Death and Responsibility in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Death and Responsibility in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Death is an elusive concept that binds and connects a series of themes

and issues that occur in Romeo and Juliet. To discuss whether Romeo

and Juliet are responsible for their deaths, one must analyse various

causes of this tragedy. This essay will explore the following reasons:

family feuds, love, passion, and fate.

First, it is important to understand the characters. Romeo we know is

the only son and the main character in the story. It starts with him

thinking he is in love with Rosaline (a lady whom we never see). It is

not long before we discover the idea of being a lover appeals to him,

as he is impulsive and passionate. This is when he quickly forgets

Rosaline when he meets Juliet and within moments of time marries her.

His impulsive actions are also displayed when Juliet's cousin kills

his friend and Romeo avenges the murder. He then has to face the

punishment of being banished from the city of Verona and consequently

no longer see his beloved Juliet, without the risk of being caught

Juliet is also the only child. She is loved by her parents and is very

precious, as she is the only child born to the Cupulets that survived.

Juliet is almost fourteen years old and has never thought about

marriage, but prepared to obey her parents and look with favour on the

man they have chosen for her husband, the County Paris. Nevertheless,

when she meets Romeo, Juliet instantly falls in love with him and

acknowledges Romeos act of romance.

"You kiss by the book"

Romeo's family, the Montagues, are quite different from the family of

Juliet. They are far more loving an...

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...ke up. Shakespeare included this very

suspenseful ending. It could be that it was written in their fate to

die in this way.

However, if the intense feuding were non-existent, Romeo and Juliet

would not have to resort to such extreme plans to be together.

Therefore, if the families did get on and understand each other for

the sake of their children, there would be no element of fate

involved.

The passionate adolescent love was what kept them together. Romeo

starts to use different language in the play, which aids his maturity

and shows his love compared to Juliet then of Rosaline. Maybe their

parents didn't take their love serious enough, they thought it wasn't

that extreme, maybe if extreme passion was in some way portrayed

earlier in the play, other than death, this might have made the

families understand.