William Shakespeare wrote many great plays in his day. His tale of Romeo and Juliet portrays a tragic love. This play ends with the deaths of the key characters Romeo and Juliet, because of their forbidden love. Many factors contribute to their demise.
The scene of when they first meet, the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio, and the final death scene all reveal why the two of them cannot be together in the end. Romeo and Juliet are ultimately killed because of their decisions and fate. The effects of Romeo and Juliet’s decisions and fate are first apparent in the scene when they first come together. When Romeo says to Juliet in the Capulet party, "Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purged" (I,v,108), and then he kisses her, it obviously exhibitions how they exercise their choice to love each other. After discovering each other’s identities, Romeo proclaims, "My life is my foe’s debt" (I,v,119), and Juliet states, "My only love sprung from my only hate" (I,v,140).
These lines foreshadow that there will be many impediments keeping them apart and eventually killing them both. It might be thought that the tragic ending is caused by them choosing to love each other. However, if fate does not bring them together in the first place, they will never have the opportunity to establish their love. Romeo and Juliet are affected by their choices and fate right from the beginning. Romeo’s actions and chance also cause the chaos in Romeo and Mercutio’s fight scene with Tybalt.
When Romeo replies to Tybalt when he is first insulted and threatened on the street, "I do protest I never injure thee, but love thee better than thou canst devise" (III,I,67-8), it means he does not mean Tybalt any harm and is walking away from the fight. Then, Mercutio steps in for Romeo and starts fighting with Tybalt. Romeo gets between them, which allows Tybalt to kill Mercutio, and later results in Romeo killing Tybalt. It is very easy to point the finger at Romeo and accuse him of allowing Mercutio to be killed. His decision directly allows Tybalt to stab Mercutio, but he is trying work it out so no one will be injured, like peer mediation.
Although he has no clue that he will do more harm, Romeo is actually trying to help. That’s where fate affects him. Also, it can be said that Romeo is entirely responsible for killing Tybalt.
Thought the play, these lovers go through many obstacles that range from arranging a wedding and finding a time to meet to Juliet trying to get out of marrying Paris. The entire time fate is tossing them around. Romeo realizes this after he kills Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, in a brawl. At first, Romeo does not want to fight because Romeo and Juliet are already married at this time and he knows that they are cousins. Tybalt asks for a brawl from Romeo but Mercutio fights instead. Mercutio gets killed by Tybalt and that is what makes Romeo mad and fight Tybalt.
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
The reader realizes this when the prologue states, “Two households, both alike in dignity/ In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, / From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,/ Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean./ From forth the fatal loins of these two foes/ A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life” (I 1-6). This translates to say two families have been rivals for many years. Romeo and Juliet are two from separate rivaling families that fall in love. The reader can acknowledge that these two individuals meet one another due to fate. However, they know that because of their parents’ hatred of each other, they can never be together. “My only love sprung from my only hate!/ Too early seen unknown, and known too late!/ Prodigious birth of love it is to me,/ That I must love a loathed enemy” (I v138-140). A decision is made that the only way to be happy is to take their lives. As soon as the play begins, the audience can foresee a tragic ending because of the language used.
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
Romeo was very loyal to his friends and family, and it is possible that Mercutio thought that Romeo would help him fight off Tybalt (since he was unaware of Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage that somewhat united Romeo and Tybalt). However, this argument is easily deemed invalid. Romeo was not in the town square when the fight had first began, so Mercutio expecting his help in the fight would be a far-fetched idea. A person who is not present cannot help or hinder the situation at hand. In addition, Romeo tried to break up the fight when he said, “Gentlemen, for shame forbear this outrage! Tybalt! Mercutio! The Prince expressly hath forbid this bandying in Verona streets. Hold, Tybalt! Good Mercutio!” (Shakespeare 121). Romeo tried to stop the fight and therefore gave Mercutio more time before death, albeit minimal. The blame cannot be placed on Romeo since he did all that he could to stop the fight from
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 led to the death of Mercutio.
After Capulets announcement of the wedding Juliet has no choice, but to take a potion which will make her appear dead: No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest; The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade; To play ashes, thy eyes’ windows fall, Like death, when he shuts up the day of life; Each part, deprived of supple government, Shall, stiff and stark and old, [sic] appear like death. Tybalt and Mercutio provoking one another plays a big part in the death of Romeo and Juliet. The family feud causes Romeo and Juliet to keep secrets from their family, which also results in their death. Lastly, Capulet forcing Juliet to marry Paris is the main reason why they ended up giving their lives to one another.
