The Seven Deadly Sins of Romeo and Juliet

     

       In Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare that can be interpreted as a love story or as a tale of selfishness, there are many examples of things called the seven deadly sins. These sins were originally from the bible and they are specifically Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride.  We feel that in the play there are many examples of each of these and it can be interpreted in different ways.  This is just an interpretation of the movie, not the book, it is much easier to relate to our thoughts when actually watching it, instead of reading.

Sin 1: Lust

        In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo shows his lust for Juliet and Rosaline alot, he can't seem to get enough of women.  Romeo expresses his lust for Juliet when he sneaks into the capulet house and "meets" Juliet.  He gets past all the security keeping the Montagues out not just once, but twice, he also sneaks into the Capulet where he first meets Juliet after being rejected by Rosaline.  The first thing they do is try to kiss, that just shows how much Romeo really cares about getting to know someone.  After Romeo is banished from Verona, he still escapes from Mantua illegally so he can kill himself with Juliet.  Paris also shows acts of lust, he knows Juliet is against marrying him, yet he continues to tell Juliet that she is his property.  He really does not care about if Juliet agrees or disagrees, he just wants to have her.

Sin 2: Gluttony

        The second sin is Gluttony, now this one might be a stretch to explain, but in our opinion, we believe that the Apothecary that gives Romeo the poison to commit suicide, is the prime example of gluttony.  Romeo opens his door to request his special poison, and he is poor and acts drunk, in his drunken train of thought, he gives Romeo the poison.  This could have been avoided if he was not such an alcoholic, maybe Romeo would have been able to stall a little bit longer so Juliet would wake up before he drinks it.  The outcome of the movie could have been completely different if the Apothecary had thought about what he was doing.

Sin 3: Greed

       Now greed is something that humans naturally express, we always want more, and this is exactly how Capulet acts.  He is greedy, selfish, and does not want Juliet marrying Romeo, he wants it to be his choice which is Paris, someone who Juliet does not want to be with.  Instead of giving Juliet the freedom to choose who she wants to spend her life with, he revokes all that privilege and scolds Juliet.  He calls her useless baggage, and says if she does not abide by his decision, she can either be there on the wedding day, or never look him in the eyes again.

Sin 4: Laziness/Sloth

        Friar John is the only example of Laziness we could think of, and it is because he fails to deliver the letter to Romeo quick enough, and honestly, he probably did not care to get it to him that fast, therefore Balthasar, who was not even supposed to give him a message, got there quicker. Capulet is also a good example of sloth, during the Capulet ball he is asked by Tybalt if he should dispose of Romeo.  Capulet tells Tybalt that he should leave him be, so that everyone can enjoy his party.  in a way,  this can be interpreted as Capulet not wanting to waste time or energy messing with a Montague.  He also does not want to kill Romeo in the middle of a party, because it would disturb his guests.

Sin 5: Wrath

        The fifth sin is Wrath, a sin that Tybalt, and Romeo express in both play and movie.  When Tybalt saw Romeo in the ballroom, his initial reaction was to have his servant grab his Rapier, and we readers could assume that he is either trying to threaten him or kill him. Before he could take any action, Capulet stopped him and said to treat him as a guest, although they both knew he was a Montague.  Now for Romeo, he expresses acts of Wrath when he kills Tybalt, The reason he killed Tybalt is because Tybalt, the so called "king of cats" killed his best friend, Mercutio.  After that you could assume that Romeo expresses his acts of anger and wrath when he is very angry or heartbroken.

Sin 6: Envy

           Envy, a sin that is about a person wanting something that they do not have what someone else has, and a good example would be Paris wanting Juliet's love. Although, Paris does not know that Romeo has Juliet's love, he still really wants what Romeo has, which Juliet's love.

Sin 7: Pride 

Pride, a sin that blinds someone from doing something that may be good or bad, and there are many examples of Pride in both movie and play. Both Tybalt and Mercutio are good examples of the sin and eventually their pride leaded to their deaths. Tybalt and Mercutio had a lot of pride for their household and friends, with that pride, they only sought violence for each other. In act 3, scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt and Mercutio had an standoff, but Romeo tried to calm them down and talked peace and love. However, Romeo did not succeed, because of that Tybalt killed Mercutio and then Romeo killed Tybalt for revenge.

Characters in both movie and play, expressed emotions and undertake the seven deadly sins from the bible. We believed that these characters and scenes are representations of each sin. Please feel free the comment down below, say your opinion about our list. Well we hope that you liked our post.