What is a moral lesson we can draw from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that is pertinent to the Elizabethan audience?

The Elizabethan period happened at the climax of the
Renaissance period. Queen Elizabeth reigned over England between 1558 and 1603 while the
Renaissance period spanned between the 1500s and the 1600s. Hence, when looking for a
moral from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that can apply to the
Elizabethans, one should consider morals derived from philosophies that were important
in the Renaissance period.

The Renaissance was a period of great
intellectual and philosophical awakening. One philosophy coined during the Renaissance
period was Humanism. Humanism taught that all human beings are rational and
"levelheaded" href="http://www.angelfire.com/journal/LiteratureOfEngland/RenaissancePeriod.html">("Renaissance
Period," angelfire.com). We can especially see this philosophy portrayed in
Romeo and Juliet and easily derive a moral from
it.

In the play, Shakespeare characterizes all of his characters as
being rash, emotionally driven, impetuous beings. They even respond to all situations
with violent, passionate emotions of both love and hatred. The characters' response to
situations is clearly seen in the feud between the Capulets and Montagues. Also, in the
first scene, Prince Escalus points out that the Capulets and Montagues have started
three all-city riots simply because of a trivial comment one family member has said to
another, as we see in his lines:

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Three civil brawls, bred of an airy
word
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague,
Have thrice distrurb'd the
quiet of our streets.
(I.i.85-87)

The term "airy"
can be translated as "meaningless," or trivial, showing us that the feuding families
begin their battles based on trivial comments to each other, showing us just how much
they respond to situations using rash, impetuous, violent, passionate
emotions.

Rash impetuousness is also portrayed through the characters
of Romeo and Juliet who decide to marry, and in secrecy, after having only just met.
Juliet even declares that she thinks it is unwise, yet allows herself to be persuaded by
Romeo, as we see in her lines:

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Although I joy in thee,
I have not joy
in this contract to-night.
It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden.
(II.ii.122-124)

Romeo also
portrays violent, passionate emotions through his violent, passionate love for first
Rosaline and then for Juliet. In fact, he allows his unrequited love for Rosaline to
drive him to a state of agony, as when we first meet him in the first scene. In fact,
Romeo is described by his father as being seen crying at dawn morning after morning, and
Romeo, himself, refers to his state of mind as a state of madness and love as pure
madness (I.i.127-130, 193). Since, the uncontrolled, violent, passionate emotions lead
to the couple's rash, impetuous actions and contribute to the couple's young deaths, we
can say that Shakespeare is telling us to allow ourselves to be governed by reason and
rational thought, rather than violent, passionate emotions.

In fact,
it can be said that all of the violent, passionate emotions that govern the characters
either lead to their own deaths or to someone else's death. Hence, we can say that
one moral we can draw from the play that is applicable to
Elizabethans, as well as to people today, is that it is essential to remember that we
are rational human beings and to allow ourselves to be governed by reason rather than
emotion.