Gabriella Vasquez

Mrs. Lloyd
Period 4
26 March, 2018
Romeo and Juliet CLEAR Paragraph
Loyalty to family should not take precedence over all other aspects of life because the

bonds one chooses to make are stronger than the bonds one is born into and they tend to affect

people and their emotions more. In a life, people choose who they connect with and who they

care about. These bonds typically mean more because they are chosen and not forced. For

example, some parents would expect one to choose family over friends stating that family is

more important. And if that person does not choose family, they are considered inconsiderate and

unloyal. Therefore, one’s family might expect them to sever bonds with friends so that they will

pick family, but that would only lead to unhappiness. The bonds with people that one chooses

will prove stronger than the bonds one is born into. And in the tragic love story of “Romeo and

Juliet”, another example can be found. Juliet faked her death so that she could be with a man that

her family forbade her from seeing, but Romeo was not told that she was only faking being dead.

At Juliet’s tomb, a devastated Romeo decides he cannot live in a world without her: “Here’s to

my love [drinking] O true apothecary, Thy drugs are quick, Thus with a kiss I die” (Act 5, Scene

3, lines 119-120). Under the impression that Juliet was dead, Romeo was so overwhelmed with

emotions from their bond that he ended up taking his own life. They were both considered

unloyal to their family, but the connection between them meant more than the bonds they had to

their families. Loyalty to family should not be the most important thing in one’s life, and does

not come before the bonds one has with other people.