Romeo and Juliet Recklessness and Impulsivity Quotes

What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee:
Have at thee, coward!

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. Juliet’s short-tempered and impetuous young cousin Tybalt calls Benvolio a coward when he tries to keep the peace between the Capulets and Montagues – "I do but keep the peace: put up thy sword, Or manage it to part these men with me." Fiery Tybalt expresses total hatred for all Montagues, illustrating the extent of the bad blood between the two houses. His rash and impulsive behavior helps stir up a big brawl on the streets, causing damage and disturbances and angering Verona’s ruling Prince.

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5. These lines tell us how Romeo is smitten by Juliet when he first lays eyes on her at the Capulets’ ball. In the first line Romeo uses a metaphor to compare Juliet to a torch lighting up the room. Then in a simile he compares her shining beauty against the night to an jeweled earring sparkling on the ear of an Ethiopian. Another metaphor likens Juliet to a magnificent "snowy dove" in a room full of "crows." Romeo uses the imagery of light against the dark to describe the radiance of Juliet’s loveliness. His speech indicates a love-at-first-sight moment for the young man. But Romeo’s ominous statement that Juliet has "beauty too rich to use, for earth too dear" is foreshadowing of how she will be laid out in the tomb too early and of the tragic events that follow. We also see here an example of Romeo’s impetuous and impulsive behavior. From being depressed before this over his unrequited love for Rosaline, he instantly falls for Juliet the moment he sets eyes on her. This is a case of situational irony, since Romeo came to the Capulet party hoping to see Rosaline, so one wouldn’t expect him to instantly fall in love with another girl.

Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5. There are two kinds of irony here in Romeo’s soliloquy, as the young Montague meets Juliet for the first time and is immediately smitten. He instantaneously and unexpectedly forgets his love for Rosaline and falls hopelessly and completely for Juliet. This is an example of situational irony. There is also dramatic irony, because what he doesn’t know and the audience does is that Juliet is a Capulet, making their love impossible because of the long-standing feud between the two families. This quote also provides evidence of Romeo’s immaturity and impulsivity.

This, by his voice, should be a Montague.
Fetch me my rapier, boy. What dares the slave
Come hither, cover’d with an antic face.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5. Tybalt shows that he is an impulsive person ready to resort to violence without having to think about it. As soon as he hears Romeo’s voice at the Capulet ball he calls on his servant to fetch him his sword. He uses insulting language to describe Romeo a "slave" covered with an odd face mask. The aggressive Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, is the villain of the play and acts on emotions.

TYBALT: I’ll not endure him.
CAPULET: He shall be endured:
What, goodman boy! I say, he shall: go to;
Am I the master here, or you? go to.
You’ll not endure him! God shall mend my soul!
You’ll make a mutiny among my guests!

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5. The impulsive and aggressive Tybalt draws his sword to confront Romeo, engaged that he has gatecrashed the Capulet ball. But old Capulet reprimands him and instructs him to let Romeo go. Capulet doesn’t want Tybalt to cause a disturbance among his guests at the ball. This is an example of situational irony, since Capulet has every reason to kick out a hated Montague like Romeo from his party.

If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5. An impulsive Romeo rushes up to Juliet at the Capulet ball and speaks his first words to her, clearly smitten. Boldly asking for a kiss, he recklessly ignores the fact that Juliet is a Capulet, the enemies of his Montague clan. He indulges in hyperbole, speaking to her reverentially as if she were a demi-goddess or saint. He uses two metaphors to compare Juliet’s hand to a "holy shrine" and his lips to "two blushing pilgrims."

Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptised;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2. Romeo finally reveals his presence beneath Juliet’s balcony. To prove his devotion he tells her that he is willing to sacrifice his own family name of Montague so that he can be called her love. He uses the religious metaphor of baptism to convey his wish to be reborn to this new role. This passage also shows Romeo’s impulsivity and recklessness. He has scaled the wall of the enemy Capulet orchard, putting himself in danger if caught, to see again a girl that he has only just met.

I have no joy of this contract to-night:
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say "It lightens."

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2. Juliet appears skeptical to Romeo’s first declaration of love for her in the balcony scene. In a simile she compares its rashness and suddenness to lightning, which flashes one moment and disappears the next. This image paints love as something unpredictable and even dangerous. Foreshadowed here is the play’s tragic ending for the two lovers. In this fledgling relationship Juliet appears to be the more cautious and mature one. She asserts her free will in this passage, wanting Romeo to slow down and not rush things. Romeo on the other hand wants to dive right in. Moments later he tells Juliet that he cannot be satisfied without an "exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine." Juliet’s words and her wanting to take a step back because everything is happening too fast also highlights the theme of appearance vs reality.

Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
By one that I’ll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2. Juliet says that if Romeo’s love is honorable and his purpose marriage, he needs to send word to her tomorrow and tell her where and when they will be wed. She promises to give him her fortune and follow him wherever he goes. Juliet is the first to mention marriage, and to a young man she has only just met. Defying traditional gender roles in courtship, Juliet is striking a blow for feminism by essentially proposing to Romeo. Her headlong rush into marriage hours shows that it’s not just Romeo who is impulsive and immature, but Juliet as well.