Just as the Friar says in the beginning of the Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet, “Wisely and slowly, they stumble that run fast.” (II.iii.94). this was a sign of foreshadowing for for the death of the lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Even though fate was a factor that had contributed to a tragic end, there was also personal choice involved, and ultimately, the story may have had a different ending if it weren’t for the flaws of the lovers and their inability to have a grip on reality in dire circumstances. Over the course of the play, the lovers from the conflicting households have not matured and remain rather static in development. Furthermore, in this tragedy, the only son of the montages remains rather childlike, Juliet still seems immature and their relationship over all seems more like a play act on lover rather then something mature and sustainable. Overall, from start to finish, Romeo and Juliet were living in the moment, being absurd and silly rather then focusing on the future and trying to work problems out effectively.
Filled with rage and anger, Romeo finally battles Tybalt, but then ends with Tybalt’s demise. When fighting Romeo exclaims, “That late thou gavest me; for Mercurio's soul/Is but a little way above our heads,/ Staying for thine to keep him company:/ Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him” (3.1.88-91). Indeed, this quote shows that Romeo has taken back his word for peace and is now seeking for the vengeance of his best friend’s life. Romeo then goes on a rampage and kills Tybalt mercilessly thus ending his
Every action we take, decision we make, and person we fall in love with always leads us to our inevitable destiny. Some people are meant to live happily ever after while others may not be so lucky. Romeo and Juliet ended up being one of those not so lucky couples. Born as enemies, their love ended up pulling them closer to their destiny which was proven to be death. The main people that can be blamed for the death of Romeo and Juliet are Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Romeo.
Romeo was more like the peacemaker in that particular feud he struggled to calm Tybalt and Mercutio down which ended by death. The death of Mercutio changed his personality, making him more like Tybalt- rash and senseless as opposed to before his friend Mercutio’s death, and so Romeo being the rash and senseless person he was, he murdered Tybalt, his wife’s cousin. He evidently made a mistake and regretted it later on. Fate played a prominent role in the fact that even when Prince Escalus declared the punishment for another feud between the two families would be death, but Romeo still managed to avoid death by being banished from Verona, but this consequence would lead to never seeing Juliet again. And that of course couldn’t happen due to their undying love for each other. This results obviously for Romeo to essentially attempt suicide but then again if you plan to kill yourself don’t do it infront of people. By killing Tybalt, Romeo assumed Juliet would hate him “Doth not she think me an old murderer/what says My concealed lady to our canceled love?”(III,III,102-106) He clearly hates himself so much that it leads to attempting to commit suicide “Friar Lawrence: Hold thy desperate hand! Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art. Thy tears are womanish; thy wild acts [denote] The unreasonable fury of
Have you ever loved someone so much to the point where you’d lose your life just to be with them? That is how Romeo and Juliet felt about each other in the play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Long ago, Shakespeare wrote a romantic classic that is still being taught in classes today. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is a tragic story of two lovestruck teenagers who are forced to hide their newfound relationship due to their families’ seemingly never-ending feud. Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet take risky actions that lead to their deaths. Other characters in the play, create a clear marker of separation of the two families. However, no matter what choices they made, one might argue that they were always destined
The lovers of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet are perhaps the most famous pair of lovers in history. Their story has been told and remade in countless ways, with a variety of endings. The original piece however ends with tragedy in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Throughout Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, fate is the driving force in that the star-cross lovers are destined to have a tragic end. Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses literary elements to reveal that our actions are not what controls our life, but it is fate that determines what will happen to us.
Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet cause the deaths of many people such as Tybalt and Paris. They both die because Romeo thinks Juliet is "dead" so he takes a poison and Juliet wakes up to see Romeo dead so she then kills herself because she can't go on in life without her "love" Romeo. Tybalt killed Mercutio because Mercutio took Romeo's place when the two groups were fighting. They were fighting because of the fighting between the Capulets and the Montagues. Then Romeo killed Tybalt because he killed Romeos best friend Mercutio and he cared for him so much and he had died from Tybalt's hand so Romeo kills Tybalt. Romeo also kills Paris because he loved Juliet so much and just wanted to take the poison and lay beside his wife that was "dead' but Paris was interfering with it. This is young love and that only leads to bad luck and character
Tybalt was a adversary of Romeo and had the drift to kill him. His spleen of the situation is Romeo trying to love his coz Juliet. He approached Romeo and Mercutio looking for a fight. Tybalt and Mercutio ended up fighting and Tybalt killed Mercutio, because Tybalt did this, he deserved the death penalty for his transgression. Romeo then took revenge and killed him (3.1.70). This is a legal issue because Tybalt was going to be treated to the death penalty anyway so Romeo killing him was just like giving him the death penalty. This death is a lot different than the others because his was a legal issue and he deserved to die, the other deaths in the play like Romeo, Juliet and Mercutio decided to die for a family member that they love.