Unpopular Opinion: Romeo and Juliet

Unlike most people on the planet, I love Romeo and Juliet.

I love the plot, I love the dialogue, I love the setting, I love the conflict…

I love the story in general.

Everything about this play to me is-

In high school I was the weird kid that memorized the dialogue for fun and mouthed the words when we watched the Romeo + Juliet movie in class (yeah, interesting choice by my English teacher).

Very interesting choice.

Moving on…

However, I am well aware that my love for this play is not shared by others. In fact, Romeo and Juliet is commonly mocked by the cultural zeitgeist as being regressive and even harmful. I’ve become relatively immune to these critiques, but I came across a post recently that just rubbed me the wrong way and inspired me to write this blog entry.

Firstly, the age of Romeo is never disclosed so we don’t know for certain what the age gap between Romeo and Juliet is. Yes, it is uncomfortable due to our modern sensibilities but back then it wasn’t weird for teenagers to get married. As Lady Capulet states in her first scene with Juliet, “Well, think of marriage now. Younger than you/Here in Verona, ladies of esteem/Are made already mothers. By my count, I was your mother much upon these years/That you are now a maid.”

As for the claim that Romeo and Juliet’s love “resulted in six deaths”…that is just plain inaccurate.

Mercutio’s death had nothing to do with Romeo and Juliet being a couple, nor did Tybalt’s. Mercutio died because he was defending Romeo’s honor after Tybalt insulted him. Tybalt was killed because Romeo was understandably pissed that a guy murdered his best friend right in front of him. Go figure.

I believe it’s also prudent to point out that Romeo’s love for Juliet was his motivation for trying to defuse the situation initially. Romeo loves Juliet and considers her family, therefore, Romeo believes Tybalt is his family by extension. He even tells Tybalt that he loves him.

The only reason Romeo attacks Tybalt is to avenge Mercutio’s death.

It wasn’t love that killed Mercutio and Tybalt.

It was hate.

In the past, I shrugged off the critique of two teenagers killing themselves over such a fresh relationship, even agreeing with it to a certain extent. Of course killing yourself over a person you met literally 3 days ago, getting married, and throwing your life away for them is a stupid idea. Of course 13 year-olds shouldn’t be getting married and running away with one another.

But, as I’ve gotten older, I realize how superficial these complaints are as they miss the entire point of the play.

This is the only thing the pretentious chalkboard got right: Romeo and Juliet is not a romance.

It is a tragedy.

Ignore the fact that they are both teenagers, ignore the fact that they only knew each other three days and actually, think about it.

The only reason they had to sneak around, the only reason they had to plan to run away with each other, the only reason they wound up dying, is because of a feud between their houses.

People harp on night and day about how stupid Romeo and Juliet are for killing themselves, but they never stop to think what absolute brainlets the Capulets and Montagues are as a whole.

Consider this…

The Montagues and Capulets have been killing each other for decades, causing so much unrest in their community the crowned prince himself has to step in and threaten to execute them if they don’t knock it off. These families absolutely despise each other to the point where a member of one family can’t walk down the street without causing a tiff with a member of the opposing family.

They hate each other to the core. And you know what the kicker is? They have absolutely no idea why. They have been fighting so bitterly and for so long that none of them know what started this rivalry. Their hatred for each other is predicated entirely on name only.

Look, it’s okay to think killing yourself for a guy is the antithesis of a big-brain move, but can we all agree that it’s stupid to hate someone solely for their last name? Perhaps even dumber than falling in love with someone after three days?

It still boggles my mind people try to blame Romeo and Juliet for what happened to them rather than the circumstances that lead to their deaths. Their love never killed anyone….okay, maybe Paris…

But no one else.

Romeo and Juliet isn’t a cautionary tale about falling in love too abruptly. It isn’t about romanticizing the idea of dying for love. It is about the corrosive nature of hate and how it poisons everything good. It takes away friends, family, and lovers. It blackens our souls and destroys our future a.k.a our children (hint, hint).

So, as a whole, I think Romeo and Juliet is pretty damned great. Is it cheesy? Yes. It is unintentionally funny in some areas? Absolutely. But at its core, I think it is a beautiful and timeless story; a cautionary tale about how mindless hatred destroys everything in its path.