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romeo and juliet
hey
i have to do an essay on romeo and juliet
and the topic is....I have to pick whether I think the relationship is healthy or un-healthy and i was wondering if anyone has any prior knowledge (im leaning more towards unhealthy)...of points I could use for my essay.or quotes on relationships/love? If you could help ...that would be really great!
Thanks so much!!!!=)
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Want to answer more questions in the Relationships category?
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Well in terms of unhealthy, think about how young Juliet is when she gets married- she's only in her early teens, considered unhealthy by modern standards. Also, consider the fact that Romeo is meant to be madly in love with another woman before he even meets Juliet, so maybe he is in love with being in love, rather than with J. Just some thoughts, good luck.
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I'd say the relationship was unhealthy because they were lying to their parents, and in the end they ended up killing themselves! But here's the deal. Make sure you DO NOT talk about both sides! You should list why it was healthy or not, and that's it. If you say something like "well, I think it was healthy. it was healthy because... It was also unhealthy because..." NO. If your teacher sees that you're leaning toward both sides, she might take points off because you didn't follow directions and pick a side.
How do I know all this? On my mom's college entrance exam, an essay question said that there have been many conflicts in college because of cell phones ringing in class. My mom was to pick a side (For cell phones to be allowed in class or against), and she talked about the pros and cons of both. That's how she failed the essay >.<
Anyway, good luck!
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Hi!
I just finished studying Romeo and Juliet at school and I got an A for all my projects on it so I'd say I have a pretty good understanding :P
Whether or not you are leaning towards unhealthy, a good essay will discuss both sides of the arguement and rip the other point of view to pieces. For example - you could say, 'Romeo and Juliet made a very rash decision to get married. I believe this was an unhealthy choice in their relationship; if they had waited to get their parents' permission, they wouldn't have had to hide their relationship and may not have died.' Then you would say something along the lines of: 'some people may say this was a healthy decision because the parents would never have come round to the idea of Romeo and Juliet as a couple' but you could shoot this down by saying that the couple are 'star crossed, and the parents would have come round eventually - they are not unreasonable people, as proved by Old Capulet obeying the Price and forbidding Tybalt to fight Romeo at the Capulet ball'. Do you see what I mean? You won't have to do this with all your points but it would be a good idea to do it on around 1/3 to a 1/2 of them - comparison boosts your marks, but too much makes it repetitive.
Some other essay tips -
*Don't start your paragraphs with the same statement or word. Vary it - repetition lowers your grade.
*Don't always say 'I think' - use other options such as 'I believe that' or 'my opinion is'.
*Build quotes into your sentences. For example, 'my opinion is that Romeo and Juliet were 'star crossed lovers' and would therefore have ended up together no matter what their parents said'.
*Try and link your paragraphs. The easiest way to do this is to do them in chronological order - discuss your points in the order they happened in the play. You could also do this by, if you mention Mercutio at the end of one paragraph, put a point that's about him to start the next paragraph. You could also discuss someone's actions (I know this isn't relevant to your particular essay, but it's the best example I could think of - for example, Tybalt killing Mercutio) and then in the next paragraph the consequences (Romeo being banished).
*Put a conclusion at the end. E.g. 'Ultimately I think that Romeo and Juliet had a very unhealthy relationship because...'
Stuff you could include in your essay -
*Fueding families. Your relationship is ALWAYS going to be unhealthy if your boyfriends parents want to kill yours!
*They loved each other a LOT. That's a lot more healthy - and would have lead to a happier life and marriage if they had lived that long
- to marry for love than for money or status.
*Romeo changed his mind very quickly and easily about Rosaline. It was therefore an unhealthy choice to marry Juliet - and on Juliet's behalf, choosing to marry him - when he changes his mind so very quickly. How does she know he won't suddenly go off her?
*Going against the parents wishes. Unhealthy relationship - they had to keep it secret. Healthy relationship - their parents may have made life very difficult for them if they had told them what was going on.
