Romeo and Juliet: secrecy & sacrifice

The tragedy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is about two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, who are in a seemingly everlasting fight with one another. They hold nothing but hate and disgust for the opposing family, and want nothing to do with each other. However, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, two teenagers, fall hopelessly in love in the span of two days. The young lovers get married without the knowledge or permission of their parents. Romeo and Juliet’s love is short lived, as they both commit suicide for the other.  Romeo and Juliet displays many themes throughout the play, but the two main themes are secrecy and sacrifice, and how they are intertwined.

            A large part of the play revolves around the secrets that characters must keep in order to ensure the safety of themselves and others. The main secret is Romeo and Juliet being together; if their families found out, the conflict would only escalate. They also keep their marriage a secret. However, in Verona at that time, to get married the two fiancées would have to announce their marriage three times in church prior to the wedding. Friar Lawrence married them, but not before issuing a warning by saying, “Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so. Too swift arrives too tardy as too slow” (2.6.14-15). Another secret was Juliet’s plan to fake her death. Again, the only other person aware of her plan was Friar Lawrence, he was the one who gave her the poison.

            There are a lot of sacrifices that the characters have to make, whether it be for themselves, or someone else, a small sacrifice, or a big, life changing one. Romeo and Juliet sacrifice their families by loving each other. Their families hate each other and would be extremely disappointed in their children if they found out about their relationship. Juliet sacrifices her wellbeing and assuredness by taking the poison to fake her death. She is unaware of the dangers of taking the poison, and she is scared of what might go wrong. “What if this mixture do not work at all? … Shall I not, then be stifled in the vault?” (4.3.22, 34) Friar Lawrence sacrifices his honor by marrying Romeo and Juliet, even though their families despise each other, and Juliet was supposed to marry Paris. The Friar had hoped that his sacrifice would cause the Capulet’s and Montague’s to end all hostility between each other, but in fact, the wedding lead up to a huge sacrifice; the sacrifice of Romeo and Juliet’s lives. The star-crossed lovers each gave their lives for the other person. Although they only directly sacrificed their lives for their love, their death also ended the feud between the families, “And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove” (Prolouge, 10-11)

            By keeping secrets, the characters also had to sacrifice many things. The secret of their relationship forced them to sacrifice their family’s forgiving each other. Friar Lawrence deciding to marry Romeo and Juliet put his reputation at risk. When Romeo and Juliet keep their marriage a secret, they are sacrificing tradition, some morality, and the trust of their families and many other people. The characters that keep secrets are aware that they come with a price; however, when the secrets are all connected, the price is something irreversible: the lives of Romeo and Juliet.

            The story of the two unfortunate lovers, and the feuding families was one that is tragic and unforgettable. There are faults in many of the actions of Romeo and Juliet; they rushed their entire relationship and got married the day after they met. These actions came with many secrets, and these secrets came with just as many sacrifices. The secrets and sacrifices lead up to the tragedy of two teenagers who were so in love that they were willing to make the biggest and final sacrifice they would ever make, their lives.