Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet with way more meaning than most people think. Analyzing the play will break down how Shakespeare wrote the way he wrote in Romeo and Juliet. Using behaviorism, undeveloped teenage brains, and new criticism, Shakespeare wrote precisely show the characters characteristics traits and why they acted like the way they did in the poem.
Behaviorism is analyzing an animals’ behavior or how they act. You aren’t born with this but is how you were nurtured. According to Romeo and Juliet in page 13, it shows how Tybalt hates Montague;” I hate the word peace like I hate hell, all Montagues, and you. let’s go at it, coward!” This shows that hate he hates Montague; he wasn’t born hating him but nurtured into it from his parents or environment. this ties back into how Shakespeare used Behaviorism on purpose to build characteristics of the characters. In line with Nelson Mandela she states;” No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. people must learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” this quote can be inferred that hate isn’t something you’re born with. this can be linked to how Shakespeare included this on purpose to show a conflict between the two in the past. In keeping with this topic, it states according to https://www.verywellmind.com/ that the six emotions that you are born with is happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprised. And many psychologists believe that hate is a learned emotion rather than nature. This shows furthermore that when William Shakespeare wrote these dialogues into the play; he put the effort and meaning behind the words. Forthcoming up is new criticism
New criticism is breaking down the words and finding hidden meanings behind them. On page 44 of Romeo and Juliet it shows Lady Capulet Rhyming. In the script it states;” And to soon marr’d are those so early made/ The earth hath swallow’d all my hopes but she,/ She is the hopeful lady of my earth:/ But woo herm gentle Paris, get her heart,/ My will to her concent is but a part;/ An she agree, within her scope of a choice/ Lies my consent and fair according voice. / This night I hold an old accustom’d feast, / Whereto I have invited many a guest, / Such as I love; and you, among the store, / Once more, most welcome, makes my number more./ At my poor house look behold this night/ Earth-treading stars that make dark heaven light:/ Such comfort as do lusty young men feel/ When well-apparell’d April on the heel/ of limping winter treads, even such delight,/ Among fresh female buds shall you this night/ inherit at my house; hear all, all see,/ And like her most whose merit most shall be:/ Which on more view of many mine being one/ May stand in number, Though in reckoning none, / come go with me.” Analyzing what this is showing us is Shakespeare put this on purpose to show how Lady Capulet speaks because she is wealthy meaning she has an education while many didn’t at the time. He shows her education and wealth by the way she talks and rhymes.
Next up is Romeo and Juliet undeveloped brains. The human brain stops developing at the age of 20. This could lead to Romeo and Juliet to make irrational choices leading them into both dying. According to No Fear Shakespeare on page 76 it shows how determined Romeo is to see Juliet even after they barely met each other. this can lead to an understanding that Romeo, who’s 15 years old, has fell in love for someone who he hasn’t even had a conversation with her. Romeo and Juliet could’ve put this into account since he used young teens instead of young adults to show that their brains are undeveloped. According to www.theconversation.com, it states;” Children and teenagers have been found to be poor decision-makers if they feel pressured, stressed, or are seeking attention from their peers.” this can be leading to how at the start of the play it states,” Ay me! Sad hours seem long/ Was that my father that hence so fast?” this shows how he was depressed leading to stress showing why he could’ve done such irrational decisions. This ties back to how Shakespeare wrote all these things for a reason and not because he just felt like it.
Next up is adding more onto the behaviorism. On page 39 of No Fear Shakespeare, it shows how the nurse has been nurturing Juliet since Juliet’s been born. This shows how you can infer that Juliet has been more influenced by the nurse rather than her own mother Lady Capulet. This ties back to how Shakespeare put this in to show how Juliet’s mother wasn’t there for her while the nurser was by her side for her whole life. According to www.phychologytoday.com it states;’ They simply don’t see themselves as deserving, because they’ve internalized what their mothers said and did as self-criticism and have wrongly concluded that they’re lacking, worthless, or simply unlovable. You can infer from this that Juliet’s behavior was very broken and kept to self. And when Romeo shows affection to her she was shocked and got hooked on him instantly.
Now you might say that Romeo and Juliet is just a story about a heartbreak but you’re very misunderstood. If you think the play is just a love story; you probably haven’t read the play at all because it’s much more than that. The play has more than just love because everything happens because of violence and hate against each other leading two young teens into killing themselves only because they couldn’t be with each other because of their families and the society around them.
Gathering all these data with Using behaviorism, undeveloped teenage brains, and new criticism, we could analyze how Shakespeare wrote the way he did. Shakespeare wrote the way he wrote all for a reason to project a meaning much more than the story using behaviorism, undeveloped brains and characteristic traits. At the end of the day, Romeo and Juliet has way much more of a meaning than the words that are shown on paper.
