Kaley Barber

Honors English 1

Ms. Price

January 10th, 2018

The Psychological Truth Behind Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet, a timeless play about two star crossed lovers. When viewers hear this

famous play, most of them think of romance but, when people take a closer look at Romeo and

Juliet, it’s actually quite disturbing. Based on the the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet,

their actions and words throughout the play show many different signs and symptoms of

psychological disorders. If you look deeper into Juliet, throughout the play she demonstrates to

be the perfect candidate of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). BPD is a long-term pattern of

abnormal behavior characterized by unstable relationships with other people, unstable sense of

self, and unstable emotions. Research from psychological professionals who study BPD can

prove that Juliet’s actions are what diagnosed her with BPD.

There are many reasons why Juliet could possibly have BPD but the main reason why she

could be diagnosed is because she took her own life to be with someone she just met. John M.

Grohol, a writer for Psych Central states “The condition is marked by an effort to avoid

abandonment (regardless of whether it’s real), and impulsivity in decision-making. People with

borderline personality disorder often swing from one emotion to another easily and quickly, and

their self-image changes just as often.” ( “Borderline Personality Disorder”

John M. Grohol, Psy.D.) Taking your own life to be with someone else is an extreme

form of avoiding abandonment. “Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O, happy dagger, This is thy
sheath. There rust, and let me die. (She takes Romeo’s dagger, stabs herself, and dies.)”

(Shakespeare, 5.3. 231). In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet stabs herself resulting in death, as seen

above. She did this action because she knew she could not live without Romeo. One of the major

symptoms of BPD that defines this disorder is the effort of avoiding abandonment. Juliet felt that

she was abandoned by Romeo when he died so she made the effort to kill herself to avoid that

feeling of abandonment. Resulting in her action of taking her own life Juliet shows one of the

major symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder.

Juliet shows another symptom associated in being diagnosed with BPD. This is

wild/sudden mood swings and irrational behavior. An anonymous writer at Dual Diagnosis

writes, “Intense and highly unstable moods. Those with BPD often display unpredictable and

erratic behavior as the result of varying moods.” (“Understanding the Signs of Borderline

Personality Disorder”, Anonymous). Another source, once again by John M. Grohol at Psych

Central states, “The symptoms of this condition include: efforts to avoid abandonment (whether

it is real abandonment, or imagined); a pattern of unstable relationships with others; disturbance

in identity; impulsivity that tends to be damaging to themselves; suicidal behavior, gestures or

threads; emotional instability due to wild mood swings; feelings of emptiness that are never-

ending; inappropriately intense anger, or difficulty controlling their anger; and paranoid thoughts

or dissociative symptoms from time to time.” (“Borderline Personality Disorder” John M.

Grohol, Psy.D.)

Juliet shows many mood swings which is caused by her emotional instability. “Yond light is not

daylight, I know it, I. It is some meteor that the sun (exhaled) To be to thee this night a

torchbearer And light thee on thy way to Mantua. Therefore stay yet. Thou need’st not to be

gone.” (Shakespeare, 3.5. 157). Readers can see that even though Romeo has to leave for
Verona, Juliet does not want him to leave. Juliet acts like it is not day so she can convince

Romeo not to go. This can be seen as making and effort to avoid abandonment. Once Romeo

says that he also does not believe it is daylight so he can stay longer, Juliet responds “It is, it is.

Hie hence, begone, away! It is the lark that sings so out of tune, Straining harsh discords and

unpleasing sharps. Some say the lark makes sweet division. This doth not so, for she divideth us.

Some say the lark and loathèd toad (changed) eyes. O, now I would they had changed voices too,

Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray, Hunting thee hence with hunt’s-up to the day. O,

now begone. More light and light it grows.” (Shakespeare, 3.5. 157) Readers can see that

Juliet’s mood changed suddenly, and dramatically from wanting Romeo to stay, to wanting him

to leave immediately. Based on the information above, Juliet shows that her emotions are a little

hectic. Her life is taking so many twists and turns at such a young age which makes her

emotionally unstable. Being emotionally unstable can result in mood swings. Juliet has

demonstrated mood swings multiple times throughout the play. These are yet more symptoms of

BPD making Juliet to be easily diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder.

Some people may seem to think that these kinds of actions were normal at the time,

considering that this play is fiction and it was written in the 1500’s. Also comprehending that

Juliet is a young girl going through her emotions of her crazy life and just simply ‘being a girl.’

Readers with this idea do not seem to see that all of Juliet’s actions were not just phases of

‘being a girl.’ Despite the evidence against Juliet being diagnosed with Borderline Personality

Disorder, many people believe that this diagnosis isn’t true, that there is nothing psychologically

wrong with Juliet, but they also fail to see that she shows many of the dangerous and common

symptoms of BPD. Michelle Anthony, a writer for Scholastic who has written about the

development of young girls states “Mood swings and irritability are common in the middle
school years, particularly within the family.” (“Social Development in 11-13 Year Olds”

Michelle Anthony, PhD) Juliet shows many mood swings, especially in the family. Which can

represent one of the reasons why Juliet is just being a normal girl and there is nothing

psychologically wrong with her. Those who believe that Juliet is normal and just ‘being a girl’

and going through the normal stages of being a girl think that Juliet's actions were just

a example of this. “Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed. If that thy bent of love be

honorable, Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow, By one that I’ll procure to come to

thee, Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite, And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay And

follow thee my (lord) throughout the world.” (Shakespeare 2.2, 79). As seen above, Juliet has

just basically made the decision to marry Romeo tomorrow. Juliet has just previously met

Romeo for the first time a couple hours ago. It is extremely unlikely for a 12 year old to agree to

marry someone. That is clearly an irrational decision that no psychologically normal 12 year old

would make. Although aspects of this argument are enticing, it ultimately fails to be a stronger

argument because Juliet’s actions were too extreme and too dangerous to be classified as normal.

If you take a closer look at Juliet, throughout the play she indicates to be the perfect

candidate of Borderline Personality Disorder. Those who have read ‘Romeo and Juliet” can see

that all through the play, Juliet can be classified as emotionally unstable due to her crazy life and

make irrational decisions involving her love life with Romeo. These actions are far from normal

making us question if Juliet has the right psychological mindset as a young lady. Based on

scientific research from psychologist and medical professionals involving the symptoms and

actions of Borderline Personality Disorder, Juliet specifically shows the major symptoms and

actions of this psychological disorder that are clearly evident to be diagnosed with Borderline

Personality Disorder.
 Work Cited

Grohol, John M. “Borderline Personality Disorder.” Psych Central, 17 Dec. 2017,

psychcentral.com/disorders/borderline-personality-disorder/.

Anthony, Michelle. “Social Development in 11-13 Year Olds.” Scholastic.com,

www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/stages-milestones/social-development-11-13-year-olds.

Anonymous. “Understanding the Signs of Borderline Personality Disorder.” Dual Diagnosis,

www.dualdiagnosis.org/borderline-personality-disorder-and-addiction/signs/.

Anonymous. “Borderline Personality Disorder.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Jan. 2018,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorder.

Shakespeare. “Romeo and Juliet”