There are two things that really irritate me about this world: grudges, and assumptions, and apparently, they annoyed Shakespeare too (fortunately, he never met me). In his famous play, Romeo and Juliet, he explores these themes and the devastating consequences they can have. Paris and Tybalt in particular demonstrate the power of grudges and assumptions respectively. Tybalt’s character, behaviour, and relationships in Romeo and Juliet really highlight the power of grudges. We all know what Tybalt is like when it comes to the Montagues; he establishes this in the first scene with his famous lines: ‘I hate the word,/ As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee’ (Act 1, scene 1). But is the reason for this unnecessary hate and grudge-holding ever truly explained? All that is said is that there is an ancient family feud between the two houses, that, according to the prologue: ‘but their children’s end, naught could remove’. For me as a reader, there was one particular point in the play that made me stop and realise how pointless the feud was. Capulet’s party, one of the most exciting scenes in the play, shows Tybalt for the hateful and aggressive person he really is: Over the years, most of us have heard stories of some pretty insane grudges, including Tybalt’s towards the Montagues, but grudges can affect us on a smaller scale too. For example, holding a grudge against a teammate on the sporting field affects the overall chemistry of the team and may cost you a game, or blaming someone for a mistake made years ago could result in a ruined relationship, and while these things might not quite result in the death of several foolish teenagers, they do have the power to make a massive change in our lives. Let’s now switch our attention to Paris, and his tendency to continuously make assumptions. Assumptions are not always bad; they can be useful, like when they are used in math problems, or when economical trends are analysed to make predictions for the future. What I don’t understand is when people like Paris make assumptions simply based on their own wishful thinking. Paris wants Juliet to love him, so he makes the immediate assumption that she does, ignoring Juliet’s attempts at contradicting him. In the church, the morning after the marriage is arranged, Paris says to Juliet: ‘Do not deny to him that you love me’ (Act 4, scene 1). This is but one example from the scene where Paris’ assumption makes Juliet feel frustrated and pressured, causing her to make the foolish decisions that we all know and hate. His desperation for the assumption to be true prevents him from opening his mind to other possibilities.
Not only do assumptions have a negative impact on the lives of fictional characters in a play, the unfortunate truth is that these things also happen in the real world too. We rely on assumptions for our lives to function normally. However, assumptions, when based on stereotypes, inaccurate knowledge, or indeed nothing at all, as in Paris' case, can have a very negative impact on you and others around you. On a smaller scale, assumptions can be something like assuming an employee does not have a certain skill, and therefore not getting the maximum productivity out of them. This is a scenario that is detrimental to both the company and the employee, as the company is not working as effectively could be, and the employee is doing something that is potentially not in their area of interest and/or expertise. Even though Romeo and Juliet give us more of an example of what not to do, we can still learn from it that although assumptions are all around us, we can choose to open our minds and accept all of the different possibilities, or to make more justified assumptions. If you're not sure about something, ask someone who is, and keep your unfounded assumptions to a minimum. So, hopefully, we've all learnt two things today: not to hold grudges, and to avoid false assumptions. We've all seen what grudges and assumptions can do, both in real life and in the tragic world of Romeo and Juliet, especially through the characters of Tybalt and Paris. Now, as Juliet would say "Farewell! —God knows when we shall meet again." What did you think? Leave a comment below with your thoughts on grudges and assumptions.
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February 2018
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