Romeo and Juliet Literary Analysis Essay

Winston Douglass
English I Acc. Per. 2
March 3, 2006
Romeo and Juliet Literary Analysis Essay
In a well read book, seven deadly sins are listed. The sins list what every person should refrain from doing in his or her life. One of these sins is pride which by reading Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, we know can be deadly. While Juliet and Romeo love each other, their families focus on pride eventually destroys their love, the town, and their families. Pride is the main reason why Romeo and Juliet’s marriage fails.
Pride was what originally separated the Montague and Capulet houses. This continually disrupts Romeo and Juliet’s relationship. The families hate each other so much that it already demeans their opinion on each other before even meeting. When Juliet asks the nurse who the stranger was that just kissed her, the nurse says it was Romeo of the Montague house. Juliet, in disbelief, says “My only love sprung from my only hate!” (I. v. 152) She doesn’t know anything about Romeo, but she already is weary of him due to the fact that he is a Montague. After this revelation, she then professes her love for Romeo by saying, “…Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / and I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”(II. i. 38-39) She acknowledges her born hatred and releases it at the same time. Pride is capable of many horrible things, but Romeo and Juliet elude most of it.
The pride factor between the Capulet and the Montagues not only cause great turmoil in the families, but also in the town and government. The Prince has had enough with the fighting to the point where he decrees, “If ever you disturb our streets again, /your lives shall pay for the forfeit of the peace,”(I. i. 98-99) The fights have gone on so long that the prince has to issue a death warrant before things can get better. Regardless of the hatred between two people, or a group of people for that matter, the threat of inevitable death normally drives the desire to kill down a lot. Even so, Mercutio was slain and the prince was very frustrated when he states, “…my blood from your rude brawls lie a-bleeding.”(III. ii. 199) His friend, and a friend of the city, was slain. Since Romeo, in a fit of rage, killed Tybalt, the prince exiled Romeo causing another While the families take most of the hits from this feud, the city also suffers quite a bit.
In the end, pride is what drives Romeo and Juliet to kill themselves. When Juliet is forced to marry Paris, she shows signs of suicide when she says, “O bid me leap, rather than marry Paris…” (IV. I. 78) She would rather kill herself than be shamed by marrying twice. Romeo also would have killed himself if not for the fact that Juliet would be upset if he died. When she supposedly dies, he lets his desire to be with her drive him to suicide. This is evident when he says, “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight.”(V. i. 37) He was shamed because he couldn’t help Juliet and he thought he would make it up to her if he took his life. While there were many other factors leading up to this tragic climax, pride was the biggest one.
A good book tells us that there are seven things never to do. One of them, pride, most people use and never think twice. Romeo and Juliet illustrate the reason why we should care about this more often. Can a city, a love, and two families be destroyed with a focus on pride? By observing two foolish youths, we can say yes. In reality, this specific example does not occur, but people still let pride get in the way. When someone has to decide between going to college or running the family business, pride plays a factor there too. Whether in Verona’s Shakespearian era city, or Chicago’s modern day turmoil, the price one has to pay to retain there pride is immense. Yet, we realize it only too late most of the times.