William Shakespeare was one of the first writers to realize he could make some cash off a story about star-crossed lovers. The idea of two young people madly in love but destined to remain apart is wonderfully romantic. Imagine yourself in the shoes of Juliet, swept away by a dashing boy she felt was the love of her life. Now picture things from Romeo’s perspective; he had just met a beautiful girl and he was doing the typical male thing in such a situation, which is to pursue her. Awestruck by one another, they probably thought they were the luckiest couple of kids on earth. But what neither of them realized that night in the garden was that their love was about to face a whirlwind of opposition.
Love, regardless of how rare and true, meant nothing to the parents of Juliet Capulet. Romeo was from the Montague family and therefore strictly off-limits. Juliet’s mother would hear nothing of her daughter fraternizing with a Montague boy; it would ruin her reputation. Juliet was immediately forbidden to see Romeo, but the order did nothing to diminish the feelings between them. They began visiting one another in secret. But undermining authority is far too dangerous a practice to be done carelessly; very soon it was not enough to satisfy.
Strangely enough, Romeo never thought of arranging a meeting with Juliet’s father, and Juliet never really told her mom that she was desperately in love with Romeo, regardless of his pedigree. This fatal breakdown in communication may have been what ultimately brought Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers to their tragic end. Romeo and Juliet did not fight for their love; they were blinded by it. They were also afraid, dreading their feuding families almost as much as they dreaded the thought of life without one another. Everyone knows it ended badly as they tried to run for cover.
In the real world, stories like Romeo and Juliet happen with surprising frequency. Two young people fall in love but are forced to remain apart because someone thinks their story should not have a happy ending. It is a human condition as common as a flu virus. The question remains: should couples facing adversity submit to those who tell them it cannot be, or should they wage a war for their love?
It is arguable that Romeo and Juliet might have lived had they merely given up and gone home. Maybe they should have agreed that they were indeed an unlucky pair of lovers and accepted it as their fate. It probably would have saved their lives. But they had something rare, something precious. Even back then true love was hard to find. That is why no one should be ashamed to admit that they love someone. The odds might be stacked against forever, but not every love story ends in tragedy. Cynics and skeptics are always going to be lurking in the background waiting to sabotage happiness, but you cannot listen to them. What do they know anyway? You are in love, which means you are already luckier than half the people in this world.
