Importance Of Secondary Characters In Romeo And Juliet

767 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Romeo and juliet romeo character critical analysis

Whilst secondary characters are less important than the main characters of the play, they often have a noteworthy impact on the story. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, three secondary characters, Friar Lawrence, Capulet and Tybalt all play vital roles throughout the play. The play takes place in Verona and focuses on Romeo and Juliet, two star-crossed lovers from two feuding families; the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo and Juliet must profess their love in secret, due to the quarrel between their parents. This is a catalyst in triggering tragic events, consisting of the deaths of many other characters, including themselves. Friar Lawrence, Capulet and Tybalt all play crucial roles in the action, character development, and themes …show more content…

He is the son of Lady Capulet's brother, Juliet's short-tempered first cousin, and Romeo's rival. Tybalt is heavily involved in the build up to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths; Shakespeare portrays him as a villainous character who is the cause of several deaths and misfortune. Throughout the play, Shakespeare exposes Tybalt’s violent nature and his anger is particularly shown when Tybalt confronts Romeo and insults him saying, “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford, No better term than this: thou art a villain.” This shows how quick Tybalt is to start fights, proving that he is hot-headed. Tybalt encourages a brawl by inviting Romeo to “turn and draw”. Had Tybalt not said this, Mercutio would probably not have been provoked to fight and consequently, die. As a result of Mercutio’s death, Romeo killed Tybalt, forcing Romeo to be exiled. This led to a chain of disastrous events resulting in Romeo’s, Juliet’s and Paris’ deaths. It can also be argued that Tybalt is to blame as he triggers the fights and seems to be the cause of the chain of unfortunate events.

In conclusion, Friar Lawrence, Capulet and Tybalt are all equally responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. Capulet is to blame because he is unsupportive, uptight and uncaring. Friar Lawrence is to blame because his scheme is not well planned, and is perhaps too sophisticated for the young lovers. And Tybalt is to blame because he is too hot-headed and

Show More
Related

  • Romeo And Juliet Tragedy Quotes

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo senses tensions are high with Tybalt, so he states, “I do protest I never injured thee but love thee better than thou canst devise.” (Lines 65-66 Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is trying to diffuse the situation because he realizes that Tybalt is his love's cousin. Mercutio is surprised by Romeo’s behavior, so he decides to fight Tybalt himself. Mercutio’s decision to fight Tybalt leads to his own death. Romeo is angered by the death of Mercutio and states, “Now, Tybalt, take the “villain" back again/ That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio’s soul.” (Lines 123-124 of Act Three, Scene One). Romeo is indicating that Tybalt is the villain now, because he slayed Mercutio. Romeo forgets about his attempt to befriend the Capulets and slays Tybalt. Romeo, murderer of Tybalt, solely focuses on Juliet and states “Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say “death"/For exile hath more terror in his look.” (Lines 12-13 of Act Three, Scene Three). Romeo does not care about Tybalt’s life, but only cares for the way it affects his relationship with Juliet. Romeo’s mother dies out of grief because of his banishment. Romeo’s recklessness in loving Juliet has led to the death of three

    Read More

  • Mercutio To Blame In Romeo And Juliet

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mercutio can be blamed for Romeo and Juliet’s peril because he initiated the fight with Tybalt and forced Romeo to go to the Capulet’s party. At the beginning of the play, Romeo gets invited to the Capulet’s party by a servant, unless he was a Montague. At first, Romeo did not want to go, but Mercutio eventually convinced him under the pretext that Rosaline, Romeo’s love, was going to be there. The next day, Tybalt, a Capulet, went looking for Romeo because he knew that Romeo was at the Capulet party. Instead, he stumbled upon Mercutio and Benvolio and asked them where he could find Romeo. However, Mercutio did not want to tell him and insisted on having a duel. Tybalt killed Mercutio during the fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt because he has the need to avenge his friend. Unfortunately, Prince Escalus punished Romeo by banishing him from Verona. This made Romeo and Juliet’s love

    Read More

  • Mercutio Responsible For The Deaths In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    While reading Shakespeare's play “Romeo and Juliet” it is easy to see that everybody in the story is at fault for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Personally however, I believe that three of the main characters are more at fault then the other characters. First is Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend. Next is Benvolio, nephew of Lord Montague and Romeo’s other friend. Last is Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet Franciscan Priest. In a story of unorthodox love, family feuding, and violence, many are at blame for the deaths.

