Romeo and Juliet: Teenage Love, Impulsiveness, and Tragedy

Introduction: The Complexity of Romeo and Juliet's Relationship

The relationship at the heart of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is complex for several reasons. First, the two protagonists are young, and their relationship carries all the immaturity that comes with adolescence — including the need to dramatize everything and the tendency to take drastic measures when things go wrong, which helps explain why both characters die at the end. Second, they belong to two feuding families in Verona, which adds a further layer of complication to their romantic situation. Because of the feud, their relationship cannot develop normally; instead, they are forced to hide, to scheme in order to meet, and to act against their families at every turn. Third, their relationship unfolds during a historically complex era. The Renaissance is a period of rebirth for humanity, but it operates according to its own strict social rules — particularly when viewed from a modern perspective.

All of these dimensions feed into the relationship between Romeo and Juliet and shape their love. Understanding that love requires examining each of these factors closely, beginning with the most fundamental one: their age.

Romeo is 16, with everything that age entails. At the opening of the play, he is not in love with Juliet but with Rosaline — a character who never appears on stage, yet for whom Romeo professes deep feeling. His approach to love, however, is shaped by his fleeting, adolescent character. Rosaline appears to be, in fact, a pretext. The underlying reason — which Romeo never discovers, because, as a teenager, he is not inclined toward introspection or deeper self-analysis — is simply that he has not yet found true love.

Romeo's Age and His Approach to Love

Romeo's dialogue with Benvolio in the early scenes reflects this clearly. His description of Rosaline is vague and filled with generalities. There is also a sexual dimension: in the allusive, metaphor-heavy manner typical of 16th-century discourse, Romeo expresses regret that Rosaline has taken a vow of chastity (Cooney, 1998). Another telling detail, characteristic of teenagers, is that Romeo never actually acts on his feelings for Rosaline. He does not approach her or communicate his feelings in any way. A plausible explanation, again connected to his age, is that he lacks the confidence that adults gain through accumulated experience and prior successes.

The moment Romeo sees Juliet, the contrast becomes stark. He uses phrases such as "beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!" — moving away from the vagueness that characterized his descriptions of Rosaline. He also begins to move beyond his teenage tendency to objectify the person he desires. Juliet is not merely the object of his interest the way Rosaline was; her person and character exceed that threshold.

Yet one must note another adolescent trait at work here. Rosaline is immediately and entirely forgotten. There is no moment in which Romeo pauses to compare the two women. He simply turns to pursuing Juliet the moment he sees her. Certainly, one explanation is that Rosaline was never his true love, so no comparison is warranted. But this argument combines with the reality that, as a teenager, Romeo remains superficial in his romantic attachments and in the way he pursues them.

This is an appropriate point to address a theme that hangs over the entire play: death, particularly in its suicidal form. The play ends this way, and the symbolism is significant. However, it is worth noting that Romeo already displays suicidal tendencies early in the play, even before he meets Juliet (Peele, 2008). At a party he attends with his friends, he mentions that he wants to "expire the term of a despised life."

Analyzing suicidal tendencies in teenagers is a complex matter — even in Romeo's case — because it is always difficult to distinguish between a genuine psychological risk and an infatuated desire to attract attention. In Romeo's case, one might argue for the latter: he is surrounded by friends, giving him an appropriate audience for such declarations. The context suggests performative despair more than genuine crisis.

Suicidal Tendencies in Romeo and Juliet

Juliet exhibits similarly suicidal potential. Before examining this, it is useful to briefly consider Juliet at this point in the play. She is 13 years old — younger than Romeo — but, given the typically faster psychological development in girls, she is at a comparable emotional stage. She has been promised in marriage to an older man, and she is likely experiencing all the states a teenager would in that situation: despair, revulsion, and above all, a rebellious reaction against her parents' authority.

When she encounters Romeo at the party, she sees a potential escape from the arranged marriage. They kiss. She does not stop to consider whether Romeo is already committed to someone else, but she reasons that if he is, she will kill herself: "my grave is like to be my wedding bed." The teenage logic here is vivid: she has just met someone for the first time, has immediately fallen in love, and is already vowing to kill herself if he is unavailable.

In comparing the two characters' suicidal tendencies, a gender difference emerges. For Romeo, the impulse seems to reflect a general mal de vivre — a boredom with life, a diffuse unhappiness without a clear cause. For Juliet, the threat is more concrete and conditional: she does not threaten suicide over the arranged marriage itself, but specifically vows to die if Romeo is already spoken for. She appears to know precisely what she wants and is resolute about it.