Duff Brenna once said “All literature shows us the power of emotion. It is emotion, not reason, that motivates characters in literature.” This quote means that characters act on their emotions and don’t think things out rationally. I agree with this because sometimes emotions cannot be controlled so people can’t think before they act. Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is an example of this.

            In the scene where Tybalt is trying to pick a fight with Romeo, Mercutio defends him and ends up dying. Romeo gets really angry and lets is emotions get the better of him. He calls Tybalt back and says “Staying for thine to keep him company. Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him” (3/1/125-126). He is saying that one of them or both will die in their fight and accompany Mercutio. Instead of doing the logical thing, which would be to let Tybalt go and let the authorities get him, Romeo is taken over by his anger and attacks Tybalt. The result of this is that Romeo ends up killing Tybalt. This is one very strong example of Duff Brenna’s quote because Romeo is motivated by his emotion and not his reason.

            When Romeo and Juliet are talking to each other on the balcony, they are talking about getting married. Romeo says “th’ exchange of thy love’s faithful vow for mine” (2/2/133). Romeo is saying that they should exchange vows and get married, even though Romeo and Juliet had only known each other for less than a day. The logical thing to do would be to go with his heart and not even bother with this relationship, because his feelings are right. This love will not end well. Even knowing that something bad IS definitely going to happen, Romeo is taken over by his emotions, this time being love, and gets married to Juliet. This is another very good example as support for Duff Brenna’s quote. Romeo also acts out of emotion here instead of reason.

            So overall, the play Romeo and Juliet has very good examples to support Duff Brenna’s quote. Whether it be Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, or Mercutio, each person has an example of a time when they let their emotions take them over instead of using logic or reason. Duff Brenna’s quote is true in many situations and this play is only one example of literature that shows this. Many times our emotions can get the better of us and there’s nothing we can do about it.