*Everything happened so quick. Rushed relationships are no good in today's society, although they were common in those days. But still, Shakespeare made it very clear that they were moving too fast - i.e. without their parents permission; with parents involved it would have been seen as much more 'advised'.
*They got married. That is a VERY good thing. If they had being 'seeing' each other without marriage on the cards then they probably would have been killed by their parents. No joke. So that was healthy.
*Everything happens in the right order - meet, fall in love, propose marriage, get married, consumate marriage, (lets just skip the 'have very unusual problems' part :P), die together. That was how the ideal relationship was meant to go - 'til death us do part'; it was seen as a really beautiful thing if a married couple died together because their souls could travel to heaven together.
*Relationship drives them to commit suicide. OK, unintentional, but hey...it's the 'unforgivable sin' and a huge crime to Roman Catholics (Romeo and Juliet's religion). That's obviously pretty unhealthy.
*And I just like to point out - I'm not picking faults, but - FunkyHomoSapien said that they had sex then got married. It was actually the other way around :) Plus that's how marriage worked in those days. You find someone attractive - you marry them.
DON'T say -
*They were too young. Paris says to Lord Capulet that 'many younger than she are happy mother's made' - meaning people younger than Juliet were often even parents in those days.
*Any more about fate than that they were star crossed. That's a whole other essay subject.
Hope I helped!! And good luck! Drop one in my inbox or email me on any of the addys on my profile if you ever want any more help!
Blessed Be,
Rach xxx
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Dear,
I did an essay on Romeo and Juliet a year ago on a little bit different question. I see why you think the relationship is unhealthy but the romantic idea that Shakespeare is trying to put across is that the relationship is healthy, looking at it in general because the strive between the two families is ended because of their love. Even if we look at it closely the relationship between the two of them is healthy because everything follows in order, they meet, they fall in love, they get married, the love is consumed and they die together also the love between them is mutual and they are giving equally, each one of them is making sacrifices.
However along the way many people die and Romeo and Juliet are going against their families in the name of their love. That is why you might think it is unhealthy.
And the third major thing is that they die in the end and one hand they die because of their family strife, their love is impossible, and on the other hand they commit suicide because of their strong love for each other, the bond between them is so strong that they cannot live without one another. Their death even proves that their relationship is healthy, again they are in a way giving equally. You might think that because they die their relationship is unhealthy but if it were not for their families they would not have done it and it would have been a classic fairytale where they would have lived happily ever after. If their relationship was unhealthy the love would not have been mutual or one would have given more then the other.
Here is an idea how you can make your essay and some tips
1. A short introduction
2. Then you look at the different Acts and give examples of the healthy or unhealthy aspects of their relationship
3. In the end make a clear conclusion
Also do not tell the story but try making your points. The best way to do that is to say what you think then give a quote as evidence and then explain the quote. Keep going back to the original question that you are answering.
Unfortunately I cannot think of any quotes right now. I think there should be some nice quotes during the balcony seine, when Juliet finds out Romeo is Montague, during their marriage and comments about it and also when they die.
I hope this helps! If you have any more questions please ask.
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YOUR IN LUCK! for i am just finishing up romeo and juliet and now a lot about the stuff your askin for!! ok, lets get started on todays lesson. Romeo and juliets relationship was very unhealthy because they fell in love at first sight. this usually means that they 'love' eachother for lust. the next day they have sex. which isn't very long. so this shows that their relationship is based solely on apperence becuase in total they've spoken to eachother for only about 30 minutes total. later that day they get married after knowing nothin about eachother, only that they thought that they were both hott. then they end both end up dieing because of this very strong bond they had made in a total of 1 hour in the last 2 days. so yes this was a very unhealthy relationship as they both loved eachother for no true reason. if they weren't pressured to commit suicide, i say they would have divorced in no time. I how my amazing knowledge helps you on yur essay!! good luck!!
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