We all know the story. We’ve all called it sappy, stupid, overrated, disgusting, gross, dumb. We’ve all wondered why in the world would anybody waste their time writing it and more importantly, why are we all required to read it our sophomore year of high school. If you’re one of those people who have a negative opinion on Romeo and Juliet, read on. You might want to give it another chance.
Set in Italy, the story follows the tale of Romeo and Juliet, two lovers from different households that absolutely hate each other. Despite the family’s hatred, Romeo and Juliet fall head over heels for one another and decide to marry secretly. However, things don’t go exactly to plan when Romeo gets banished and Juliet’s father, unware of his daughter’s marriage, engages her to a man named, Paris. Together, Romeo and Juliet, hatch a plan to run away, but tragedy falls, when, through a series of misunderstandings, they each think each other is dead. In despair, Romeo kills himself, and Juliet, seeing his body, does the same. In the end, though, their families make peace with each other and everybody but Romeo and Juliet lives happily ever after.
Slightly depressing? You bet. A love story? I’m not so sure. Despite popular belief, I think that Romeo and Juliet deals with immaturity rather than love. In the beginning of the play, Romeo seems to be madly in love with a girl named Rosaline. He doesn’t even sleep because of his feelings. However, the moment he spies Juliet, all his feelings for Rosaline vanish and he can only think about Juliet. To him, being in love with somebody is being in love with their looks and their body, not who they are as a person. This proves a great level of immaturity on his part as he only seems to know how to lust, not love.
As for Juliet, she’s willing to marry Romeo after knowing him only for a couple of hours. It doesn’t matter that their families can’t stand each other, Romeo’s offering love and she’s going to take it. Once again, we’re able to see the amount of immaturity displayed in a main character.
I can definitely see why schools require students to read Romeo and Juliet. The issues that are talked about in the book still relate to teenagers today. So, the next time you’re tempted to throw the book against the nearest wall, don’t. Instead, be patient with it. The story might actually teach you something about being too hasty with your emotions.
