Romeo and Juliet Essay

The people of Earth usually lack some sort of control; whether it’s not having control over an actual object or something like an emotion. Most people lack what is called self-control. The definition of self-control is the “control or restraint of oneself or one’s actions, feelings, etc.” A perfect display of self-control is at the Grammy’s in 2010 when Kanye West had his outburst. Taylor Swift had won the Grammy Award for her category up against Beyonce.

Kanye West jumps out of his seat and onto the stage to tell the entire world that Beyonce should have won the award, not Taylor. The man could not contain himself until the end of the presentation to express his opinion, he had the urge to do it immediately instead. But Kanye is definitely not the only poor soul to lose themselves to self-control. Many of the characters in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare lack self-control. Three perfect examples of this topic are Romeo, Juliet, and Lord Capulet.

Romeo, the son of Lord Montague, is an exceptional model of lacking self-control. He thinks he is absolutely in love with Rosaline, a nun in his city. He exaggerates to Benvolio how much he loves Rosaline even though, “She hath forsworn to love.” (Act 1 Scene 1 line 216) Romeo is absolutely heartbroken for Rosaline will never be his to cherish. He complains on and on, he even cries, because one girl in the entire world doesn’t love him back. He can’t contain his emotions enough to move on and not dwell on the subject and he pities himself.

But, little does Romeo know he would meet Juliet, and his troubles were just beginning. Later on, Mercutio and Tybalt have a duel. Tybalt ends Mercutio’s life and this event seems to be the last straw for Romeo. He starts battling Tybalt with his “fire-eyed fury”, (Act 3 Scene 1 line 117), as his control. This just gets Romeo in more of a predicament. He had just slain his newly wedded wife’s cousin and is then banished by the Prince.

He could have just set down his sword and walked away. But instead he had to avenge his friend’s death like an immature little boy. But, Romeo’s wife, Juliet, doesn’t have all that much more self-control either. Lord Capulet and Lady Capulet’s daughter, Juliet, has trouble containing her emotions as well. Juliet meets Romeo, who is in disguise, at the Capulet party that had been held that night. She has only known his for a few hours and already is making haste with the relationship.

Although just meeting Romeo, Juliet believes that, “If that thy bent of love be honorable, Thy propose a marriage”(Act 2 Scene 2 lines 143-144), and that Romeo should tell her by tomorrow. In present time most people would think of this as ridiculous and immature. But, in Juliet and Romeo’s time the people obviously seem to think it is the normal thing to do as to marry someone without knowing them for more than a day. She is simply in love, that’s all. But, she will realize her love won’t be with her much longer because he will be banished after killing Tybalt.

She gets so upset over Romeo’s banishment she confesses it would, “be ranked with other griefs, Why followed not, when she said, “Tybalt’s dead”, Thy father, or thy mother nay, or both”, (Act 3 Scene 2 lines 117-119), would be better dead than her beloved Romeo banished. As she goes crazy in her room she says all these demented things out loud. She is far from sane at this point after knowing she has been jailed from her only true love. But, as it turns out, Juliet isn’t the only psycho on the Capulet side. She seems to take from her father when it comes to self- control.

The Capulet family seems to have trouble when it comes to impulses in Romeo and Juliet. Lord Capulet is a little short-handed when it comes to calm, cool, and collected. When Juliet is bawling over Romeo’s banishment, Lord Capulet thinks it is over Tybalt’s death. So, thinking it would cheer her up he plans her wedding with Count Paris. He feels that Juliet would be privileged to, “be married to this noble earl”.

(Act 3 Scene 4 line 21) Little does Lord Capulet know of Romeo, her husband. So, one could only imagine what Juliet’s reaction would be to these plans. When Juliet declines the invitation, Lord Capulet doesn’t take it lightly. He goes berserk calling Juliet, “young baggage”, and a, “disobedient wretch”. (Act 3 Scene 5 line 160) He goes on a rampage after Juliet tells him she won’t marry Paris and goes completely overboard to say the least. Lord Capulet doesn’t even consider Juliet’s opinion because it is either his way, or no way.

He has to have everything his way and if not he loses all senses and goes insane. But, this exaggeration of emotions and impulses seem to happen with many characters in Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately for Romeo, Juliet, and Lord Capulet their lack of control got them into a lot of trouble and made them look like fools. They just couldn’t contain their overflowing emotions, and it led to disaster. Sometimes people just can’t quite handle the pressure or the impulse and the action is just taken without thinking it through.

This has happened to just about every person in the world at some point in their lives. The characters of Romeo and Juliet are wonderful displays of lacking self-control and its consequences.