What the Apothecary did in ‘Romeo and Juliet’?

Romeo and Juliet was a heart wrenching tragic tale of star-crossed lovers. This read was captivating, “for never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”(5.3.309-310). A quintessential novel like this has captivated many generations of readers who found the various explored concepts of family feuds, hidden romances, parental disagreements, and the consequences of hasty decisions portrayed intriguingly. With a romance analyzed for such a long time, what does Shakespeare really want to tell us? What message about life is he trying to deliver to the thousands who’ve reviewed his words? Well, the theme that stands out the most is that love incites death. Where love is mentioned between two people, death accompanies soon after. There are three superlative exemplars of this theme. The first is a motherly love morphed into anguish from an unfortunate event, the second is where two brawls grow out of a peacemaker’s attempt to show his fondness, and the third is between two sweethearts that leads to their pitiful demise.

The final evidence to display my theme is when Romeo is committing suicide for his true love for Juliet. In this setting Romeo is laying with Juliet in her tomb not knowing she’s really alive. He is about to drink the poison obtained from the Apothecary in order for him to truly be with Juliet when he blurts out, “Here’s to my love! [Drinks.] O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.” (5.3.119-120). When Romeo finds out his true love is dead, he seeks out the Apothecary’s potion because he wants to be with her. He doesn’t want to live in an empty world without her so instead, he tries to “defy you, stars!” (5.1.24) and go with her to the afterlife too because no one takes Juliet away from him. Later he chugs the poison mentioning it’s due to his love for Capulet’s daughter. His desire for Juliet is so strong that his life means nothing without her, he didn’t want to live at all which resulted in this fate. Juliet equaled contentment, so without her, he was destined to be depressed which he wasn’t ready for. His wanting for his beloved became his deadly destiny. As you can conclude, no type of love matters, whether it be motherly, brotherly, romantic, it all ends up in a firepit of horrific emotions left for someone to face.

Conclusion

All love brings despair and regrets in the end, the sorrow that comes with affection is inevitable. These three instances of fatal affection make the theme an obvious catch with the examples showing up so often throughout the pages of Shakespeare’s words. It shows just how complicated the human condition can be with a passion, that even when something is cherished, it can be taken away forever in the case of a romance, rivalry, or breaking of a rule. Love inspires an unwavering and all-encompassing loyalty between persons. “For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” (5.3.309-310).

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