Who_Is_Responsible_for_Romeo_and_Juliets_Death_

Who is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s death' ‘These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss, consume’ Friar Lawrence Scene VI Act 2 ‘Romeo and Juliet’ has been heralded as the greatest love story ever. It’s dramatic, intense plot line follows two teenagers from feuding families in the hostile city of Verona, Italy. They instantly fall in love and develop a thrilling, deep love for each other. The majority of events in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet lead up to the lovers paying the ultimate price for their love: death. Consequently the families of the lovers, Montague and Capulet, unite in their grieve and bury an age old mutiny. There is hardly a character in Romeo and Juliet who cannot be apportioned some blame. It could easily be argued that the prince is partly to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet. In scene 1 the Prince says: ‘by thee, old Capulet and Montague, have thrice disturb’d the quiet of our streets’. This means that there have been 3 or more brawls and arguments before. If the Prince had taken action sooner not only may many lives have been saved but also maybe the families would have not fought or stopped fighting. This would have meant Romeo and Juliet would not have had to hide their love and their relationship. Additionally if the two households, Montague and Capulet, had not been constantly fighting then Romeo and Juliet would not have had to hide. If they hadn’t had to meet or get married in secret then maybe they wouldn’t have married so abruptly. Also, if the fighting hadn’t been going on, Tybalt mightn’t have killed Mercutio and then Romeo wouldn’t have killed Tybalt. If Romeo hadn’t had killed Tybalt then he wouldn’t have been banished. This would not only have saved Tybalt and Mercutio’s lives but Romeo and Juliet’s as well. Some blame must be pushed onto the feuding families. Benvolio, Romeo’s cousin, may have contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s death as well. Benvolio convinces Romeo to go to the feast at the Capulet household by saying that he will: ‘make thee think thy swan (Rosalie) a crow’. Romeo replies to this: ‘I’ll go along, not such sight to be shown, but to rejoice in the splendour of mine own’. If Benvolio hadn’t said anything about the feast to Romeo then Romeo and Juliet would never have met and that tragic sequence of events which lead to their demise might never have happened. It could be debated that Mercutio, Romeo’s best mate, could be to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death. Mercutio’s love for fighting is undeniably what leads to his own death. If he hadn’t of provoked Tybalt then Mercutio wouldn’t have died. If Mercutio hadn’t of died then Romeo wouldn’t have been banished. If Romeo hadn’t have been banished then he and Juliet wouldn’t have died. If Mercutio had not been so keen on the feud then maybe him, Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet would still be alive. Tybalt himself might have been to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death. He may have started the fight between him and Mercutio by saying: ‘Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo’. This obviously irritated Mercutio as he responds: ‘Consort! What dost thou make of us minstrels'’ If Tybalt had not provoked Mercutio then Romeo mightn’t have killed him and Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt and Mercutio might all still be alive. Balthazar, the person who gives Romeo the message that Juliet is dead, might be to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death. If he had checked more thoroughly to see whether or not this was true before going to see Romeo then tragedy could easily have been averted and Romeo and Juliet might still be alive. Also, if he had said to Romeo that Juliet was dead in a different way then maybe that would have changed things. ‘Her body sleeps in the Capels’ monument and her immortal part with the angels’ is how he tells Romeo that his first love is dead. If Balthazar had done it differently then maybe Romeo and Juliet would still be alive. The Apothecary could be to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death. Indeed if the apothecary hadn’t sold Romeo the poison then Romeo and Juliet would still be alive. To his credit he does show certain reluctance in selling the deadly drink to Romeo: ‘my poverty but not my will consents’. However, with gentle persuasion from Romeo he submits and gives Romeo the poison. If he had not given Romeo the poison then the lovers might still be alive. It could be argued that Friar John, the person who is supposed to get the message of the fake death to Romeo, could be to blame. He says that he was stuck in a house ‘where the infectious pestilence did reign’ so he could not get out and send the letter to Romeo. If he had sent the letter to Romeo explaining the fake death then Romeo and Juliet would still be alive. Leading on from the previous point, it could be Friar Lawrence’s fault that Romeo and Juliet died. He was the one who allowed, even encourage them to marry: ‘In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your household rancour to pure love’ Friar Lawrence has the best of intentions at the start but then thing start to go wrong. Also he may have married them far too quickly. He even says himself: ‘they stumble that run fast’. If Romeo and Juliet hadn’t been married so quickly then maybe they would have thought more about what was going to happen. They could have devised a plan together and escaped Verona. In contrast the Nurse could be held responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s death. She carried messages between the two lovers and kept the relationship a secret. If she had told someone then maybe Romeo and Juliet would still be alive. She was too fond of Juliet and she treats her like her own daughter, who she has lost (‘well, Susan is with god, she was too good for me’) so she lets her get away with far too much. The Nurse also enjoys the excitement of the relationship and the deceit. She takes messages between Juliet and Romeo, and, if she had told someone, maybe Romeo and Juliet might have still lived. Juliet incidentally could be to blame for her and Romeo’s death. Even when Romeo meets her in the Balcony scene she still is slightly worried: ‘It is too rash, to unadvis’d, too sudden’ If Juliet had married Romeo later on then they might have come up with a simpler, more effective plan. When Juliet find out that Romeo is a Montague she says ‘My only love sprung from my only hate! To early seen unknown and known too late! Prestigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy’. She uses the word ‘must’ when she’s talking about loving Romeo (the ‘loathed enemy’). In some ways maybe the aspect that the love was forbidden made her want it even more. Romeo could also be to blame for the death of him and Juliet. Doubtlessly, if he had checked Juliet was dead then both he and Juliet would have survived. Also in scene 4, act 1, Romeo senses something’s wrong: ‘I fear, too early; for my mind misgives some consequence, yet hanging in the stars, shall bitterly begin his fearful date with this night’s revels and expire the term of despised loves closed in my breast, by some vile forfeit or untimely death.’ If he had just listened to his intuition and not gone to the feast then the fatal events could have been averted. Maybe hate was to blame for the death of the two lovers. Indeed the hate between the two families paid an integral part in the destruction of Romeo and Juliet. In the first scene Paris says ‘...peace! I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montague’s...’ This shows that the families are fighting for the sake of fighting and many of them love the hate and tension the fighting causes. Love could also be to blame for the tragedy. If Romeo and Juliet hadn’t been so deeply in love then maybe they would have been more sensible and much slower with their relationship. Juliet knew her and Romeo where falling in love far too fast as she said: ‘it is too rash, to unadvis’d, too sudden’. If Romeo and Juliet hadn’t been so fast and so deeply in love then maybe they would have been safe. If Romeo hadn’t had loved Mercutio he wouldn’t have had to avenge his death. ‘My very friend hath got mortal hurt in my behalf’. If Romeo hadn’t loved Mercutio then he wouldn’t have avenged his death. If the Nurse hadn’t loved Juliet so much then maybe she would have put a stop to the relationship between Romeo and Juliet which would probably have saved their lives. She shows that she loves Juliet by saying: ‘thou wast the prettiest babe e’er I nursed’. If she hadn’t loved her so much then she might have been able to save her. I think that almost everyone is to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s death but I think that most to blame are: the two households, for their hate; Friar Lawrence, as he married them rashly and to quickly; the Nurse, as she loved Juliet too much; Romeo and Juliet themselves as they loved to quickly and too passionately and, ultimately, love, as that was what caused the strife and also what ended it. Shakespeare’s tragic story of star-crossed lovers wasn’t the first and won’t be the last of the stories which revolve around love.