The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare takes place in the city of Verona, during the 16th century. Within this story, loyalty is shown in many ways, loyalty is being faithful to those who depend on you. The story is about a feud between the two families, the Capulets, and the Montagues. Romeo who was a Montague, and Juliet who was a Capulet, two lovers that are from different families that fall in love. Two lovers, whose love is forbidden, and they must keep their love a secret and go to great lengths to fight the greater forces against them. In the play, within Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, it shows the reader that love is a violent, ecstatic, and overpowering force that takes over all over values, and emotions. Love is what brought them together but it’s always what tore them apart. When the story begins Juliet is a 13-year-old girl, that is presented as a quiet and obedient girl; however, she possesses an inner strength that enables her to have a maturity beyond her years. This shows that throughout the play that Juliet is a very dynamic character. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, This was shown when Juliet refuses to marry Paris, when she stayed faithful to Romeo after Tybalt’s death, and when she faked her death to be with Romeo.
To begin, the first way that Juliet shows that she was loyal to Romeo was when she refused to marry Paris, and disappointed her parents and the Nurse. First of all, in act three, scene 5, After Romeo leaves Juliet’s bedroom, she demonstrates her loyalty to her new husband by refusing to marry Paris. Juliet’s father then goes on to rage at her and tells her that she will marry Paris or he will abandon her and she will be kicked out. After her father leaves Juliet talks to the nurse, but, the Nurse tells Juliet that she believes that she should marry Paris and not see Romeo anymore. The Nurse starts to disrespect Romeo in front of Juliet. As soon as the Nurse leaves Juliet says “Ancient damnation! Oh, wicked fiend! It is more sin to wish me thus forsworn, Or to disparage my lord with that same tongue Which she hath praised him with above so many thousand times? Go, counselor! Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain. I'll go to the friar to know his remedy. If all else fails, I have the power to die” (III.V. 265-270). Juliet proves her loyalty to Romeo by going against her family and the Nurse.
Continuing on, the next way that Juliet shows that she is loyal to Romeo and a loyal person is when she stayed loyal and faithful to Romeo after Tybalt’s death. In Act 3 Scene 2, after Tybalt’s death, Juliet found out that her cousin was dead it made her sad, and that news shocked her. When Juliet is still trying to find out from the Nurse exactly what happened to Tybalt and Romeo, she refers to Tybalt as 'my dear-loved cousin,' and to Romeo as 'my dearer lord.' When Juliet was talking about Tybalt, she still sounded sincerely sad for Tybalt, but she also loved Romeo. When Juliet calls Romeo a 'fiend angelical!' she called him because Romeo killed someone that she loves which is making her feel so upset. Juliet's words show how much she loves Romeo, “Blistered be thy tongue, For such a wish! He was not born to shame. Upon his brow shame is ashamed to sit; For tis’ a throne where honor may be crowned, Sole monarch of the universal earth. O, what a beast was I to chide him” (III.II. 98-103). However, when this happened she realized that Tybalt would have killed Romeo, and she loves Romeo so much. This shows just how much loyalty and faith Juliet has in Romeo and in their relationship. In all, Juliet is sad by Romeo when she first learns that Tybalt is killed, but her love for Romeo made her feel differently quickly.
The last way that Juliet is loyal to Romeo and is faithful is when Juliet fakes her death and takes the poison instead of agreeing to marry Paris. This shows that Juliet is loyal in their relationship and she wants to be with Romeo. First of all, Lord Capulet wanted Juliet to marry Paris but Juliet didn’t want to because she already loved Romeo. Juliet went to Friar Lawrence because she needed some help, Friar Laurence had a complicated plan so Juliet can be with Romeo. Friar Lawrence gives Juliet a potion that will kill her for 48 hours; and will put her in a deep sleep. Friar Laurence will send a letter to Romeo, instructing him of the plan so he can meet Juliet, and then they can leave Verona. Since Juliet was agreeing to take the potion this shows how loyal she is to Romeo because she would take the poison just so that they could be together. “O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, From off the battlements of yonder tower, or walk-in thievish ways, or bid me lurk where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears, or shut me nightly in a charnel house, O’ercovered quite with dead men’s rattling bones, With reeky shanks and yellow chaplets skulls’ or bid me go into a new-made grave and hide me with a dead man in his shroud Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble And I will do it without fear or doubt, To live an unstained wife to my sweet love”. (IV.II.85-95). Even though Juliet was scared to take the poison her loyalty to Romeo mattered more to her.
Overall, throughout this essay, I have talked about the loyalty between Romeo and Juliet and how she is a very loyal person, and how her loyalty to Romeo and devotion to him built trust between them that bonded their relationship to the end of their lives. In the essay, I discussed when Juliet refuses to marry Paris, this showed her devotion to her new husband and how important he was to her. The next example that I talked about was when she forgave Romeo after Tybalt’s death when Juliet found out about Tybalt’s death she was sad but her love for Romeo outweighed the sadness for her cousin. The last example was when she faked her death to be with Romeo. Even though Juliet was scared but she wanted to be with Romeo, and she was loyal to their relationship and devoted to him so Juliet then took the potion that Friar Lawrence gave her. In all, loyalty is what shaped Romeo and Juliet’s relationship to the end.