Who Is Responsible For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet Essay

Fate has an overwhelming power over the mind, and that it is believed to be beyond a person’s control, however, the actions occurring in one’s life can potentially change their own fate. The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare, shows an ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet families breaking out on the city of Verona and causing tragic results for Romeo and Juliet, the two star crossed lovers that tried to overcome numerous obstacles so they can both live happily together. The appearance of fate is developed during the tragedy by the evocation of many chaotic actions from the Montagues, Capulets, and other characters. The three characters that mainly contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s deaths were Lord Capulet,

Tybalt, and Friar Laurence. Shakespeare shows this through the use of the literary and dramatic devices of rhythm, dramatic irony, and foreshadowing.
With the combination of a person’s mind and their will to decide their own destiny, such as their actions, the development of events called fate can be affected. This is proven when Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, arranges Juliet’s marriage to Paris. Near the beginning of the tragedy, Capulet was talking to Paris about Juliet and said, “She’s the hopeful lady of my earth./ But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart./ My will to her consent is but a part” (I.ii.15). He specified that she is his hope and allowed Paris to make Juliet fall in love with him. Rhyming has been done to show the sense of how Lord Capulet is feeling. When he was talking about Juliet, rhyming was used and the tone of the scene became more serious due to how Capulet wanted her to have a sophisticated marriage. This rhyming technique helps the reader of who is talking, and therefore develop an understanding of the different characters and their feelings towards one another. Capulet granted Paris permission to make Juliet fall in love with him because he wanted the best for his daughter and to be beneficial for their family, considering that Count Paris is a relative of the Prince who rules Verona. After Tybalt’s death, he decided to change the wedding so soon, since he cared for Juliet remarkably. Because he thought that his beloved daughter was heartbroken by Tybalt’s death, Capulet concluded that the only way to regain her bliss was for her to marry Paris. He was rushing the arrangement so unexpectedly that he did not take into consideration how Juliet may feel towards the situation. If Capulet had never forced Juliet to marry Paris, she may have been living happily with Romeo. By him being so strict, changing the dates of the wedding, and being too overprotective of Juliet, he led a course of events leading to the couple’s deaths. Although Lord Capulet was at fault for the death of Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt was also held responsible for his calamity.
Fate is often called upon, wondered about, and blamed for mishaps. People’s underlying actions can cause them to decide on their changed fates. Near the middle of the tragedy, Tybalt had the chance to fight with Romeo and stabbed Mercutio, another Montague, leading to the event of Romeo avenging his friend, but before they fought, Romeo said, “But love thee better than thou canst devise/ Till thou shalt know the reason of my love;/ And so, good Capulet, which name I tender/ As dearly as mine own, be satisfied” (III.i.70). Romeo did not want to fight Tybalt because he had married Juliet, which was another Capulet and a cousin of Tybalt’s. Romeo and Juliet did not tell anyone about their secret marriage, and so Tybalt did not realize that Romeo was basically related to him. This representation is a dramatic irony since it occurs when the audience and a character knows something that another character does not. Tybalt played a significant role as a minor character. As he saw Romeo during the Capulet’s party, his quick temperedness started to arise and lead to the duel. Romeo pursued him due to his friend’s death and killed Tybalt in the heated battle. By doing so, this lead to Romeo’s banishment. Tybalt’s death affected the Capulet families, and so it drove the calamitous plot even further. Juliet’s parents forced her into a sudden marriage with Paris, thinking it was her sadness over her cousin’s death, but it actually was about Romeo being banished. Fate was decided when Tybalt saw Romeo at the party. His actions affected fate’s doing since if it was not for him having the rage and the desire to regain his pride from trying to kill a Montague, then the occurrence of tragedies, including his own death did not have to exist. His choice of not trusting the Montagues played a role in the downfall of Romeo and Juliet. Tybalt was held accountable for the demise of the couple’s lives, but additionally Friar Laurence was to blame.
Fate can throw numerous obstacles in people’s lives.

It is one’s actions that can decide on what to do with those disasters. Friar Laurence played a role in the death of Romeo and Juliet because he was the one who secretly married them and formulated a plan that lead to their downfall. Near the beginning of the tragedy, Friar Laurence was getting ready to marry them and said, “These violent delights have violent ends/ And in their triumph die, like fire and powder..” (II.vi.9). He mentioned that sudden joys have sudden endings and that they will burn up like fire and powder. The Friar was foreshadowing the death of Romeo and Juliet, saying that the "violent delights" are them getting married, and their marriage will have a violent end. Although their romance is starting off so passionately and wonderfully, it is bound to end badly in an equally dramatic way. During their unfortunate circumstances, Friar wanted to help by devising plans to overcome them, but without him realizing the consequences, it made the two couples to have an even more complicated situation. He thought that he was making commendable decisions by marrying Romeo and Juliet, giving Juliet a potion that will make her appear as if she is dead, and reuniting the couples again after Romeo’s banishment. All of these actions made their fates to change. Romeo and Juliet’s original fates were to be living in their own families’ title, but once their actions had caused them to meet each other at the party, their fates were changed. After Friar was involved with their mayhem, he made it worse for them by changing their fates again. Most of his plans were haste and that they were poorly thought out. Friar neglects all of his plans to think of the consequences that can take place if the plans were to fail. For example, there were other ways to resolve Juliet’s calamity, however Friar decided to give her a potion that will make her appear as if she was dead for 48 hours. She was trying to overcome her

situation, since she did not want to marry another gentleman other than Romeo and that she wanted to stand right beside him at all times even though he was banished from their homeland. Both the Friar and Juliet can think of other solutions but due to them having limited time, they thought of one that was related to death, and so after that was decided, Juliet’s destined fate was changed. Another example was when after she drank her potion, Friar was supposed to tell Romeo about the plan. However, he was unable to because of an outbreak of a plague, therefore caused miscommunication when Romeo received false information about Juliet’s death. If Friar had thought of the outcomes before Romeo had went away, then the misleading information may have been prevented. This action made Romeo’s fate to change due to the fact that Friar sent the wrong message. Friar Laurence not thinking of his actions throughly had caused the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Friar was one of the characters that contributed to the deaths of the two lovers.
People’s actions can potentially affect the overwhelming power of fate. Lord Capulet, Tybalt, and Friar Laurence were the three characters that contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s death. Shakespeare shows this through the use of the literary and dramatic devices of rhythm, dramatic irony, and foreshadowing. Tybalt’s rage in the Montagues, Lord Capulet’s parantel love, and Friar Laurence secretly marrying and formulating a plan, without thinking about the negative consequences, all led to the tragic death of the two lovers. These characters were the ones who had caused Romeo and Juliet to meet their tragic fate.