Ah, Valentine’s Day has come. The holiday where we cherish our loved ones. However, love does not always look the same. It can be as romantic as the full moon or as tragic and sad as a pile of mud. However, tragedy and romance can blend into some rather interesting combinations. Take the case of love of Romeo and Juliet. A romance that students will usually have to endure at some point. Was the romance between the forbidden couple worth it, however? To find this out, I asked a combination of English teachers around the school to determine whether the young couple would last long if the two did not ‘romantically’ end their lives. 

To Not Be.  

Ms. Tancredi then determined the vitality of the iconic forbidden relationship. Simply put, she believed the young couple would not have stayed together because they have nothing in common with each other.  

Mr. Mcleod gave another perspective on the issue. He simply stated that most but not all relationships made from middle school or high school do not last long.  

Ms. Piscopink, a teacher who reads the book with her, explained what the relationship could have turned out to be. She believed if the young couple was not an impulsive pair, then they would live a happily married life. Piscopink also clarifies that Romeo, however, is someone that may not have loyalty in the relationship.  

Mr. Bilof gives his view on the question. First, Mr. Bilof established in his hypothetical that Tybalt would have found out that Romeo and Juliet are together. He then clarified that the families’ conflict is soothed by the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Bilof goes on to rule out the possibility of keeping the relationship secret because of what must go into that. There will be still conflict. Mr. Bilof finally explained that even If the families are fine with the relationship, the couple would not be together for long as the relationship was only a teenage romance with physical attraction. They would also not have lasted long without the family feud ending.  

Is this hypothetical teenage romance dead as Romeo and Juliet are themselves in the playwright? Although I would not consider regular teenage romance to blood, duels, and suicide in the name of love for another and family, it is still seeming that maybe this type of ‘romance’ might be. Is the couple forever to be embroiled into their families’ feud and their own vain, tragicomic relationship? Maybe not so. There could be hope for the possibly mentally ill or intense teenagers with no concept of processing consequences.  

Maybe to Be?  

Ms. Cline answered the question of the future of the couple’s relationship. She told me that the reconciliation between the two families might help in their future relationship. Possibly, if the families were to reconcile, then they would try to support the couple.  

Mr. Morrow then gave interesting thoughts on the subject. It would be difficult for the young couple to function with the family feud. He went on to state that Romeo and Juliet would have to deal with emotional baggage from the families that may still hold grudges. However, according to Morrow they may bond over their families hating each other. Mr. Morrow also brought up the young couple could experience more positive events with each other as they mature, but with challenges. 

Hope has come! With two teachers instead of the four opposing, but narratives or agendas are not being pushed! They shall not even be pushed for the two ‘romantic’ teenagers trying to find love as they accidentally lead to the deaths of their family members. Their relationship does seem to have positives when it comes to the possibility that reconciliation does not matter to them as they do with or without it.  

It seems the drama and the passion of the tragedy of the love affair of Romeo and Juliet that has mostly negative or questionable viability if they were to survive. There is the possibility that family support from a reconciliation could benefit them. There is also the possibility that family conflict could further amplify their love lives with each other. The pair could even develop into a mature relationship that has happier experiences. However, reconciliation could also hinder the relationship and lead to bloodier conflict. There is also the belief that the couple was founded by physical attraction and that there is nothing in substance that they life about each other. The best person to ask about this would be Shakespeare himself, but he is not in the state to really give answers. Thus, we are left to speculate forever more if love does indeed withstand all.