The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet

“The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” written by Shakespeare, is known as the most famous love story of all time.  It’s a beautifully romantic drama with a tragic ending. It usually is thought of as the ultimate love story, but it’s also about so much more. A main theme in the story is loyalty. There is Romeo and Juliet's loyalty to each other, there is Tybalt's loyalty to Lord Capulet, and there is the loyalty between Mercutio and Romeo. Throughout the story, Shakespeare is able to portray the many loyalties that characters have to each other. The reasons behind these loyalties are mainly: love, family, and friendship.

            One of the most important loyalties in the story is the loyalty that Romeo and Juliet have to each other. It starts before they even know each other’s names. Once Juliet has met Romeo she claims that if she could not have him she would never be married. She pledges herself to him before she knows his name; it goes to show how loyal she is from the very start. The loyalty that they have for each other occasionally conflicts their other loyalties. When Juliet is talking about Romeo she says “Deny thy father and refuse thy name, / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”(2.2.37-39). Juliet is willing to give up her family for Romeo, whereas Romeo tries to take on Juliet’s family as his own. He acts as though her cousin Tybalt was his own family. When Tybalt challenges Romeo Romeo’s response is “I do protest I never injured thee / But love thee better than thou canst devise / Till thou shalt know the reason of my love. / And so, good Capulet, which name I tender / As dearly as mine own, be satisfied.”(3.1.69-73). Tybalt has a vendetta against Romeo, but because of Juliet, Romeo refuses to fight with Tybalt and claims to love him as family. The loyalty between Romeo and Juliet isn't one of those things that is started early on and doesn't last very long; it was so strong that they wanted to be together in death. Their loyalty to each other lasts throughout the entire story, and in the end the actually do die for each other.

            The biggest feud throughout the entire play is the one between the Montagues and the Capulets. Almost all of the characters side with one family even though no one seems to know why the two families hate each other. In the beginning it is stated rather simply by a Capulet that “The quarrel is between our masters and us / their men.”(1.1.20-21). the true feud seems to be between Lord Montague and Lord Capulet, but everyone is pulled in by their blood relation. One of the clearest examples of family born loyalty is Tybalt’s loyalty to the Capulets. At his Uncle’s party, Tybalt is the one who caught Romeo and his friends crashing the party. His immediate response is “This, by his voice, should be a Montague. - / Fetch me my rapier, boy.”(1.5.61-62) and “Now, by the stock and honor of my kin, / To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.”(1.5.66-67). He feels that Romeo is disrespecting his family so it would not be wrong to kill him. Although Tybalt is impulsive as a character and the choice to start a fight was his own, his real motive is to protect his family and its honor. Tybalt’s overall hatred towards the Montagues is brought on only by his Uncle’s feud. Tybalt feels the need to protect his family from the disrespect that he believes the Montagues are showing. This is despite the fact that he doesn't even know what his uncle's feud with Lord Montague really was.

            Another strong loyalty in the play is Romeo’s loyalty to his best friend Mercutio. It is so strong that at one point it overshadows his loyalty to Juliet. Mercutio has taken on the Montague’s side when it comes to the huge feud between the families. When Romeo is challenged by Tybalt and refuses to fight, Mercutio takes on the fight as his own. Romeo and Mercutio were incredibly close, so when Mercutio is killed, by Tybalt, it sets Romeo on the war path immediately. Romeo finds Tybalt and says “Mercutio’s 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.”(3.1.131-134). He says this referring to Mercutio's spirit and saying that he needs someone to die now to keep him company, It will be you, or me, or the both of us. Romeo is in a rage, because his friend had an untimely death, and at the least he shouldn't die alone. Romeo doesn't fear for his own life, he goes as far as to welcome death if it means that he will be able to keep Mercutio company. He was willing to kill or even die for his best friend, nothing else mattered.

            The loyalties in this story are amazingly strong and are shown for a variety of reasons. I thought that the best character relationships to represent these loyalties were Romeo & Juliet, Tybalt & Lord Capulet, and Romeo & Mercutio. They were the strongest loyalties in the story for love, family, and friendship. The scenarios in this story are very extreme compared to current family feuds. Nowadays you don’t try to kill someone simply because he came uninvited to your Uncle’s party. You might take on some of your friend’s battles metaphorically but there is not so much sword fighting now.  And when you get married you will have new in laws but hopefully they won’t be out to kill you for disrespecting your new father in law. The Loyalties in the play were more pronounced due to the lifestyle back then but these types of loyalty still do exist. It’s a part of everyday life, just without all the swordplay.