Cyndal Janes

Mrs. Stewart
ENG1D
December 17, 2015
Consequences of Acting Impulsively
Acting impulsively can have many horrible consequences which is why thinking before
acting is important. William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet to show what will happen
when someone acts impulsively. In this play Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love,
their relationship and wanting of each other would have been fine had they not been from
families that were in a life long feud. The Montagues hate the Capulets and the Capulets hate the
Montagues. Romeo meets Juliet at a party that his friends Mercutio and Benvolio snuck him into,
at this party Romeo sees Juliet and automatically gets a crush. Through the characters of Tybalt
Capulet, Juliets cousin; Romeo, and Friar Laurence, a priest at the church that Juliet and Romeo
go to, William Shakespeare demonstrates that ones impulsive behaviour causes suffering to
oneself.
Tybalt acts impulsively when he sees Romeo at the Capulet party and thinks he is there to
ruin it. From a very young age Tybalt was taught to hate all people associated with Montagues.
He was also taught that Montagues are unacceptable, vicious, and do horrible things. When
Tybalt saw Romeo at the Capulet party his instincts kicked in and he wanted to get Romeo out:
Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe./ A villain that is hither come in spite/ To scorn at our
solemnity this night (I.v.60-62). As soon as Tybalt figures out that Romeo, a Montague is at

their party he thinks he is there to do vicious things and ruin their party. The consequences of this
are his uncle yelling at him and saying he is not allowed to go over to Romeo:

Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone;

A bears him like a portly gentleman. And, to say truth, Verona brags of him
To be a virtuous and well-governd youth.
I would not for the wealth of all this town
Here in my house do him disparagement;
Therefore be patient, take no note of him.
It is my will, the which if thou respect,
Show a fair presence and put off these frowns,
An ill-beseeming semblance for a feast (I.v.64-73).
This shows that Tybalt is acting impulsively and that Lord Capulet is not. Lord Capulet sees that
Romeo is just there to have a good time and is not causing any trouble and forbids Tybalt from
causing a scene. Here Tybalt is acting impulsively because Romeo is at the dance but it also
happens when Romeo sees Tybalt kill his friend.
Romeo acts impulsively when Mercutio is killed by Tybalt. Romeo doesn't stop and
realize that just because Tybalt killed Mercutio doesn't mean that he should kill Tybalt. Romeo
does not stop to consider that because Tybalt killed someone, he is guilty under the law. Romeo
does not stop to think about what will happen if he kills Tybalt, instead he just starts fighting:
Alive in triumph, and Mercutio slain!
Away to heaven, respective lenity,
And fire-eyd fury be my conduct now!
Now ,Tybalt, take the villain back again

That after thou gavst me; for Mercutios soul

Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company:
Either thou, or I, or both must go with him (III.i.122-129).
As soon as Romeo sees Tybalt he starts antagonizing him by calling him names, so that Tybalt
will want to fight. In the end Romeo kills Tybalt. When Prince Escalus, the prince of Verona, had
been told what had happened he gave Romeo his punishment: And for that offence/
Immediately we do exile him hence./ .../ Else,when hes found, that hour is his last./ Bear hence
this body and attend our will:/ Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill (III.i.187-197).
Hear the Prince is being kind and not killing Romeo but just exiling him. This is punishing
Romeo because now he has to leave or he will be killed and his wife cannot come with him.
Juliet cant go with him because no one knows that they are married and she cant just leave
because her father owns her. While Romeo is gone his wife, Juliet, is told she has to marry
someone else so she goes to Friar Laurence for help.
Friar Laurence acts impulsively when Juliet comes to him needing help with her marriage
problem. Friar Laurence does not stop to think about a reasonable way to get Juliet out of
marrying Paris. He does not realize that they could just tell her parents that she is already
married. He says that the only way he thinks she can get out is if she drinks a sleeping potion and
they trick her family:
Hold, daughter; I do spy some kind of hope,
Which craves as desperate and execution
As that is desperate which we would prevent.
If, rather than to marry County Paris,

Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself,

Then is it likely thou wilt undertake
A thing like death to chide away this shame,
That copst with death himself to scape from it;
And, if thou darst, Ill give thee remedy (IV.i.68-76)
When Juliet tells him what has happened he says he can only think of one way to get out of this
problem. Juliet is going to have to go home and drink a potion that will put her in a sleep that
makes her body seem like she is dead. The consequences of this are that Romeo came to get
Juliet too early and thought she was actually dead so he killed himself. Then when Juliet woke
up she saw Romeo had killed himself and so she killed herself. This is bad for Friar Laurence
because he was there when the authorities showed up so they thought that he killed them: Here
is a friar, that trembles, sighs, and weeps. / We took this mattock and spade from him, / As he
was coming from this churchyard side. / A great suspicion : stay the friar too (V.iii.183-186).
This hurts Friar Laurence because he could possibly get arrested because the police think that it
could have been him that killed Romeo, Juliet, and Paris. This causes Friar Laurence to have to
tell the Prince, Lord Capulet, and Lord Montague everything that happened between Romeo and
Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet can teach the world to think before acting because acting impulsively
will have great consequences as demonstrated by the fates of Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet and Friar
Laurence. Tybalt acts impulsively when he sees Romeo at the Capulet party and thinks he is
there to ruin it. Romeo acts impulsively when his friend Mercutio is killed by Tybalt. Friar
Laurence acts impulsively when Juliet comes to him needing help. The lesson Shakespeare is
teaching applies not only to specific people but to everyone.

Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.