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| The Echoes of Expedience | ||||||||
| 9 September 1999 | ||||||||
| The average life span of a human today is approximately 76 years. During that time, a human can expect to suffer and elate, to mourn and celebrate. Births, weddings, and deaths will be spread across these years to wind and intertwine and create the stories of existence. But occasionally one of these stories comes along that defies the normal constraints of time. In these cases, events hurtle along at breakneck speed until the drama becomes too much, and life too much to live. For two star-crossed lovers, the pinnacles and the pits of their stories all occurred within three days, a mere .001 percent of a normal life. In those three days, the stories of two families were irrevocably changed for the worse. And one of the fundamental causes of this hasty descent was haste itself. By examining the word both within the context of the characters' dialogues and within their actions, the events that transpired in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet can be better understood. In short, the word "haste" as used in the play causally links the tragic events surrounding the deaths of the title characters and illuminates the flaws of the characters most responsible for those events. | ||||||||
| According to Webster's College Dictionary, "haste" can be defined as "swiftness of motion" or "thoughtless, rash, or undue speed." Strangely enough, the word takes on a different meaning for many of the characters in the play. Three times the word is used with an implied threat of violence or unhappy consequences. This ominous tone first manifests itself when Mercutio says to Tybalt, "Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears?/ Make haste, lest mine be about your ears ere it be out" (III., i., l. 80). Mercutio's intent is to harm Tybalt; if Tybalt does not react with the necessary speed, he will most certainly suffer. Thus the consequences of not hastening to draw his sword could be dire or even fatal. In the same sequence of events, the Prince of Verona banishes Romeo from Verona, urging him to "hence in haste" (III., i., l. 193); once again, to tarry would be death, for, "when he is found, that hour is his last." With these words, Romeo's life is immediately put in peril. Though he had been living the frivolous life of the carefree youth, his days in Verona are henceforth numbered. In effect, time is no longer on Romeo's side, as death awaits him if he does not hurry from his home. Likewise, Lord Capulet and Paris seem to think that time is not on Juliet's side either. In Act 4, Paris tells Friar Laurence that Juliet's father "hastes our marriage/ To stop the inundation of her tears" (i., ll. 11-12). Capulet and Paris are under the erroneous assumption that Juliet's tears are the result of Tybalt's murder and that a quick wedding could restore her happy countenance. Both Capulet and Paris are quite aware that the planned marriage is a hurried one, and despite Juliet's ministrations to the contrary, both are intent on having the wedding, despite the consequences. | ||||||||
| In understanding the connection of the word "haste" with the story in general, it is important to consider the contexts of the plots surrounding heavy usage of the word. Two particular instances appear to be associated with the follies of haste, namely the street fight where Tybalt is killed and Romeo banished and the preparations for Juliet and Paris' wedding. As previously mentioned, both Mercutio and the Prince use the word with a negative connotation. The word "haste" is found even more abundantly when one looks closely at the lines associated with Paris' wooing of Juliet. When Capulet and Paris are working out the details of the marriage, Capulet questions Paris if he likes the haste in which the preparations are being made, to which Paris enthusiastically affirms (III., iv., l. 22). Though Juliet "wonder[s] at this haste" (III., v., l. 118), Paris asserts to the Friar that Lord Capulet, "in his wisdom," is adamant about moving the wedding along as speedily as possible (IV., i., l. 11). In fact, he mentions the word "haste" three times during his dialogue with the Friar. On the appointed day of the wedding, Lord Capulet busily urges his servants to "make haste" numerous times (VI., iv., ll. 15, 25-27). Though it may appear that Juliet and Romeo rushed into their wedding, Shakespeare takes care to associate the word more with the less happy union of Juliet and Paris. In point of fact, the word is mentioned in a completely different light when concerning the two lovers of the play. Early on, Romeo admits to some haste to the Friar, but he is quickly remonstrated (II., iii., l. 93). Later, the words merely show the excited anticipation that both feel concerning their impending wedding and honeymoon. The Nurse notices Juliet's giddy impatience at hearing Romeo's reply to her marriage proposal and asks, "Jesu, what haste?" (II., iv., l. 29). Later the Nurse also bids Romeo to hasten to his and Juliet's marriage bed. In both instances, "haste" is used in the best possible way, as an order to hurry to happiness and bliss. | ||||||||
| To fully assess the impact of the word "haste" on the story, each character's use of the word and the consequences of their usage should be ascertained. When Romeo uses the word in Act 2, it is an acknowledgement that he realizes things are going fast with Juliet but completely with his consent (iii., l. 93). Since the nature of marriages is not usually the source of angst or misery despite the length of courting, this is not in itself a reprehensible action. Juliet uses the term once in Act 3, thoughtfully questioning her father's decision of rushing so quickly into an agreement for a loveless marriage (v., l. 118). Both instances of the Nurse's usage revolve around the rather cheerful topic of Juliet and Romeo's marriage (II., iv., l. 29; III., iii., l. 163). Mercutio, on the other hand, uses the term to show his intent to harm the wily Tybalt (III., i., l. 80). Nothing good comes of this intent, though this particular threat does not come to fruit; however, in the ensuing battle, Mercutio is slain and avenged, resulting with the Prince's banishment of Romeo and his urging to "let Romeo hence in haste" (III., i., 193). Tybalt's death and Romeo's banishment ignite the chain of events, beginning with Juliet's misery, her father's decision that she should wed, the Friar's help so that she should not have to wed, and the eventual deaths of the two lovers in the cavernous vaults. The hastiness surrounding the decision that Juliet should marry Paris is underscored by the use of the word "haste" a full six times while the marriage is being discussed. The implacable nature of her father and the rapidity of the preparations leads Juliet to believe that the only ways to avoid the adulterous union are suicide or deception, a necessary step to the demise of the title characters. Thus while Romeo and Juliet do indeed move quickly in taking their vows, they are only moving toward a greater happiness for them both, while the hasty actions of the other characters prove to be the undoing of that potential. | ||||||||
| In three days, Romeo and Juliet experience love, marriage, murder, and death. The compression of such a full life in such a short period of time can be attributed to the haste in which all characters act. Shakespeare underscores this point by strategically placing the usage of the word and carefully controlling who utters the word. Acting in haste is not itself a vice or a potentially destructive act, but the rashness and incompetence that accompanies these actions lead to the tragedy that befalls the main characters in the play.� | ||||||||
| Works Cited | ||||||||
| Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. The Complete Works. Eds. Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. 335-366. | ||||||||