Romeo and Juliet Parental Expectations Parental expectations are basically the way parents expect their kids to live their lives. The definition of expectation is “the act of expecting; to have a prospect of future good or profit”. Parents often expect their kids to be perfect. By this I mean make all the right decisions, do everything the way the parents want it to be done, and live up to their parents standards. I don’t always agree with a lot of today’s parental expectations because some parents try to benefit themselves instead of the kids. In this essay, I will describe parental expectations from today and from the play Romeo and Juliet.
I will link some of the examples of expectations to movies, or real life scenarios. Today’s Parental Expectations Sometimes in today’s world, parents expect so much from their kids that the kids don’t feel comfortable in their own shoes. Parents can expect so much that the children aren’t even happy. If parents find out their kid is “gifted” growing up, they often push him/her towards success instead of letting them grow up normally like any other kid wants. If the kid can’t live up to their parents expectations, sometimes their parents will get very angry at them. An example from a movie about this is the movie “Friday Night Lights”.
In this movie, there is a runningback who often fumbles the ball. He clearly is not doing it on purpose but his dad becomes more and more embarrassed of his son every time it happens. (His dad is an alcoholic, which doesn’t help either. ) One night when he comes home with a friend, he knocks over a lamp. His dad asks what happened to the lamp and his son says that he dropped it. He dad gets very mad at him and asks if he dropped the lamp just like he drops the football. They get into an argument. Then his father, due to his anger, grabs a football and duct-tapes it to his son’s hands.
I find this scene is a very good example of how sometimes kids cannot live up to their parents expectations. Just because the parents could not reach their goal in life, doesn’t mean they should get their “talented” kids to do it for them. Kids have dreams of their own, too. Another situation in society today is that kids are expected to follow in their parents footsteps. Some parents that own companies expect their children to take over one day without ever asking the child’s thoughts on the idea. An example of this situation is from the movie “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.
There is an elf named Hermey. Like all other elves in the North-Pole, Hermey is expected to make toys for all the children around the world. There is one problem; Hermey doesn’t want to make toys. Hermey wants to be a dentist. After hearing this, the head elf gets very angry at Hermey. Hermey is known as a misfit due to his choice and he later runs away to not have to make toys anymore and to learn more about being a dentist. It is important to always ask your children what they think of certain things and what they want in life instead of just expecting or assuming what they want without their consent.
Expectations put a lot of pressure on kids and it would just be easier on them to let them make their own decisions (but still guide them in the right path). Parental Expectations in Romeo and Juliet In the play Romeo and Juliet, the parents expect hatred between both families. Growing up, the Montagues were always taught to hate the Capulets and the Capulets were always taught to hate the Montagues. The kids were always told that the other family is a bad family and that they would never get along. They were expected to hate the other family even though this hatred was developed generations ago by an ancient grudge.
These families are trying to fight a war that they weren’t even involved in to start. This feud could have been completely avoided if the original family members that were in conflict didn’t expect their children to pass it on. If they just kept it between themselves like grown-ups should, the grudge would not have been passed down. In this case, the parental expectations were for the worst and not the best. Marriage is very different now then it was before. The children were expected to marry someone that either their parents chose for them or someone their parents approved of.
Oftentimes, parents would try and get there children to marry a richer family or a family of higher social rank to improve their family’s name. Who has the right to expect their children to marry someone they don’t even love? In Romeo and Juliet, Capulet was always pushing Juliet towards marrying Paris. Although he never directly tells her, “I want you to marry Paris”, you can always tell it’s what he wants. Although the Nurse, pretty much like a mother to Juliet, does mention that she prefers County Paris more than Romeo. “I think it best you married with the County.
O, he’s a lovely gentleman. Romeo’s a dishclout to him. ” 3. 5. 228-230. Marriage is about love, and I don’t agree how, in these days, parents could expect there children to marry someone they don’t even love and not feel bad about it. To conclude, parental expectations can be for the better or the worse. Selfish parents will use their kid’s talents to benefit themselves instead of the kids. Although other parents will not take advantage of their child and use their expectations more as guidelines to help their children succeed, not take control of the kid’s life.
Expectations should change over time, as kids grow older. After a while, you should expect them to make their own choices. If you always make the choices for them, how are they ever going to succeed when you aren’t there for them anymore? In Romeo and Juliet, the parents are not always trying to help the kids but they are more concerned about themselves. In the end, Romeo and Juliet die and then the parents finally realize the wrong they have done. It is important to have good expectations for your kids, and not to take control over them because that’s when things go wrong.
