Unintended Consequences In The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”Margaret J. Wheatley. This quote says that not thinking about the consequences leads to consequences. In The Tragedy of Romeo And Juliet by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare shows how two young teenagers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, who are from opposite families that hate each other and fall in love when they first met. Not knowing what it could lead to, they secretly get married a couple days later; The two feuds start a fight on the street, leaving both a Montague and a Capulet lay dead on the ground. Romeo has killed the other which lead him to his banishment by the prince; Juliet gets told that she has to

The first indication of this is, when Romeo and Juliet both get to the church to get married Friar Lawrence says, “But come, young waverer come, go with me, In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.”(II.iii.89-92) This proves it because before the Friar marries the couple, he says that he thought it wasn’t a good idea for them to get married this soon and in secret. Equally as interesting was, when Juliet came to the Friar because she was desperate for a plan, so he gave her a potion and said “Take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distilled liquor drink thou off, When presently through all thy veins shall run A cold and drowsy humor, for no pulse Shall keep his native progress, but surcease.”(IV.i.96-100) This makes Juliet take the potion from the Friar, and then causes her to worry about what could go wrong which causes her to stress out. On top of that, when Juliet comes to seek help, he tells her “O Juliet, I already know thy grief. It strains me past the compass of my wits. I hear thou must, and nothing may prorogue it, On Thursday next be married to this county.”(IV.i.47-50) This causes Juliet to threaten to kill herself as she takes out a dagger. It makes Juliet even more desperate to get a plan or an idea to help the situation. So, it is clear to see that Friar Lawrence is to blame because he

One way this is true is, when Juliet and Lady Capulet were talking about Tybalt’s death, she says “We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not. Then weep no more. I’ll send to one in Mantua, Where that same banished runagate doth live, Shall give him such an unaccustomed dram That he shall soon keep Tybalt company.”(III.v.87-91) Her saying this makes Juliet more concerned for Romeo and even more desperate for an idea. Another example that proves this is, after Capulet yells at Juliet and she asks her mother for help but she says, “Talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word. Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee.”(III.v.203-204) This make Juliet care less about what happens to her. The final example that proves this is, before the Capulet party Lady Capulet tells Juliet “well, think of marriage now. Younger than you Here in Verona, ladies of esteem Are made already mothers.”(I.iii.71-73) This gets Juliet in the mindset of love and has her thinking about finding someone. Later she then meets Romeo and it’s “love at first sight”. There is no doubt that Lady Capulet is why Romeo and Juliet died because she was planning on getting revenge on Romeo, ignores Juliet, and suggest that she thinks about marriage which was caused because Lady Capulet was