    Read More

  • Who is to Blame for Romeo and Juliet’s Death?

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    5The death of Romeo and Juliet is to be blamed on 5 people: Capulet, Nurse and Mercutio, and Friar Lawrence and Prince. 6The arguments will contain the details about the characters who are to be blamed the most and why they are to be blamed. 1First, Capulet should be blamed the most for Romeo and Juliet’s death. 2. His first fault was to bear Romeo in his party.

    Read More

  • Three Characters with Good Intentions in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    When asked by Benvolio to make peace in the streets, Tybalt bluntly responds,” talk of peace, I hate the word. As I hate hell all Montagues.” This is the attitude of Tybalt throughout the play. He believes he is doing all for the best and uses violence as his tool. He gets angry at the ball with Romeo being there, “villain as a guest,” and believes it best to defend his family’s honor by later taking revenge. When Tybalt finds Romeo, he thinks it best to fight him and when he ends up killing Mercutio he believes he has done his duty by causing Romeo the same hurt he has brought Tybalt, “the injuries that thou hast done me.”

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Who Is To Blame Essay

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Who is the most to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? In William Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence gives Juliet a fake poison and when she takes it, she goes into a deep sleep that makes her appear dead. Juliet is then buried in her family's tomb and when Romeo goes to the tomb, he drinks actual poison and kills himself because he cannot bear to be without Juliet. After he dies, Juliet wakes up and sees that Romeo is dead so she stabs herself to death. Friar Lawrence is the one who caused all of this. Friar Lawrence makes three mistakes in this play. His first is when he marries Romeo and Juliet because they came from two feuding families. His second mistake is when he gives Juliet the fake poison to make her look dead. Finally, the friar gives the letter about "the fake death plan" to Friar John when he should have delivered it himself. Despite any other "at fault" characters in Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is the most responsible for the tragic events that occur in the play because of his miscommunication, dishonesty and poor decision making.

    Read More

  • Essay On Tybalt In Romeo And Juliet

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    Tybalt’s loyalty towards the family dispute intoxicates him with a quarrelsome nature. After recognizing Romeo at the Capulet Ball, Tybalt persistently rejects his uncle’s remonstrance to stay serene. Even after being restrained by his Uncle Capulet, he vows vengeance on Romeo in the future as he says, “Patience perforce with willful choler meeting Makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting. I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall” (1.5.88-90). Tybalt tends to take each and every “insult” towards his family and himself to heart, without even contemplating their true meaning. Furthermore, Tybalt’s aggravating behavior develops into a clear factor leading to his downfall. When Mercutio is found dead as a result of Tybalt, Romeo confronts him directly with a duel to the death. Rather than trying to discuss and come to a harmonious solution, Tybalt further inflamed the already belligerent environment. He does this by saying, “Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here, Shalt with him hence” (3.1.128-129). Tybalt’s relentless threatening behavior never fails to make an already hostile environment even worse. His cruel character is perpetual no matter what the

    Read More

  • Romeo and Juliet Responsibility

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a lot of blame to go around in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare but in the end, Friar Laurence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s death. He agrees to marry them, which Romeo took as an act of approval for his and Juliet’s relationship. He also mapped out risky plans that he could have taken more caution when executing. Lastly, he was too wrapped up in the fact that their relationship could bring the Montagues and the Capulets together after too many years of conflict to see that the relationship would bring many dangers and that he should have at least attempted to slow it down.

