Lovers or Mental Illness? by Emily

Lovers or Mental Illness? by Emily - October 2021 Scholarship Essay

Teachers of English Literature are famous for their teaching of the works of William Shakespeare, specifically over the love story of Romeo and Juliet. Through the conflicts of the characters, there are a myriad of lessons one could learn, such as forgive and forget or refrain from biting your thumb. However, the most prominent lesson that I learned through the story was from the parents of Romeo and Juliet. Lord Capulet and Lady Montague taught me that a parent should care about the emotions of your children over your own selfish agenda.
We all know the story of Romeo and Juliet. Two families, who have been mortal enemies since before anyone could remember, each had a child, the Montague named Romeo and the Capulet named Juliet. These children grew up learning to hate the other, However, one fateful night, they fell in love at first sight. They immediately knew each could not live without the other. The very next day, a fight broke out. Because two died in this fight, Romeo was banished and his mother died. Juliet was heartbroken, for her one and only love was forced to leave the kingdom and never return. Quickly, she created a plan to fake her own death. The news of her death reached Romeo, and when he found her in the death-like state, he killed himself. Waking up to find her lover dead, Juliet killed herself, leaving their love to have no limit. No matter how much love they had for each other, this week-long relationship resulted in the deaths of six individuals.
First of all, the love of this story is completely fake. On one hand, Romeo was in desperate need of therapy. He absolutely had depression, which does leave one to search for love. When he was rejected by one girl, he was in an even worse state of mind. Obviously he would search for anyone to give him the attention he needed to try to fill the hole in his heart. This is why he went to a party with some people in his friend group. On the other hand, Juliet had just been told by her father that she was to marry Paris, a man she barely knew and was twice her age. Therefore, she would look for anyone closer to her age who flirted with her and looked fairly decent, especially at the party her father was throwing for the engagement.
Out of all the events that transpired, the most evident change that could have been made to prevent the ending of this story was for the parents to care about their children. For example, Lord Capulet could have asked his daughter if she wanted to marry Paris. This would have led to a healthy relationship formed between Lord Capulet and Juliet, where she could have a safe environment to voice her feelings about Paris. In addition, Lady Montague could have a conversation with Romeo about the isolation he felt. If the parents had shown their children they cared instead of controlling a toxic household, the deaths of numerous people could have been avoided.
All in all, the lesson that was learned was for parents to care about the feelings of their children. This can be taken into the life of every parent. Though there are multiple amazing parents in the world, others believe their children are privileged to be in this world and owe the parent for bringing them into the world. Instead of having this way of thinking, believe that the child deserves to have a healthy relationship with their parents through good communication and mutual understanding.