1980. A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a
passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire
for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive
may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character
confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her
responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the
conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.
Shakespeare’s characters Romeo and Juliet in his play Romeo and Juliet both
face the internal war of deciding between passion for each other or
responsibility to their family. Romeo’s family, the Montagues, and
Juliet’s family, the Capulets, have been in a long standing feud that affects
the entire city of Verona because of the constant duels and deaths between the
families. It is in this atmosphere that Romeo and Juliet’s secret forbidden
love begins to blossom and the war between passion and responsibility begins.
The war has many battles in that there are many situations where both Romeo and
Juliet have to decide which side to take, passion or family responsibility?
Once Romeo and Juliet realize they are in love with someone from the house of
their family’s enemy, they both are incredibly shocked and upset. It causes
both of the characters distress to have gone against their family and they are
both conflicted with what to do. This is the first time they face the decision
of choosing passion over their responsibility to family. At this point, passion
wins out, and Romeo and Juliet secretly get married, complicating the plot even
more due to the secrecy. It starts to build suspense in the audience, making
them wonder if next time a conflict comes up between passion or responsibility,
if passion will continue to win.
Soon, Tybalt and Romeo meet and Tybalt
wants to fight causing Romeo to again have to make a decision between passion
and responsibility. Tybalt is now Romeo’s family member, although it isn’t
known to anyone yet. According to the Montague’s expectations, Romeo needs to
fight Tybalt because he is part of the enemy family. But, if he did fight Tybalt,
it would hurt Juliet’s feelings because that is her family. Again, passion wins
out and Romeo tries to avoid a fight with his new relative Tybalt. The audience
breathes a sigh of relief, and waits in anticipation for the next battle in the
war of passion and responsibility, to see which wins next time.
Juliet hears later that Romeo has
killed one of her family members and has to decide between her love for Romeo
or her family. If she picks love, she would forgive Romeo, but if she picks her
responsibility to her family, she would leave him for committing this act
against her family. Passion wins out yet again as Juliet makes the difficult
decision and picks Romeo and therefore decides to forgive him. Situations like this, where the characters have to choose between passion and responsibility create emotional climaxes within the play.
As the play goes on, the two characters
continue to face many situations where they have to decide whether to choose
their love for one another or their family. Each time, passion wins out. Having the characters go through this type of
internal conflict time and time again builds up suspense in the audience as
they are watching the play, making them wonder if the characters will continue
to choose passion over responsibility, or if they finally had enough. Also, it
constantly reminds the audience of the difficult decision and the sacrifices
Romeo and Juliet had to face in order to make their marriage and love work and
it really emphasizes their love for each other. In conclusion, the famous
tragic lovers Romeo and Juliet go through the war between passion and
responsibility found in many classical pieces of literature.
