Charateristics of Friendship found Lacking in Romeo and Juliet

Essay by thezeromanHigh School, 10th grade April 2005

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Imagine two high school students, a boy and a , the younger, but both of them are naïve, and unaware of the ways of the world. They meet each other, and their lack of knowledge leads them to think it is love. Is it love? Who knows, but they have no one with whom to discuss the problem except a local priest, no one their age, no true friends. They are as close to being completely alone as possible. Their parents, who own rivaling businesses, forbid them to ever speak to each other. If they had friends, they might have a possibility of discussing and reconciling their difficulties, but in reality, they have no one. They have a few passing acquaintances who know their names, but nothing more. Who are they to turn to in their difficulties?

In Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, the apparent theme is love and friendship.

However, far from being nt in this play, the lack of friendship plays a large role in the final demise of the main protagonists, because if either Romeo or Juliet's so called friends, Benvolio, Friar Lawerence, the nurse, or any of many others had supported them and aided them through their hardships, then their s could have been avoided.

True Friends must have many qualities, but the two most important qualities in a true friend are trust and companionship. Friends must be able to trust each other to back them up, trust each other criticism in the way it is intended, trust each other enough to share their deepest secrets.

Romeo obviously did not trust his friends because only one of them, Friar Lawrence was even aware of his relationship with Juliet, and he was more of a mentor. All of Romeo's other friends were completely oblivious to even...