to have grown up quite a bit, as she already knows how to get herself out of trouble.
Juliet's relationship with her parents is closely related to her reaction to marrying Paris. At the start of the play, Juliet is more of an obedient girl, as she listens to her parents, and does whatever they want or ask her to, 'Speak briefly, can you like of Paris' love?', 'I'll look to like, if looking liking move; But no more deep will I endart mine eye, than your consent gives strength to make it fly'.
However, as the play goes on, she becomes more impetuous, and fails to think properly about her actions, and she becomes much more argumentative with her parents.
Lord Capulet
Next to be discussed is Lord Capulet. His first impetuous act was to agree to the marriage of Paris and Juliet. Capulet has only just met the man, and has no idea who or what he is. However, he goes ahead with it anyway, and agrees to the marriage.
His next impetuous act was when Juliet told him that she didn't want to marry Paris. Capulet went totally mad, and started calling Juliet horrible names. This might have caused Juliet to cease respecting her father, and defy him in the future as well, something he could have avoided if he had kept his cool, and consulted her on why she felt this way.
Capulet's decision to move the wedding date up one day was a very impetuous act, as he didn't consult anyone on what they thought, not even Paris and Juliet, and only did it because it suited him and he was excited about the giving away of his daughter. He didn't need to move the wedding date, he just felt that he wanted to.
Friar Lawrence
The last person to be discussed is Friar Lawrence. His first impetuous act was to agree to marry Romeo and Juliet in the first place, and this was obviously the beginning of the end. He wasn't thinking about what was best for the two of them, he was only thinking about what a great opportunity this was to stop the ongoing dispute between the Montagues and the Capulets, as they would be now joined together through the marriage. This was an impulsive act as it leads to their untimely death.
Sending Friar John with the letter to Romeo instead of Balthasar was a very impetuous decision made by Friar Lawrence. He felt that Friar John was just available, although we don't know where Balthasar was at the time. Lawrence wasn't thinking about who would be able to find Romeo in his exiled state faster.
Friar Lawrence should have tried a lot harder to get Juliet out of the tomb as she woke up, and it was very impetuous of him not to do so. However, the Friar had just been horribly shocked by the death of Romeo, and I'm sure that, had he taken Juliet out of the tomb, Lawrence would have informed her of Romeo's death. Therefore, she would have demanded to see him, and probably would have committed suicide anyway.
Conclusion
To conclude, because of the actions of Romeo, Juliet, Lord Capulet, and Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet ended up tragically committing suicide because they could not be together. They all contributed, one way or another, to the untimely demise of two young people in love. However, we cannot place the blame on just these four characters, there were other people involved, but these are the most important characters, and they contributed the most.