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Impulsive Decisions In Romeo And Juliet

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In Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, two young lovers take their lives after their family feud reignites . A variety of decisions along with circumstance no one person could account for set the story of Romeo and Juliet up to be a tragedy. Many of the decisions in the play are made quickly and while emotions are running high, so frequently they result in bad outcomes. So, the rash and impulsive decisions made by men in Romeo and Juliet create the problems within the play. Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet, has a quick temper and frequently acts on impulse. When he first appears, he arrives at the brink of a street fight, and when Benvolio tries to calm him down he gets riled up and says, “What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word/ As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee./ Have at thee, coward!” (1:1, 71-73) When Prince Escalus arrives to see this fight, he raises the consequences on the warring families. He will no longer stand by without doing something and threatens, “If ever you disturb our streets again,/ Your lives shall pay the the forfeit of the peace” (1:1, 98-99). The stakes of the family feud have been taken to a new level, whereas before the Prince was just mad but didn’t act on that anger, now the families are threatened with death if they act out again, all because Tybalt and some Capulet servants jumped into a fight. Even after the Prince’s threats, of which Tybalt knows the stakes, Tybalt comes to fight Romeo the next day but instead finds Benvolio and

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