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Does Romeo Behave Rashly While Juliet Shows Superior Judgement?
I do not totally agree that Romeo behaves rashly while Juliet shows
superior judgement. It does seem as though Romeo is more confident and
quick to make decisions, and Juliet takes her time and thinks it over first.
Both Romeo and Juliet make some good decisions by showing good judgement
but also some mistakes by acting hastily without thinking.
Juliet behaves in a careful and thoughtful manner in different stages of
the play. An example of this is when Lady Capulet talks to her about
marrying Paris. She declines the offer, "It's an honour that I dream not
of." She does not think that she is ready to marry yet, and has not thought
about it. He leaves the option open and tells her mother that she "will
look to like", meaning she will try and like him but only go as far as her
mother wants. Juliet is not sure if she wants to marry Paris but she will
consider it while she gets to know him.
In other parts of the play Juliet is quite rash and acts thoughtlessly and
very quickly. One example of this is when she wakes up in the tomb and
finds out the Romeo is dead. She refuses to listen to Friar Lawrence's
pleas, to leave the tomb and come with him to a nunnery. Instead she tells
him "Go, get thee hence, for I will not away." She tries to poison herself
but there is none left. When she hears the watch coming she grabs Romeo's
dagger and fatally stabs herself. Juliet is so upset she doesn't think and
tries to poison herself instead of listening to the Friar, and in
desperation of death, kills herself with the dagger. Romeo is careful and
considerate in some parts of the play. An example of this is when he tries
to convince his friends not to go to the Capulet ball : "'tis no wit to go".
Another example is when Juliet confesses her desire to marry him, he goes
and speaks to Friar Lawrence. He explains the difficult situation to the
friar and asks for his help. Romeo acts with forethought on both occasions.
When he tells his friends not to go to the Capulet ball, he is thinking
ahead about the consequences. He is also cautious about his love for Juliet
but when he needs help he is not afraid to ask.
Romeo also behaves hastily and carelessly on many occasions throughout the
play. An example of this is when his friend Mercutio is killed while Romeo
is trying to stop the fight with Tybalt. Romeo say "fire-edged fury be my
conduct now" and draws on Tybalt and kills him without thought about the
consequences - that he could be banished from Verona. Another example of
his thoughtless and careless actions is when he hears of Juliet's `death'
and immediately goes and buys poison from an apothecary, so he can go to
Juliet's tomb and kill himself. Romeo was thoughtless and when Tybalt made
him furious he killed him without thinking about the consequences, it was
also irresponsible of him to buy the poison and to kill himself before he
knew the full story.
Overall, I don't think that Juliet shows superior judgement compared to
Romeo, or that Romeo acts rashly and Juliet does not. Both of them make the
mistake of not thinking before they act and both make some good decisions
on different issues. Romeo and Juliet both show good judgement and bad
judgement at different times. Juliet was probably more thoughtful than
Romeo but I think that their good judgements and rash judgements cancelled
each other out.
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