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Forgiveness Analysis

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    As already shown, both Romeo and Juliet are horrified to discover that they were family enemies. Despite of this, they both choose to devote their love for eachother. Given this point, it is unrequited love that brings Romeo and Juliet together. But this also means that they would have to get over the fact that their families hate each other. This eventually leads them to forgiving the rival family for all the hateful acts that have occurred against one another. This is not the only forgiveness that is experienced in this play. Tybalt is a Montague with a fiery attitude. After catching Romeo at a party he was not supposed to be at, Tybalt had it out for Romeo. Just after Romeo and Juliet’s wedding, Tybalt comes looking for him wanting to fight. Romeo does not want to fight because he now loves Tybalt since he is family to him, but neither Tybalt or anyone else knows this reason. Quickly Mercutio steps in and tells Tybalt that he will fight him in honour of Romeo. Sadly this leads to the death of Mercutio. Romeo is angry and in need of revenge, which creates an intense fight between Tybalt and Romeo. Romeo wins this battle, killing Tybalt. He leaves in a hurry, only to discover that he would be banished from Verona. The death of Tybalt is absolutely devastating to Juliet. Her cousin was murdered by her husband. But she did not hesitate to forgive Romeo, she did so right away. She knew that Romeo had a reason for this incident and decides to

    Read More

  • Romeo And Juliet Persuasive Speech

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    WHO IS THE BLAME? Good afternoon, my fellow audience. I am here today to persuade you on who I believe to be the character most responsible for the death of the two main characters in the play, Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is almost an ironic play because of its open and easily known ending, but yet its ending raises the controversial question, WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE DEATH OF ROMEO AND JULIET? I believe every character in the book contributed to their deaths, even Romeo and Juliet themselves, but Friar Lawrence bears a monumental deal of the blame because he was the principle and most reliable adult that could have steered the ‘inexperienced’ couple, but his incompetency led Romeo and Juliet to a violent death.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, but it did not have to be. Many things could have been done to prevent their deaths. Many characters contributed to their deaths. The sole character that was responsible for their deaths is Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the deaths of the lovers because he was secretive with their relationship, he was unable communicate effectively, and he had a cowardly persona.

    Read More

  • Secondary Characters in Romeo and Juliet

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    While secondary characters are less important than the main characters of the book, they often have a noteworthy impact on the story. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a secondary character, Friar Lawrence, plays a vital role throughout the play. The play takes place in Verona and focuses on Romeo and Juliet, two star-crossed lovers from two feuding families; the Montagues and the Capulets. The extremely violent feud between these families has been ongoing for generations, extending out to even the serving men of both houses. Romeo and Juliet must profess their love in secret because of the quarrel between their parents. This is a catalyst in triggering tragic events, consisting of the deaths of many other characters, including themselves. Friar Lawrence plays a crucial role to the action, character development, and themes of Romeo and Juliet.

    Read More

  • Characterization in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt. Right away, we get an idea of who these characters are and what kind of role they will play throughout the story. Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt share many distinctive characteristics and personalities in the story. We learn that Romeo is the romantic and handsome son of the Montagues. In the beginning of the story, he was depressed, but his mood quickly changed as the story went on. We also learn that Mercutio is Romeo’s closest and good friend who tries to make Romeo forget about his first love, Rosaline. He is a great entertainer and he’s very sarcastic too. Instantly, we learn that Tybalt is a Capulet and Juliet’s cousin. He is very hot-headed, aggressive, and violent. He loathes the Montagues very much. Finally, in Act One of William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, we meet three characters, Romeo, Mercutio, and Tybalt and we directly get an idea of what the characters are like.

    Read More

  • Three People, Two Deaths, One Great Tragedy

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet two young lovers lost their lives when hate and love collided. From the Montagues came Romeo and from the Capulets was Juliet. The two families were feuding and Romeo and Juliet could not stand being without each other. They both killed themselves because they thought life was not worth living without the other. Though there are many who can be blamed for this tragic ending, there are three that are the most responsible. Mercutio, The Nurse, and Friar Laurence are the three that deserve the most blame.

    Read More

  • How Friar Lawrence is Responsible for Romeo and Juliet's Death

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    But, once reading the book thoroughly and consulting several sources, it is obvious who is solely to blame- Friar Lawrence. Because of the actions of Friar Lawrence, the play ended with two grieving families instead of two happy newlyweds. Although many characters contributed to their deaths, only Friar Lawrence was solely responsible for them. Friar Lawrence’s cowardice, secrecy, and miscommunication led directly to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. The first factor that played a key part in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is the fact that Friar Lawrence was a coward.

    Read More

More about Importance Of Secondary Characters In Romeo And Juliet

Open Document