Christian Weimer

Mrs. Rush

9th Grade Literature

8 March 2018

DBQ Essay

Teenage dating almost always ends in a bad way. They end up hating each other in the

end and they ruin their lives from it. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William is a love story

of two young lovers that are of two opposing families. They put aside their families rivalry so

they could be with each other and get married. Readers debate on whether or not their love for

each other is true love or infatuation. Reliable evidence shows that the romance is infatuation

because they fell in love with each other physically and got married the next day.

First, reliable evidence shows that the romance was infatuation and made them get

married from physical attraction. In an article about teenage brains, Psychologist says “ The

adolescent brain has been described as ‘a work in progress’, with certain areas maturing more

quickly than others, leading to potential mismatches between physical, emotional and cognitive

development” (Moore). The article supports infatuation because teenager’s brains are still

developing and shouldn’t be fully trusted. Teenagers don’t know if they truly love someone, they

are going through new emotions and could think that their love for someone is true but really it’s

just physical attraction. Also, from the Capulets party, Shakespeare says “For I ne’er saw true

beauty till this night” (1,5,53). This supports infatuation because Romeo just saw Juliet and fell

in love with her beauty. He fell in love with her beauty rather than the actual person. He thinks

it’s true love but it’s his teenage self-being confused by his emotions by the physical attraction

with her.
 There is some evidence that the love between Romeo and Juliet is true love. One person

who shows that there is true love is Joi-Marie Mckenzie when in her article the prince said “‘The

fact that I fell in love with Meghan so quickly was confirmation for me that all the stars were

aligned,’ he said while holding Markle’s hand. ‘Everything was just perfect.’ ‘This beautiful

woman just literally tripped and fell in my life,’ he added” (Mckenzie). Their relationship is true

love and there similar to that of Romeo and Juliet’s love. The problem is that the Prince and

Meghan have been with each other for 3 months and they are older than Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet are too young and didn’t have enough time to know if their love was true love

like the Prince and Meghan. In the end, Romeo’s and Juliet's love is clearly infatuation because

of their youth and being with each other for a short time. From Act 2 Shakespeare says “Holy

Saint Francis, what change is here!/ Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,/ So soon

forsaken? young men’s love then lies/ Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” (2,3,65-68)

Friar Laurence is saying that their relationship needs to slow down and that they shouldn’t get

married. One day Romeo loved Rosaline and the next Juliet and married Juliet the day after that.

Even Friar knows that the relationship is just from Infatuation and that it needs more time.

Teenage dating doesn't work out for teenagers. Their brains aren't developed and usually

their only together because of infatuation. It’s the same thing for Romeo and Juliet. They are

teenagers that fell in for each other from infatuation. People say that their love is true love and

they are meant to be together forever but the evidence for it doesn't add up. They may not be

made for each other and their deaths would have been for nothing.
 Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Elements of Literature, Third

Course, edited by Kylene Beers, Holt Rinehart Winston, 2011, 807-948.

Moore, Susan. “Teenagers in Love…” British Psychological Society, July 2016.

Mckenzie, Joi-Morie.” Prince Harry says ‘stars were aligned’ in engagement to Meghan Morkie:

‘everything was just perfect’.” ABC news, November 27,

2017.