These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 6. Friar Laurence uses a gunpowder simile and kiss metaphor to show how rash love and going too fast can be dangerous and lead to a destructive ending. He is warning Romeo about acting impulsively and advising him to cool his extreme passion. This is after Romeo dares "love-devouring death" to try to come between him and his love for Juliet. The Friar is worried that their hasty marriage could have violent and dangerous consequences. This is an example of foreshadowing, since the Friar’s fears become reality.

Come, come with me, and we will make short work;
For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone
Till holy church incorporate two in one.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 6. In the scene’s final lines, Friar Laurence leads Romeo and Juliet to their wedding ceremony, where they will become "two in one" in the eyes of the Church and God. Without considering the consequences, the Friar recklessly marries them in secret and in haste. It is a decision that will come back to haunt him.

Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford
No better term than this: thou art a villain.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 1. Tybalt voices his hatred for Romeo when he meets him on the streets of Verona. The Montague-Capulet feud bubbles to the surface, as Tybalt insults Romeo by calling him a "villain." This has a certain irony because Romeo and Tybalt’s cousin Juliet have been secretly wed, so Romeo is now Tybalt’s kinsman and relation through marriage. Tybalt is a hot-headed and aggressive person who acts on impulse.

Alive, in triumph! and Mercutio slain!
Away to heaven, respective lenity,
And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!
Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again,
That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio’s soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company:
Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 1. When Romeo sees his friend Mercutio slain by Tybalt, an impulsive Romeo allows his anger to take him over. He challenges Tybalt, determined to fight him to the death. In his rage he kills Tybalt, an impetuous act that leads to a reckless Romeo’s banishment from Verona. Romeo personifies his fury as "fire-eyed."

Take thou this vial, being then in bed,
And this distilled liquor drink thou off;
When presently through all thy veins shall run
A cold and drowsy humour, for no pulse
Shall keep his native progress, but surcease:
No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 4, Scene 1. Friar Laurence offers Juliet a way out of her father’s forced marriage to Paris. He gives her a vial of potion, which will put her in a deep sleep and mimic the appearance of death, making her appear dead to others. This is a reckless plan on the part of the Friar, which will lead to a tragic fate for both Juliet and Romeo.

What if it be a poison, which the friar
Subtly hath minister’d to have me dead,
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonour’d,
Because he married me before to Romeo?
I fear it is: and yet, methinks, it should not,
For he hath still been tried a holy man.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 4, Scene 3. Juliet voices doubts about the potion Friar Laurence gives her to induce a deep death-like sleep. In this monalogue at the end of this scene, she has concerns that it may be a poison set to kill her, to cover up the Friar’s disgrace for marrying her and Romeo in secret. Yet Juliet finds reasons to justify her decision to go ahead and drink the potion. This is a reckless decision, one which will end in tragedy for Romeo and herself.

Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night.
Let’s see for means: O mischief, thou art swift
To enter in the thoughts of desperate men!
I do remember an apothecary, –

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 1. Mistakingly informed by Balthasar that Juliet is dead, Romeo impulsively decides to return to Verona to kill himself with poison and join her in death. He feels that he has nothing left to live for. Romeo’s impulsive nature leads him to make hasty and rash decisions which can have tragic and fatal consequences.

Here’s to my love!
O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 3. Romeo’s final words are a declaration of his love for Juliet, whom he wrongly thinks is dead. His decision to speed to an Apothecary and acquire poison, then rush to the Capulet tomb to drink it is reckless and hasty. Had he stopped to think and waited a while longer, he would have learned that Juliet was not dead, but in a sleep from which she awakens after he kills himself. Appearance vs Reality, a theme found throughout the play, leads to Romeo’s impulsive decision to take his own life because he mistakingly thought he could not be with the person he loved.

O happy dagger!
This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 3. These are Juliet’s last words, spoken as she snatches Romeo’s dagger, stabs herself with it and dies upon his body. Her overwhelming grief over Romeo’s death prompts this impulsive and reckless decision. Juliet uses personification in characterizing the dagger as having the human emotion of happiness, as she plunges it inside her to send her to her Romeo. She uses a metaphor when she describes her body as the dagger’s sheath. This passage in the Romeo and Juliet death scene is full of sexual innuendo. "Happy dagger" suggests a penis, the Latin word for "sheath" is vagina, and "die" is a euphemism for orgasm. Shakespeare was not adverse to bawdy puns and the play has its fair share of them.

I am the greatest, able to do least,
Yet most suspected, as the time and place
Doth make against me of this direful murder;
And here I stand, both to impeach and purge
Myself condemned and myself excused.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 3. It’s confession time for Friar Laurence. He explains to Prince Escalus how he secretly married Romeo and Juliet and his flawed plans to reunite them went tragically wrong. Carrying a great deal of guilt for his role in the lovers’ deaths, the Friar accepts responsibility for his impulsive and reckless decision. He stands ready to take whatever punishment the Prince decrees.

And, if aught in this
Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
Be sacrificed, some hour before his time,
Unto the rigour of severest law.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 3. Friar Laurence is speaking about his role in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. He tells Prince Escalus that if he is at fault, he should be sacrificed and punished under the severest law. Laurence’s responsibility in the tragic deaths of the lovers, and indirectly in the deaths of Paris and Lady Montague, is much debated. There is no doubt that his rushed decision to marry the teenage couple in secret and without their parents’ consent was reckless and ill-advised. His intentions were good, to create peace between the couple’s feuding families. But sometimes the best intentions can have a bad outcome.
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