For centuries society has put standards of behavior on teen lives. Kendall Powell says in the article, How Does the Teenage Brain Work, "The adolescent brain is acting like an adult brain doing something much more difficult. An adolescent can look so much like an adult, but cognitively, they are not there yet." (865) Adults often see teens as rebellious and impulsive. In the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet, the main characters are known for their poor decision-making and impulsiveness, leading researchers to study how this behavior attributes to the changes occurring in the teenage brain. The still-developing areas of the brain like the frontal and outer layer cortex, the reward system, as well as chemicals produced by cells in the brain have been proven to play an important role in the rash behavior of the characters Romeo and Juliet.
In the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, the two star-crossed lovers made a series of poor decisions that eventually led to their deaths. The well-known Romeo, who always fell in love, but clearly did not understand the responsibility and maturity love took, fell in love with Juliet in an instant. At the beginning of the play, Romeo tries to fulfill his idea of what love is by marrying Juliet within hours of meeting each other. This impulsive decision led to fights and secrets, which eventually caused Romeo's banishment from Verona. Towards the end of the play, the plot of the story took a drastic twist. Both Romeo and Juliet committed suicide because of their impulsiveness and desire to love. During the 1300s, the period in which the play Romeo and Juliet take place, the unpredictable and rash decisions taken by these two teens were unexplainable. Why would a beautiful young girl take away her life for a boy? This was one of the many questions asked by the people. Well, in today's world, scientists and writers have taken the example of Romeo and Juliet's turbulent romance to comprehend what causes teens to act that particular way.
Recently, scientists have been given the task of investigating the brain of adolescents and how it affects their day to day. As Helen Cordes, author of the article Too Young For a Boyfriend(4) wrote, the pre-frontal cortex layer, which is responsible for impulse control, is still under development which causes many of the hasty and risky decisions by teenagers. One of the main characters of Romeo and Juliet is Juliet. On several occasions, you can see how she takes risks regardless of the consequences they bring. Friar Lawrence says in the play Romeo and Juliet, "Take thou this vial, being then in bed,/and this distilling liquor drink thou off;/When presently through all thy veins shall run cold and drowsy humor;/for no pulse shall keep his native progress, but surcease./No warmth, no breath shall testify thou livest. " (IV.I.95-100) Before Juliet takes the potion that would make her appear dead, she was explained that she would feel stiff, almost without breath...
