Romeo and Juliet: Infatuation and Divine Punishment

Introduction

It can be agreed among the majority of Christians and people from other faiths that sinning for an earthly desire is a serious offense against God, which if intentional will not be forgiven. For example, killing for your own aspiration, disobeying parents for selfish desires, and worshipping false gods are all clearly acts against God. But in the play ​Romeo and Juliet ​by William Shakespeare, Romeo does just that. In Romeo and Juliet, infatuation completely clouded the minds of two young lovers. In the story, two star-crossed lovers have a historic feud in their families interfering with their love. Throughout the story, Romeo can be seen disobeying multiple commandments, for which he cannot be punished as there is little to no reason for forgiveness. Romeo turns Juliet into his idol before his faith in God, deceives his parents by falling in love and interacting with a Capulet, and murders both Paris and Tybalt, which is unforgivable through the eyes of God.

Romeo's Infatuation with Juliet

Firstly, Romeo turns Juliet into an idol and starts worshipping Juliet in some parts of the play. Focussing on the Catholic church, the first and second commandments both strictly state not to have any gods before the God of the Catholic church. Romeo breaks this command multiple times by referring to Juliet as a holy shrine and putting her before God. During the dance scene after Romeo and his squad crash at a party with the hopes of meeting Rosaline, a girl he is in love with, Romeo sees Juliet and pulls her aside. He is amazed by her beauty and kisses her only after a few words were spoken. He tells her:

If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this,

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stant

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss (1.5.92-95)

He goes on to say “Then move not while my prayer's effect I take/ Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purg’d”. (1.5.105-106) Analyzing these 2 quotes, he states that he is worshipping Juliet by kissing her, and compares his kisses to prayers, with Juliet being the holy shrine. Later on in the play after the party, Romeo runs away from his gang (who don’t know about Juliet), and sneaks into the Capulet walls, hoping he could get another glimpse of Juliet. He says in an aside “O speak again, bright angel, for thou art...as us a winged messenger of heaven”/Romeo(2.2.26-28). In this statement, he is referring to Juliet as a messenger of God (which she is not), and continues to treat her as a holy idol. Juliet is a regular girl with little holiness and cannot be compared to God and angels. Since Romeo is clearly worshipping a false God and dies before he could redeem himself, God will not forgive him. This is only one of his crimes against God.

Romeo's Disobedience to His Parents

Furthermore, Romeo deceived his parents by falling in love and interacting with a Capulet, which is breaking the fifth commandment of honoring your Mother and Father. First, due to fate, an illiterate Capulet servant asks Romeo, not recognizing that he is a Montague, to read the list of invited names to a Capulet party. Romeo reads it for him and sees the name Rosaline. Romeo was madly in love with Rosaline at the time. He decides to attend the Capulet party, with the hopes of seeing Rosaline. Although Benvolio objects his decision, Romeo ignores his warning and says “I’ll go along no such sight to be shown,/ But to rejoice in splendour of mine own”. (1.2.102-103) It is both dishonoring and dangerous for Romeo and his crew to enter the party, considering how recently the 2 families clashed and the instability of their relationship. It shows how easily his infatuation took over his loyalty to his parents. In the party, he is infatuated with Juliet, forgets about Rosaline, and makes kisses her twice as said before. In the scene after Romeo ran off into the Capulet walls and begins to converse with Juliet, Romeo tells Juliet “Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike”(2.2.61) after Juliet asks him if he is a Montague. This shows that he is willing to give up his family name for a girl part of an enemy family. Considering he responded within less than a second after Juliet asked him the question, Romeo’s loyalty and honor to the Montague name is questionable. This is dishonoring his family name and the dishonor of his parents. This is also breaking of the fifth commandment multiple times. Considering he died before he had an opportunity to redeem himself, Romeo will get Punished. However, the next crime he commits is far worse than the previous two.

Romeo's Unforgivable Crimes

Romeo commits murder twice, which is breaking the sixth commandment of you shall not murder. Out of rage after Tybalt gets a cheap shot at Mercutio in a fight, Romeo gets mad and starts a fight with Tybalt saying “Either thou or I, or both, must go with him”.(3.1.125) He started the fight and killed him in the process. Although he was enraged and sought revenge for Mercutio, only the almighty should have a punishment for the sinful. This part can be mistaken as true friendship, but it was truly due to his selfish desire for revenge. Near the end of the play after Romeo hears news about Juliet’s “death”, he goes to get poison so he could rest beside Juliet's dead body, but encounters Paris. Paris thought that Romeo had ill intentions with the dead bodies in the graveyard, and as his allegiance lies with the Capulets, they fought. Romeo could just explain his intentions clearly, but instead, he starts a fight by saying “Wilt thou provoke me? Then have at thee, boy!”/Romeo(5.3.70). Once again, he is driven by his anger about Juliet’s death, instead of choosing the logical method of explaining his intentions.

Conclusion

Although he was driven mad by his ​exasperation, he was the one who chose to fight.​ This makes his crime unforgivable through the eyes of God. Romeo worshipped idols, dishonored his parents, and committed murder twice, which makes his actions unforgivable through the eyes of God. The severity of his crimes, and not having any time left to redeem himself means he had a sinful life. Although some may argue that fate had an impact on his sins, it was predominantly his inability to control himself. As John Spence says “never do something permanently foolish, just because you are temporarily upset”. Hence, God will not grant him forgiveness.

Bibliography

1. Shakespeare, William. ​Romeo and Juliet​. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. Print.