Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet depicts the lives of two lovers and the events of their lives as they hide their love from their parents. The personalities, attitudes, and emotions of Romeo and Juliet mimic those of teenagers today.

These similarities occur in the way Romeo and Juliet and teens today act. The first likeness is in the word choice they all use. In the play, Juliet chooses her words carefully while talking to Count Paris so that she doesn’t commit herself to him or say that she doesn’t want to be his wife. This deceiving word play is copied by teenagers in the present day. They also talk themselves out of a tuff situation by misleading whoever they are talking to. The word used to describe this is equivocal, meaning that there could be many interpretations of what is being said.

The second resemblance has to do with the actions of Romeo and Juliet and teens today. All of their actions are quite impulsive. After Tybalt killed Mercutio, Romeo ran after him and made a hasty decision to fight to the death. Tybalt ended up being killed, and Romeo was banished. This impulsive action forced Romeo to have to leave his wife. Teenagers today also are very impulsive and do risky stunts without thinking them through. The consequences are normally bad as shown by Romeo and Juliet.

The last similarity is that present day teens and Romeo and Juliet have a lot of pride. In the time of Romeo and Juliet, everything was about pride and honor. Whenever someone did something, it affected their pride and honor. That is the same in our time as well. Teenagers never back down from a challenge so that their pride, honor, and reputation are never hurt. Although these similarities between Romeo and Juliet and teens today are very powerful, there are still some differences that shouldn’t go without mention.

These differences have to do with the society in the present day, and during the times of Romeo and Juliet. The first difference is with marriages. In the time of Romeo and Juliet, marriages are arranged. The parents pick who they want their son or daughter to marry. In our time, marriages are not arranged. This gives people more freedom to choose the course of their lives.

The second difference is in the dialect of the people. In the time of Romeo and Juliet, people use many words to say only a little bit. The language in that time is more poetic than our time. This kind of talking is like an art to those people. In our time, people get right to the point when they talk. People’s lives are so busy, that they don’t have time to choose their words carefully. We even use slang, or abbreviating words to go even faster.

The last difference, between Romeo and Juliet and teenagers of today is in the possessions available to them. In the times of Romeo and Juliet, there was no electricity where as we have electricity and all of the gadgets and gizmos that come with it. Romeo and Juliet had potions while we have drugs. They are basically the same thing, but potions add an element of fantasy, making someone think if Romeo and Juliet believed in witches and wizards. Lastly, while Juliet took her own life with a dagger, we have guns, which are more advanced.

These similarities and differences between Romeo and Juliet and teenagers today occur because society never stops changing. As society advances, new customs develop and change the lives of everyone. However, teens today have kept the same personality as they had hundreds of years ago during the time of Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet is a timeless play that portrays the struggle teens in any time period face throughout their lives. Romeo and Juliet and teenagers today have similar personalities, attitudes, and emotions.