The Blame For Romeo And Juliet's Death

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The Blame for Romeo and Juliet’s Death Imagine falling in love with someone but you’re unable to see them or marry them because your parents wouldn’t approve. A similar problem arose in William Shakespeare's famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet. In the play, Romeo and Juliet, who are members of two different families, met at a party and it was love at first sight. However, the two sets of families: Capulets and Montagues, were in a feud and hated each other. This caused problems for Romeo and Juliet. Because of the feud, they were not expected to marry, love, or see eachother, but the two star-crossed lovers carried on with these dangerous actions anyways. Within a few days after meeting each other, they got married, but shortly after, various problems …show more content…

If there was no conflict between the two families, Romeo and Juliet could’ve gotten married without any trouble because their parents wouldn’t disapprove of the marriage. As described by Lois Kerschen, a freelance writer and adjunct college English instructor, it is known that, “the family feud is the reason that Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is a ‘forbidden love’” (Kerschen 1). As a result from the feud, their marriage would not be allowed by their parents because it was unheard of and not good to marry or associate with a citizen of the opposite side of the family. When Juliet first met Romeo at a Capulet party, it was love at first sight. Later, the Nurse informed her that Romeo was the son of the Montagues and Juliet confessed that, “My only love sprung from my only hate!” (Shakespeare Act I. Scene v. Page 64). Juliet was upset by the discovery and continues to state that love is a monster for making her fall in love with her worst enemy, for she knew that her parents wouldn’t approve of her being in love with Romeo. Following the party, Romeo and Juliet decided to secretly get married but this brought up many problems. No one knew that they were married, besides the Friar and the Nurse, but they weren’t allowed to tell anyone about it in fear of getting in trouble. Under those …show more content…

In his critical essay on Romeo and Juliet, Lois Kerschen portrays the idea that, “Killing Tybalt is a rash act that needed not have happened if Romeo had been better able to control himself” (Kerschen 3). Kerschen then goes on to explain that the reaction which caused the death of Tybalt was irrational and violent. It is accurate that if Romeo hadn’t overreacted to Mercutio’s death and killed Tybalt, he wouldn’t be banished. However, it was Tybalt that brought about the fight because he recognized Romeo at the Capulet party and “his presence there fuels Tybalt’s challenge to him the next day” (Kerschen 2). Tybalt wouldn’t have been angry and challenged Romeo in a duel if it weren’t for the feud between the Montagues and Capulets. Furthermore, Romeo didn’t want to carry on with battle when he was first challenged by Tybalt because now that he was married to Juliet, he thought it was wrong to harm his cousin-in law (Shakespeare Act III. Scene i. Page 132). Only because Tybalt killed Mercutio, Romeo thus killed Tybalt. The feud surely sparked the fight which henceforth resulted in Romeo’s banishment. If it weren’t for the feud, Tybalt wouldn’t have challenged Romeo to the dual, Tybalt wouldn’t have died, and Romeo wouldn’t have been banished. Because he was banished, he was unable to receive the letter from Friar Laurence regarding his plan. Therefore, he was unaware that Juliet wasn’t really dead and he

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