Caution: Ideals may end in Disaster

The human mind is extraordinary in its ability to behave and react in different ways when

pursuing an ideal. People going through this may begin to adapt and change their behavior

towards certain things in order to get what they desire. This may cause them lose control of

themselves and go to drastic measures which can ultimately end tragically. The behavior of

people can change dramatically when they want something so badly and can cause them to do

things they otherwise wouldn’t do. William Shakespeare demonstrates in “Romeo and Juliet,”

how people, when in pursuit of an ideal, can oftentimes become desperately irrational, selfishly

immature, and shockingly dishonourable.

A person's thoughts and actions can become irrational when they are given an

opportunity to have something that they crave. In the play “Romeo and Juliet,” written by william

Shakespeare, a few crucial characters unknowingly manipulate themselves into doing

something ridiculous. Romeo and Juliet for example, when faced with a choice between life

without one another or death to be together, they made an irrational decision. When Romeo saw

his wife “dead” in the tomb, he quickly made the decision that life without Juliet would be no life

at all. Juliet did the same when she found Romeo deceased and cried out,

What’s here? A cup, closed in my true love's hand?

Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:

O churl! Drunk all, and left no friendly drop

To help me after? I will kiss thy lips;

Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,

To make die with a restorative. (V.iii.161-166)

In addition, Lord Capulet’s reaction to Juliet not wanting to marry Paris was absolutely absurd.

Juliet asked her father if he could at least delay the wedding to a later date but Capulet would
not negotiate. Capulet exclaimed in Act III,

Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch!

I tell thee what: get thee to church o’Thursday,

Or never after look me in the face:

Speak not, reply not, do not answer me! (III.v.161-164)

Capulet was being completely unreasonable as he was willing to kick out his own daughter if

she didn’t marry Paris. Lastly, Romeo and Juliet’s wedding decision was extremely unwise and

preposterous. After only knowing each other for a few hours, the two star-crossed lovers were

already planning on getting married. They were so caught up in each other they didn’t take the

time to realize that they barely knew anything about each other. All they knew is that their love

was true. Juliet asked, “What satisfaction canst thou have to-night?” Romeo replied, “The

exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine.” (II.ii.126-127) Romeo’s proposal to Juliet was one

that should not have been asked in the first day of them talking plus Juliet was only 13 years old

at the time. It can be confirmed that when pursuing an ideal, people may behave irrationally

which can evidently end catastrophically.

Immature actions can be a disastrous side-effect of pursuing an ideal. When the thing

they want so badly is in their sights, a person may unconsciously act childish as a result. First of

all, Mercutio and Tybalt, from opposing families, got into a pointless quarrel. The two boys

wanted to prove a point and neither was backing down. Their childish actions unfortunately

resulted in the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, and the banishment of Romeo to Mantua. If the

boys wouldn’t have engaged in each others irresponsible actions, the story would have been

much different because Romeo would not have been banished and Mercutio and Tybalt would

have lived. Secondly, Romeo and Juliet were rushing their relationship at an unhealthy level.

After only knowing each other for a few exciting hours, they were already talking of getting
married. Their love blinded them of the fact that they barely knew anything about one another

and were taking things too fast. Romeo was also hoping for a kiss when they spoke for the very

first time as he said,

I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. (I.v.91-94)

This unfortunately ended catastrophically as the Romeo and Juliet's opposing families

eventually drove them into their graves. Lastly, the Capulets and Montagues were in a life long

feud which neither were trying to forget about. The hateful family's immature actions caused the

deaths of Romeo and Juliet. It wasn’t until after their family members were killed that they

realized what their ancient grudge had unfortunately done as Capulet said to Montague, “O

brother Montague, give me thy hand: This is my daughter’s jointure, for no more can I demand.”

(V.iii.295-297) This resulted in the Families agreeing to build great monuments to remember the

star-crossed lovers whose actions changed the fate of the two families forever. Peace was

finally brought upon the Capulets and Montagues although it came at a irreplaceable cost. It can

be concluded that an ideal can drive people to change their behavior and act immaturely

causing devastating effects.

In the pursuit of an ideal, people sometimes dishonour their families and their strongest

beliefs. Romeo and Juliet, in the play, were willing to betray their families to be together. The

Capulets had previously set up a marriage between Juliet and Count Paris which Juliet was not

too fond of. Romeo and Juliet thought the only way they would be able to get married, would be

to do it in secret. Juliet deliberately lied to her family to have the hidden wedding without her

family knowing when she told them she was going to take confessions when she was really

going to get hitched. Juliet, however, wasn’t the only one to betray the Capulets. The Nurse,
along with Friar Laurence, were the only other people who knew about the wedding plans. She

dishonoured the Capulets by keeping the plan classified and not telling them about it. This

secret played a critical role in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because no one had known the

real reason Juliet did not want to marry Paris. After years of being along side Lady Capulet, she

was willing to sacrifice her family-like status for Juliet which would have been destroyed if they

were to ever find out. Lastly, Friar Laurence betrayed his vows to God when he lied and kept the

marriage a secret. He was prepared to do so for the greater good. Friar Laurence had hoped

that this marriage would end the ancient grudge between the Montagues and the Capulets. He

also was the one that gave Juliet the sleeping potion to fake her death so she could escape the

wedding to Paris. After Romeo and Juliet were found dead in the tomb Friar confessed to the

Prince what he had done as he admitted,

I married them; and their stol’n marriage-day

Was Tybalt’s dooms-day, whose untimely death

Banish’d the new-made bridegroom from the city,

For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pined.

You, to remove that siege of grief from her,

Betroth’d and would have married her perforce

To County Paris: then she comes to me,

And, with wild looks, bid me devise some mean

To rid her from this second marriage,

Or in my cell there would she kill herself.

Then I gave her, so tutor’d by my art,

A sleeping potion; which so took effect. (V.iii.232-243)

When a person desires something so much, dishonouring what they believe may just be a step

they have to take in order to get what they wish.

People who are in pursuit of an ideal may experience behavior changes and become
desperately irrational, selfishly immature, and shockingly dishonourable, which is demonstrated

in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” A change in behavior, as we now know, is a main

symptom of a person when they are striving towards something they want so badly. This play

proves that it can change people's lives in more ways than one. Pursuing an ideal can leave you

stranded in a world with no options and can consequently end in complete and utter disaster.

Mason Mueller