Romeo & Juliet: How Romeo's Recklessness Led to Their Demise

Romeo & Juliet: How Romeo's Recklessness Led to Their Demise

It was an unavoidable conclusion. Throughout the entirety of the play, Romeo exhibited such rash and impulsive behavior that the only way he could have gotten a happy ending was to fundamentally change who he was. This, of course, is an impossibility, as is the power and extent of Romeo and Juliet's "love" had Romeo been a more mature and patient individual. This truly is one of those "what came first: the chicken or the egg?" situations. If Romeo had just waited a little bit before killing himself, or if he had thought about the consequences and repercussions of his actions BEFORE actually acting on his impulses, then surely both of them would have lived. However, had they lived, their love would not be one of legends, and their story would not be firmly cemented as the quintessential love story of all time. Nevertheless, the very "legendary" status of Romeo & Juliet's story worries me. Why, after all, is their love thought of with such esteem? Their love isn't any different to the thousands of stories we hear (or even experience ourselves) about two people falling MADLY in love, only to end up dead, beat up, in prison or alone. This crazy, passionate love is actually a result of chemicals going crazy inside our heads, giving us the feeling of "loving" the other person, when in fact we're simply high out of our minds and thus any decision that we make is neither logical nor rational, but in fact, can be quite dangerous and destructive. I believe it wise to make a distinction between "love" and "feeling-in-love". Love, after all, is not a feeling, but a decision. If love were a feeling, then it wouldn't last more than 2 years, because feelings change constantly and if we experience a feeling long enough, eventually it will cease to satisfy us. No, love cannot be a feeling. It MUST be a logical and rational DECISION to be with another person, both in the good and the bad, or so the marriage vows go. What Romeo experienced was a surge of serotonin (a "feel good" chemical released in our brains with the purpose of procreation) and every action he took part in was a result of, quite simply, being on drugs. We shouldn't hail their love as the most magical of all love stories; instead, we should see it as a warning, a warning of what happens when we lose all objectivity and chose to listen to our emotions against the better judgement of our minds. What would have happened, I wonder, had Romeo and Juliet survived their ordeal? Would they have lasted more than a year? Two? Or would they have been in love forever, as fairy tale princes and princesses often are? They are FAIRY TALES. People get married expecting to be in love forever, and when things get rough they simply get a divorce. How romantic. Why do we value the superficial relationships of fictional characters more than those of real individuals sticking together in spite of the hardships and problems that come with life and real human relationships? These fairy tale stories are lies, and the problem is that we still believe them. We believe Romeo to be a true romantic, when in fact he was quite a selfish and murderous child. How many people did he kill? 2? 3? Oh, but he did it for love. Right...

In my opinion, Romeo's rash and destructive personality led to his and Juliet's death, and all because of believing that what he felt was true and immaculate. The "love" that he felt is called infatuation, and the deaths that he caused are called murder. Romeo and Juliet's story is not a healthy view of romantic relationships, and should be considered quite accurate in depicting the end result of a tumultuous and obsessive romance.

Nicolas Reyes W.