Provide some examples of Juliet's impetuousness as a tragic flaw in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Impetuousness is an adjective to describe a sudden or rash action. A person who is so described therefore does not carefully consider the consequences of such an action. The action is impulsive and may result in dire consequences, as it is with Juliet.

Juliet is driven more by emotion than anything else. Firstly, her decision to conduct an affair with Romeo does not take into consideration the age-old feud between the two opposing families. She neither considers the dangers that she and her love are exposing themselves to in starting their affair. She also ignores all other sentiment or advice, as well as her parents' attempts in arranging a suitable marriage for her. She is driven solely by desire and thus loses all reason.

Secondly, her quick decision to marry Romeo is not accompanied by careful consideration. She decides on the spur of the moment to marry the object of her desire and does not care about what would happen afterwards. She has known Romeo for only a brief period, but tells him:

If that thy bent of love be honourable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.

In her address, she urges Romeo to arrange their marriage as soon as possible, vowing to lay her destiny in his hands. Her only requirement is that his love should be 'honourable.' She has not even had time to actually test the depth of Romeo's devotion or her commitment or to think of the implications such a decision involves and she is truly impulsive.

A further example of Juliet's hastiness is when she abruptly rejects her father's instruction to marry Paris. She tells her mother:

I pray you, tell my lord and father, madam,
I will not marry yet; and, when I do, I swear,
It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,
Rather than Paris. These are news indeed!

It is significant, though, that she does realize her mistake in being so terse and uses a different approach later. Her father had been overcome with anger about his daughter's disrespectful attitude and is clearly disgusted by her ungrateful response. Juliet later pleads:

Good father, I beseech you on my knees,
Hear me with patience but to speak a word.

The damage, however, has been done and Lord Capulet threatens to throw her out into the street and disown her.

Finally, accepting the well-meaning friar Laurence's advice on drinking the potion that would put her in a death-like sleep, is not well thought through either. Neither she, nor the friar, consider all the possibilities if things should go awry. They do not discuss all the possible outcomes, one being the possibility that the news about her supposed death may reach Romeo before his message. Tragically, this is exactly what happens. Romeo, believing that his beloved Juliet is dead when he reaches her inert and cold body in the chamber, commits suicide, and she later does the same on seeing his corpse.

Clearly, it is Juliet's impetuousness that has placed her in the perilous position that she eventually finds herself in. The tragically unfortunate outcome could have been avoided if there had been greater aforethought and consideration.