Lessons from Romeo and Juliet

Often, the focus of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is on the two lovers whom the book is named after. While reading, my focus was often drawn by the other characters and the lessons that are imparted by them. These are the ones that caught my attention, with no particular order given as they can be seen throughout the entire book.

1. Listening to poor advice. In the beginning of the play, Romeo is lamenting his lost love. Mercutio, his friend, tells him the best way to move past it is to change his affections. Go to the party the Capulet's are hosting! Maybe you'll see someone there who you'll be attracted to instead. Mercutio essentially tells Romeo to find a rebound. While Romeo did need to move on after being rejected (he's in a really bad state and has been for a while), he really should have sought wiser council. Ultimately the poor choices that follow are his own, but it shows how life-changing accepting poor help can be depending on what it is.

2. Going against the tide. While the Montagues and Capulets are constantly at each other's throats, we learn that Romeo isn't like the rest of his family. He isn't as quickly drawn into the battles they partake in when meeting on the streets. Instead, he's seen admonishing both sides to sheath their swords and strive for peace. Romeo is an example for not letting your family define your actions and beliefs, further emulated with his feelings for Juliet, his supposed enemy.

3. The Right One. Juliet has zero desire to get married. She's done everything in her power to avoid marrying her current suitor as she finds him completely undesirable despite his qualifications. Then she lays eyes on and meets Romeo and the sparks fly. Suddenly, she wants to get married. Yes, the start of the relationship is rushed and shallow and they try to get married the next day. However, it goes to show that marriage depends on having the right person.

4. Love and hate. Hate is powerful. We see that the Montagues and Capulets have hated each other for so long, it's essentially part of their DNA. Love is the only thing powerful enough to overcome it. Romeo and Juliet both know they come from opposing families, but they choose their feelings for each other. In the end, their love is the only thing that drives out hate from the city.

5. Driving change. Unfortunately, change in people is sometimes only possible after shocking events. Such is the case with the warring families. Upon finding that Romeo and Juliet have committed suicide and the details of their love come to light, they mourn. They mourn for their lost family as well as for how their hatred drove their children to such an extreme, realizing how petty their baseless feud was. As a result, they put the past behind them.

6. Love for people and balance. The prince is a seldom-seen character, yet his impact is immense. His love for everyone causes him to seek balance, both in dealing with the families and in handing out verdicts. He scolds the Montagues and Capulets for their feud, as it endangers citizens and leads them to killing each other, which grieves him as he deeply cares for both families. His edicts are what causes Romeo to enter exile, which reverberates through the remainder of the story; his punishment of Romeo is less then execution for murder, as the latter avenged his friend's death, so that no more would die. We see him again at the end, pleased that peace is finally brought to Verona but grieved since two more of his citizens are now dead as a result of the tumult.

7. Recognizing poor love. The friar is my favorite character. When Romeo and Juliet first come to him and explain their situation, he calls it for what it is: infatuation, heat of passion, etc. He doesn't believe that a love like that could end well, but he also thinks that the two are better off getting married instead of continually trying to have secret meetings that could result in worse problems, so he agrees to marry them. Despite his outlook, his support of the couple doesn't waver. He offers other wisdom to them throughout their interactions, with quite a bit coming down to doing right by each other. So even though they want to be hasty, he's going to make sure they aren't lacking in their union.

8. Just come clean. After Tybalt dies as Romeo's hands, the Capulets are revenge-driven. Juliet weeps because of Romeo's exile but deceives her family into thinking it's because of her cousin's death. This lie causes her father to push up her wedding, which leads to further concoctions of deception to ensure the lovebirds can be reunited and wed instead. And it fails. Yes, the consequences of admitting to her feelings would probably have been immense, but the chances that her and Romeo would have lived and maybe would have found a better way to reunite is more plausible. Would her confession have changed the families' outlook on each other like her and Romeo's deaths did? We'll never know. But piling lies and deceptions led to the lovers' demise.