There are three focused ideas revolving around passion and reason: how individuals continually choose passion over reason, individual decisions steered solely by passion can conclude in dramatic results that may influence the lives of other individuals ND individual decisions steered only by reason can conclude into dramatic results that may impact other individuals. Individual characters throughout the novel, Romeo and Juliet, often choose passion over reason in their decision-making. This act is best shown through three dynamic characters: Table, Romeo and Juliet.
The first character that shows this behavior is Table, cousin of Juliet Capsule, an angry and violent person who has a penchant passion to kill, especially his enemy. In Act 1 Scene 1 a riot had occurred in the streets of Verona between the kinsmen of Montague and Capsule; Table was part of this riot. When the Prince, ruler of Verona, discovered the occurrence of the riot, he had declared In lines 87-88 that if ever there is a riot again started by the Montague and Capsule, they would be sentenced to death; ‘If ever you disturb our streets again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace. Having knowledge of the new declaration, Table still chose to start a fight with the Montague in Act 2 Scene 3 of the novel because he had discovered that that the Montague kinsmen and Romeo Montague, son of Lady Montague, had been present at the Capsule Ball. Table went in for a fight and had murdered Mercuric, cousin of the Prince and close friend of Romeo, by accident. This event evidently shows how individuals often choose passion over reason. The second character that expresses the same individualistic choice of choosing passion over reason is Romeo Montague who is the heir of one of the TV feuding families.
The scene in which Romeo is a victim of the notion that individuals continuously choose passion over reason in their decision-making is in Scene 1 of Act 5 hen Blather misinforms Romeo about Gullet’s death, “then she is well, and nothing can be ill. Her body sleeps in Chapel’s monument, and her immortal part with angels lives. I saw her laid low in her kindness’s vault”. Being passionate about Juliet, Romeo without reasoning out his thoughts went to an apothecary and bought poison for himself to drink while he lie by the ‘dead’ body Official Capsule in the church.
Romeo was so passionate about Juliet and about being with her forever, on earth and in the afterlife, that as soon as he heard about the death of Juliet, Romeo chose passion over reason and ordered himself with poison to be with her forever. The same scenario occurs through the experiences of Juliet, a character passionate about Romeo, a character that also continuously decides to chose passion over reason. The evidence to this is her reaction and action in Scene 3 of Act 5 when she sees Romeos dead body by her side after her waking up from the potion Friar Lawrence had given to Juliet.
Like Romeo, Juliet chose to side with passion rather than reason and killed herself. “Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rust let me die”. The actions of the three characters prove that many individual do tend to choose passion over reason when making decisions. Although this notion is very true and an extremely dominant theme in Shakespearean novel, Romeo and Juliet, he also conveys another idea around passion and reason: individual decisions steered solely by passion can conclude in dramatic results that may influence the lives of other individuals.
The idea that individual decisions steered solely by passion can conclude in dramatic results that may influence the lives of other individuals is an accurate notion developed throughout the novel through the actions of characters such as Montague, Juliet Capsule and Capsule himself. The actions of Montague to feuding with Capsule, out of passion of power, has led to many dramatic results such as innocent civilians being influenced, kinsmen from both the feuding families dying and lovers not being able to love each other without having their lives taken away.
This shows how many individuals are impacted dramatically because of Montage’s passion-steered decision. However, there is another character, Juliet Capsule, whose actions do mimic hose of Montage’s that are also steered by passion end in dramatic results and impact the lives of other individuals around her. The passion-steered decision of the character of Juliet was to find a way to be with Romeo, who had been banished from Verona, forever and the dramatic result of this was that Juliet had to fake her death to happen. The false death of Juliet impacted many individuals within the Capsule household such as the mother, father and the Nurse.
The decision that the character of Juliet made unmistakably upholds the notion, individual decisions steered solely by passion can include in dramatic results and impact the lives of other individuals, true. The third character whose actions also support this theory true is through the actions of Capsule. Capsule, owner of the Capsule household and father of Juliet, had also made a decision steered solely by passion to have Juliet married to Paris, a kinsman of the Prince who is respectably high in social status and is exceptionally wealthy.
Capsules passion is power and wealth; for higher power and wealth, Capsule decided to get his daughter married to Paris. This decision compelled Juliet to Stage a fake death to avoid marrying Paris, which influenced the lives of many individuals including Capsule himself. Therefore, this proves William Shakespearean concept true that individual decisions coxswain’s by passion can conclude in dramatic results that may heavily influence the lives of other individuals.
Though it steered solely by passion can conclude in dramatic results that may influence the lives of other individuals, it goes the same way for the decision made by individuals that are solely steered by reason; they too can conclude in dramatic results that may impact the lives of others. Decisions coxswain’s solely by reason can also conclude in results so dramatic that it may affect the lives of others. This concept is presented and expressed through characters in the novel though it is more distinctly presented through three prominent characters: the nurse, Friar Lawrence, and Benevolent.
The nurse, a maid working for the Capsule family, is shown as a very perceptive and optimistic person. The nurse portrays this concept when she decides to help Juliet unite with Romeo. The nurse’s character believes that the only reasonable thing to o to see Juliet happy would be to unite the together through marriage. This decision based on reason resulted in a dramatic conclusion, Gullet’s death. The dramatic conclusion had heavily influenced the Capsule family. Thus this explains how choices guided solely by reason can also result in dramatic conclusions that may heavily affect the lives of others.
Though the nurse’s character has excellently illustrated the idea expressed by William Shakespeare, the choices of Friar Lawrence character are also very identical to the choices made by the nurse; they too were guided heavily by reason. To see Romeo happy Friar Lawrence believed that the most reasonable decision would be is to help the reunite the two lovers. This decision concluded at the death of two lovers and in a huge loss for the two feuding families, the “Capsules” and the “Montages”. Hence this statement shows how conclusions and decision lead only by reason can conclude in dramatic results that can influences the lives of others.
The last character to expose Shakespearean perception of decisions guided by reason alone is Benevolent, a friend of Romeos. It is true that the most reasonable decision is to tell the Ruth when a crime is committed but if Benevolent, at the time of the riot in Scene 1 of Act 1, had not confessed in witnessing the riot and how it had started then there would have not been a dramatic result: the new rule made by the prince that if there was a riot started by any of the two feuding families then there would be a death penalty.
The enforcement of the new law influenced a lot of people and this resulted in Romeos banishment. The choices made by all three characters evidently prove that decisions made solely based on reason can result in dramatic conclusions that may heavily effect the lives of other individuals. Supporting examples provided clearly demonstrate that the ideas of reason and passion stated by William Shakespeare were true.
Therefore, it is concluded that it does, indeed, take both passion and reason to arrive at good logical decisions that fulfill your desires. It is also true that individuals do continually choose passion over reason, individual decisions steered solely by passion can conclude in dramatic results, and individual decisions steered only by reason can conclude into dramatic results that may impact other individuals.
