True Love or A Rash Decision?

Romeo And Juliet, A play that has been talked about since it first appeared, is said to be one of the most romantic plays ever written. Romeo And Juliet is a play about how the children of two feuding families fall in love with each other, and cause their ultimate demise. While most people believe it to be a truly romantic tale about true love, others think its about the effects youthful rashness has on others. The debate between whether the main characters in this play were in love or acted rashly was very interesting to me.

The debate between whether the main characters in this play were in love or acted rashly was very interesting to me because it has many valid points on both sides of the argument. For example, in act 2.3 lines 48-49 Romeo says, “With Rosaline? No. I have forgot that name and that name’s woe.” Although this can be argued, this line brings up a point for youthful rashness because in act 1.4 Romeo promises his best friend Mercutio that he would try to get over Rosaline and find a distraction, and about 10 minutes later he claims he is in love with Juliet. Romeo may have latched onto the first beautiful girl he saw and said he was in love with her when they just met. The fact that Romeo was obsessing over unrequited love but after he meets a new girl forgets his past loves name shows that Romeo is impulsive and isn’t understanding that he’s making his decisions a lot faster than normal, which proves that he is making a rash decision of proclaiming his love to her and proposing to her. Another example is that in act 1.5 both, Romeo and Juliet find out that they’re in rival houses but still announce that they love each other no matter what. Although this can be shown as teenage rebellion, it can also bring up a point for the ‘true love’ side of the argument because many people think that it shows that these two characters will do anything to be together no matter what the repercussions are. Although both Romeo and Juliet knew that being together was dangerous they sacrificed a lot just to be together. The fact that both Romeo and Juliet showed that they would sacrifice anything for each other can prove that they were truly in love.

In conclusion, I found this debate interesting because all the evidence used can easily be used for both sides of the argument. In the end I have decided to support the side that says that Romeo and Juliet were making rash decisions instead of the side that proclaims that Romeo and Juliet were truly in love. Although both may harbor feelings for each other, they are way too young to comprehend them. When young, people tend to make rash decisions and don’t even know what true love really is. Romeo is still young and reckless, so when he made the decision to marry the daughter of his family’s rival it wasn’t out of true love, it was out of confusion.

(P.S. Ms. DePalma gave the dance students of 806 and I an extension to Saturday night, so its technically not late.)