Ahhh. The classic Shakespearean tragedy "Romeo and Juliet." The play you probably studied in high school. The one your English or theatre teacher might've made you read and you pray that you don't get Romeo and if you do, at least get the cute girl across class to read for Juliet. What? That was just me? Anyway, let's get to my point in this article. There is no doubt that "Romeo and Juliet" is a play that has stood the test of time but people think of it as a pure love story. Well, it's not. And here's why.
Let's start this off towards the beginning of this play with our Romeo getting a broken heart because a hot girl doesn't like him back. Man oh man. That is a bummer. So what does Romeo do? He cracks open a cold one with the boys (meme intended) at a party where Romeo sees Juliet for the first time. And, just like that, it's "love" at first sight. But it's not love. It's a little word called infatuation.
So, they hook up. Naturally. But then, Romeo finds out that Juliet is a Capulet. And they cannot be together because he is a Montague and the Montagues and the Capulets are eternal rivals. And, unfortunately for poor Romeo, he gets another broken heart. Romeo and Juliet then run into each other on the street and they decide, "Eh. Who are we kidding? Let's get married." Married?? You've known each other for like 8 hours tops. So they get married and the newlywed Romeo kills Tybalt (Juliet's cousin). I mean I know some of us don't like certain family members but... geez.
Guess what happens next? Romeo leaves town. Without Juliet! And the husband of the year award goes to... literally anyone but Romeo. So then, Juliet doesn't attempt to go to Romeo. No. She pretends to kill herself. Romeo hears the rumor of his wife's death and rushes to her undead side and decides to end his life because he'll never ever find another "love" like he had with Juliet. Juliet then wakes up to find Romeo slumped. Dead as a doorknob. So Juliet kills herself forreal this time. Fin.
Wait... what? Oh yeah, by the way the entire play spans the course of three days. Three days! Ladies and gentlemen, Shakespeare is a genius. He's a genius for writing this tragedy of infatuation between two teenagers. Now, I am by no means a Shakespeare expert but I can take events that happened in "Romeo and Juliet" and apply them to situations in my life for sure.
There have been situations in which my infatuation with something or someone would cause me to do a stupid thing that would ultimately come back to bite me on the butt. That's also why I seriously question when people just throw around the L word. You all know the people. The new couple that is roughly three weeks into a relationship and you see a sappy post on social media that is ended with, "I love you!"
In my opinion, love is not a word to be used lightly. Shakespeare makes that perfectly clear to me. "Romeo and Juliet" is not a love story. It's a warning. A warning of the dangers of lust and infatuation. So, if you didn't learn anything from this tragedy in high school, learn that.
