This shows that in the case of Romeo, love is a very fickle thing. In the beginning of the play we find Romeo in despair, he is walking the streets of Verona all by himself, avoiding all contact with his family and friends. Romeo is depressed because he is in “love” with Rosaline, who does not love him in return (1.1). When Romeo attends the feast in the house of Capulet, all emotions for Rosaline immediately disappear as he sets his eyes on his new “love”, Juliet (1.5). If Romeo had seen a prettier girl he may have approached her, or if the relationship between Romeo and Juliet had been able to survive longer he may have fallen out of love with her as fast as he fell in love. The type of love Romeo has for Juliet may have merely been a “crush” or an obsession.
Desperation is a key factor in why both Romeo and Juliet began their hasty relationship. In desperation the two unite, in desperation the two get married, and in desperation the two end their lives.
In the beginning of the play, Juliet’s very first scene is in her chamber with her mother and the nurse. The purpose of this scene is that Juliet’s mother wants to discuss Juliet’s future; especially that she wants Juliet to marry Paris. Juliet clearly states that she has not been thinking of marriage, nor does she want to marry Paris (1.3, 67). The fact that Juliet’s parents want to marry her off so quickly leaves Juliet in a state of desperation, she is not ready for marriage. At the feast Juliet first sees Romeo and in desperation, she falls in love with him. Because she does not want to marry Paris, she is desperate to find a way out of the marriage, and by marrying someone she chooses, Romeo, she would be doing so.
Romeo, again, at this point is in a state of depression, he is in love with someone who does not love him. The entire reason he is at this party is to find someone else to replace Rosaline in his heart, according to Mercutio. Romeo is desperate to shed his sadness and is desperate to find someone else, so that he may be happy once more. In desperation he looks to Juliet, and has found his answer. When falling in love with Juliet Romeo’s desperation to find happiness has been overcome, for the meantime.
Because of desperation the two are married in secret by Friar Lawrence. This marriage must have been as soon as it was, because Juliet’s parents were already making the plans for her marriage with Paris (3.4). In this time period, Juliet was the perfect age for marriage, because she was able to bear children, therefore she was being rushed into it not only by her parents, but by society’s standards as well. Also, it would only be a matter of time before Romeo and Juliet’s parents discovered their secret relationship, and stop it. Therefore, in desperation they were married, because once they were married, there would be nothing the two households could do about it, and, as Friar Lawrence said, Romeo and Juliet’s union could also unite the two households (2.3, 92).
Romeo himself was also in desperation to marry Juliet, not only because it would bring their two households together, but because he too is at the age at which men were ready to marry. If he acted too late on his love for Juliet, she would be taken from him by Paris.
Although there is desperation between their two children, there is also desperation amongst the parents. The Montague’s have only seen Romeo in sadness, and it makes them sad to see their son that way. The faster Romeo gets over his old love and finds a new love, the happier the parents will be also. In the case of the Capulet’s, Juliet is an only child, and a girl. Capulet is in desperation because he has no one to carry on his family name, and no heir to his house. Therefore it would be wisest for him to have Juliet marry Paris, because he is of such high class. Once they are married, Capulet would have ties with the higher class, which would mean more power for him. Capulet is desperate to marry Juliet off at her present age, because if she gets older, Paris may not be able to wait for her.
From the very beginning, the plan made by Friar Lawrence to unite Romeo and Juliet after Romeo’s exile was a desperate one. Romeo is away in exile, and although she is already married, Capulet is arranging Juliet’s marriage with Paris. Again Capulet is in desperation to get Juliet married to Paris. The Friar’s plan is to have Juliet fake her death so once everyone believes she is dead, she can go off with Romeo and they can live happily ever after. Romeo is waiting in exile for word from Friar Lawrence, but by unhappy chance, the messenger in unable to deliver the message of the Friar’s plan to Romeo. Romeo’s friend then tells him of Juliet’s death, and in desperation, without waiting any further for word from the Friar, Romeo rushes back to Verona to find Juliet in a death-like state. At this moment in the play, Romeo is in his most desperate hour, for all his concern, all happiness has gone from him with the death of Juliet. He was so desperate to gain Juliet or the feeling which she gave him, and now that feeling is gone. Without thinking that he may yet have that feeling again, he drinks poison and ends his own life. Juliet then wakes from her deep sleep to find Romeo dead beside her, she too is now in her most desperate stage. She was finally going to have Romeo without any worries of her family, but now that he is dead, all her happiness has gone with him. Juliet like Romeo thinks that the only way she can feel happiness again is if she is with him in the after life, and so she kills herself.
These examples of desperation in the play are the key examples, but there are other examples of desperation that lead to the previously stated examples. Both Romeo and Juliet were displeased with their own family lives. Romeo found he could not consolidate in his parents; therefore he seeks solitude in the beginning of the play. Instead of telling his parents his problem with Rosaline, he shrouded himself in darkness, and in secrecy. Juliet had a similar problem with her parents. As the Montague’s did not understand Romeo, the Capulet’s did not understand Juliet. Juliet’s parents were over bearing on her, forcing decisions on her which she clearly was not ready for. Both Romeo and Juliet were also displeased with the feud happening between their two houses, they can see what their families cannot. The war between the two households is pointless and will solve nothing. In desperation of trying to escape their families, they look to each other.
The final example of desperation is that which leads to Romeo’s exile, when Romeo kills Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt. Tybalt was against the Montague’s from the very beginning, and clearly states that he hates them (1.1, 71). He finally goes too far when he kills Mercutio, who is not only Romeo’s best friend, but kin to the Prince of Verona. It is obvious that Romeo kills Tybalt for the reason that he murdered his best friend Mercutio, but there may be another reason to why he is in such rage towards Tybalt. Romeo is desperate to find a way out of this feud with him and Juliet together, but when Tybalt killed Mercutio, Tybalt shattered the chances of the two houses coming together, because Mercutio was a good friend to the Montague house. Romeo now realizes in desperation that such hate cannot be turned into love, and in desperation kills that which is stopping Romeo from being with Juliet.
The death of these “star-crossed lovers” has been signified throughout the entire play. From the very beginning when Romeo and Juliet first thought about falling in love, they fell more in love with the idea of being in love, than with each other. Because they were in love with the idea instead of each other, they involuntarily doomed their relationship. Just as their relationship was doomed to die, because of their love being based on limited amounts of time, and extreme desperation, Romeo and Juliet too, were doomed.
Bibliography
Bevington, David and William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. New York, New York: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1988.