"A Plague on Both Your Houses"!

"A plague on both your houses"! So screams Mercutio as he falls dead in front of Romeo who accidently caused Mercutio's death, by coming in between Mercutio and Tybalt as they fought. The rage of Romeo is evident as he races after Tybalt to avenge his friend's death. Ahh, the plays of William Shakespeare and the drama,adventure, and tragedy this particular one provides. Imagine what this would have been like in the 1500s when it was first performed in Elizabethan England. Too see it performed in that time would have been incredible. The line that Mercutio screamed would have made perfectly good sense to the audience. The Black Death had devastated Europe from 1340-1400. The plague would have been remembered by all, who survived it; just as we today remember the polio and tuberculosis scares of the 20th century. Yet, the play, "Romeo and Juliet", is usually known for the romance and tragedy of the two young lovers. They caught our attention and are mimicked or performed all over the world. Yes, it is a wonderful drama that William gave to us. Of even more significance is the fact that this was one of Shakespeare's early plays and was first performed around 1597. Just think, this is a piece of work that has survived the ravages of time for 415 years! I wonder how many of today's works would last that long. However, that is in the future and the future is an unknown quantity. That is a lesson that Romeo and Juliet learned quite thoroughly. Maybe it is one of the many teachings Shakespeare wanted us to see. The future is one item which we cannot control. It bothers us beyond belief. We make plans with friends and family in the future. We save funds for the future. We look to future events with pleasure and dislike. We do everything we can to control the future; but we really do not achieve that goal. Yes, most of the time things go according to the way we want them to, but at what cost. Like Romeo and Juliet, we plan for love and happiness; yet, life is filled with trials which can destroy the joy we have worked for. The two young lovers lost at everything; gaining only a few precious moments to share with one another. Mercutio's curse consumed the two as it was their two houses which he screamed about. A plague was on both the houses. In the same was, a plague can be laid on all of us for our contentment in never filled. We like the Capulets and Montegues engage in fights and battles as we gossip and spread rumors about others. We bicker and argue among our own families; instead of accepting one another. Yes, we are more alike the people of the 16th century than we wish to accept. We need to learn the same lessons and realize the senselessness of warring with one another over some ridiculous slight that we feel has been given. At the end of the play, Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, and Mercutio are all dead. The houses of the families, the Capulets and the Montagues, have lost their young, their hopes, their dreams, and are instead joined together in mourning and lost; rather than in the love and happiness that would have been theirs with Romeo's and Juliet's marriage. Here, the future has been changed gravely and the world as they knew it was gone forever. The future is there beyond our view, it is cloudy, chaotic, always in motion. Today, we are here, able to stop the bitterness, the anger, the hatred, the jealousy. Mercutio's curse could continue or it could be ended if only we treated each other the way we profess we do. I know I going to do this; I hope others will join with me. No, I'm not planning on doing this in the future; I'm doing it now....with love, compassion, and consideration.