Who Was Responsible For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet Essay

The story of Romeo and Juliet was simply about two lovebirds going through complications and problems that prevented them from being together. The forcefulness of their love ended with the tragedies of their life. At many parts of the play, we can identify moments where harsh and reckless decisions were made by both Romeo and Juliet. Such as, rushing into marriage, hiding the secret from everyone, and drinking the poison. However, there were pieces of evidence that provided to show that there were many other contributing factors that led up to their deaths. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet can be argued that it was caused by their action of rushing into love. Nonetheless, it would be inaccurate to dismiss the fact that there were other characters

that played in contributing to their deaths such as Friar Laurence and the two families, the Capulets and Montagues. All of them played had a responsibility in this play, and without them, the tragedy would not have happened. The Friar, Capulets, and Montague should be put on trial and punished for their involvement in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because of their insensitivity, hatred in both families, and naivety
Romeo and Juliet’s story starts out with an introduction with the Capulet and the Montague.

The servants from both families were mocking each other which started an unnecessary fight and ended up with the involvement of the Prince. This shows that their hate for each other is notoriously well-known that even their servants are involved in it. Their hatred also caused unnecessary deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt. In Act III scene 1, Mercutio’s last lines were, “A plague o' both your houses!” relaying that the cause of both families hatred had caused his death to be redundant. If the families would have been on good terms, Mercutio and Tybalt would not have died and Romeo and Juliet would have gotten married happily and not turned to suicide as their last resort. Their hatred for each other was also a disruption to the people. Their fights were often held outsides causing trouble and disturbance for other people. Despite the fact that it was never clearly stated on how their feud had started in the beginning, their hate for each other spiraled out of control which led to the deaths of their very own children. If the Capulets and the Montague looked past their differences and patched up their hate for each other, the likelihood of Romeo and Juliet’s death would be very

low.
Juliet’s parents, Lady Capulet and Lord Capulet displayed actions of insensitivity towards Juliet’s concerns and feeling. From the beginning, it was clear to see that Juliet is not as close to her parents as she should have been, rather, she was closer to the Nurse since she expressed her deepest emotions and secret, marrying Romeo, with her. The distant relationship that Juliet had with her parents played an important role at this point as well. As the play went on, Juliet was informed that she would be marrying Paris in a few days. Lord Capulet put a rush onto her wedding because he was afraid that his family's status might decrease especially since all the commotion that they had with Tybalt's death with the Montagues and cause Paris not to want to marry her. In disbelief, Juliet denied to marry Paris and threw a fit hoping that her parents would put it off. Instead of reasoning Juliet’s reaction and reasoning, they assumed that she was just a spoiled, useless child that was ungrateful towards them. Lord Capulet even threatened her to kick her out of the house and to disown her. Juliet begs her parents to put off the wedding or even just delay it, she asked her father to listen to her. “Good father, I beseech you on my knees. Hear me with patience but to speak a word.” If her father had not cared about his status and paid more attention to her and listen to what she had to say, things may have turned out differently. In Act III Scene 5, Lady Capulet enters Juliet’s room and thinks that Juliet is weeping for her cousin’s death, Tybalt but in truth, she was actually weeping for her husband, Romeo. Juliet tells her mother, “Indeed I shall never be satisfied. With Romeo till I behold him-dead-.” Lady Capulet’s insensitivity to Juliet’s feeling made her not catch a subtext in her speech, making it a contributing factor to her death.

Without a doubt, we know that Friar Laurence was responsible for their deaths.

Even though the Friar had good intentions for Romeo and Juliet, regardless, his plans sent them directly into their graves. Friar Laurence was supposed to be the adult figure in their life that made wise decisions, instead, he was naive and a fool. This can be traced back when the Friar supported Romeo and Juliet’s decision in getting married. Preferably, the Friar should have informed their families and the situation may have turned its routes. Further on in Act IV, scene 1, Friar Laurence suggests an idea of his; for Juliet to drink a potion that would leave her in a dead-like state, tricking her family and Romeo would be informed of his plan and save her so that they could eventually be together. First of all, the Friar’s was too naive to think that the plan would have gone horribly wrong and cause their deaths. He did not think of all the possible ways that the plan would have botched. The Friar was a good friend of Romeo and was helpful towards him in anyway he could be. Though he aided in hiding Romeo in Act III, scene 3, at that point of time, Romeo was convicted of murder and was sentenced to exaltation. In act V, scene 3, the Friar tries to cover up his mistakes by telling Juliet to become a nun and to move on before the people entering the tomb catches their act. The Friar says, “Come, I'll dispose of thee. Among a sisterhood of holy nuns: Stay not to question, for the watch is

coming; Come, go, good Juliet.” He then leaves Juliet and flees the scene. The Friar would be guilty of unconsented marriage, aiding in a convicted felon, fleeing a crime scene.
The Friar and the two families, the Capulets and Montagues should be put on trial to testify their behaviors in their hatred in which they have caused the lives of Tybalt and Mercutio, Juliet’s parents insensitivity and their disability in picking up their child’s true feelings and thoughts and the naivety and foolishness that Friar Laurence had made. Putting someone on trial does not necessarily mean that their intentions were malignant but their actions had caused someone or something harmed. At the end of the day, their intentions were just in hopes that Romeo and Juliet to be happy and they intended no harm. Nevertheless, it would still be wrong to rid and forget about their actions.