- Published: November 16, 2021
- Updated: November 16, 2021
- University / College: Macquarie University
- Language: English
- Downloads: 47
There have been different interpretations of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare originally wrote the play with Romeo and Juliet committing suicide to be together for eternity to show that true love does not always have a happy ending, but that love and devotion is more powerful than hatred. Productions have been altered so that the two star crossed lovers run away to Mantua together and live a ‘ happy ending. ’ The problem with that ending is that it is no longer a tragic love story. It turns into a typical, and almost unrealistic, story where the boy gets the girl.
Although, in those stories, they never show where they end up, or what happens after the happy ending. After Romeo and Juliet’s happy ending in the modified version of the play, the two wouldn’t feel the same way about each other as they did before. If Romeo and Juliet didn’t die, then Shakespeare’s story would have caught the reader’s eye not because of the love and compassion, but for the broken hearts and regret. Shakespeare wrote that Friar Laurence had a plan to get the two lovers to be together. Unfortunately, the plan backfires when Romeo is informed that Juliet is dead.
Romeo then rushes to Verona to die next to his beloved wife. Later, Juliet wakes up from a potion that only made her look dead, but she was really asleep. She then finds that Romeo has taken his life, so she does the same and kills herself to be with him. If none of that had happened, then that means that the plan worked. Romeo and Juliet run off to Mantua to spend the rest of their life together. Since Romeo is exiled and Juliet is thought to be dead, they no longer have their families anymore- they only have each other.
Because they only knew each other for a day before they married, there is a lot about each other that they don’t know. It is entirely possible that they married a stranger who is not who they thought they were. As time moves on, tension will develop between them, and since divorce was not possible back then, Romeo and Juliet will be forced to live a lie for the rest of their lives. At the end of the original play, the Capulets and Montegues stop feuding for the sake of their dead children’s love. If the two never died, then their love would have never been known.
Therefore, the two families still hate each other and nothing has changed. As time moves on it is possible that the families find out about their children’s love and try everything in their power to break them up. If their relationship is not strong enough, they won’t be able to withstand the pressure from their families. There may also come a point where Romeo and Juliet have to choose: their families or the person they married after two conversations. In the beginning of the play when Romeo meets Juliet for the first time, he was initially in love with Rosaline, Lord Capulet’s niece.
Romeo immediately fell out of love with her when he met Juliet. It is possible that that may happen again and Romeo will fall in love with someone else and no longer care for Juliet. Although there is no way to know if that will happen, all of these situations are completely practical. To the reader, the original Romeo and Juliet is a tragic tale of true love and devotion. If the two don’t die, the story no longer stands out; the story loses its ‘ pizzazz. ’ The play has been known throughout the years for its unexpected, catastrophic twist ending.
If it no longer has that, then the play might not be famous today. The play would also no longer show the compassion that the two paramours have for each other. The story would not show how their life is over when their other half is gone and their life has no meaning without their true love. It doesn’t leave an imprint in the reader’s mind. It is just another story consisted of teenage love and fairytale endings. Although some might wish for the two to ride off into the sunset together and live a fairytale, it is not realistic.
Romeo and Juliet was written to show that love could conquer all. Although the two didn’t spend the rest of their lives together, they were able stop hatred between two families. Just in a few days, Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Romeo, and Juliet all died because of this feud. However, with their deaths comes love between the two families and many lives saved from fighting. At first glance, the ending of Romeo and Juliet is tragic and heart breaking, but it is actually a happy ending where two families are able to soften the tension between them, live happily amongst each other.