Romeo and Juliet a Tragedy of Haste

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Is Romeo and Juliet a tragedy of haste? Haste is the act of hurrying in a careless or rash manner. Decisions that are made in carelessness can cause a series of consequences. The tragedy of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is the result of a series of hasty decisions from characters such as Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet. Decisions made in haste from the Friars behalf greatly contribute to the tragic outcome of the play. Firstly, the friar is to blame for agreeing to wed the couple in the first place, as he believes that “This alliance may so happy prove”. He gets the sudden idea that the marriage of the couple may help with the feud between the families, without thinking through his decision to go along with the wedding. As well, the Friar creates a quick plan for Romeo and Juliet without ensuring all the details since he thinks that “Shall Romeo by [his] letters, know thou drift”. The friar goes through with his quickly thought up plan, without ensuring that everyone knows what’s going on which initially causes the confusion and suicide of the two lovers. Finally he “[gives Juliet] thy vial” without thinking about the dangers and consequences of the potion. By giving Juliet the vial and instruction at such short notice he causes the series of tragic events that occur later on in the tomb. Friar Lawrence makes several hasty decisions that have a negative impact on the final outcome of the play. Romeo is another character that makes a number of hurried choices that later on result in calamity. First of all, Romeo forgets about Rosaline the instant he sees Juliet and after hardly a day of knowing her he decides to get married. He asks Friar Lawrence for “Thou consent to marry [them] today”. They get married on such short notice which causes problems for the couple because they had not had consent from their parents. Secondly, Romeo kills Tybalt after
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