However, the worst decision made by the Friar was to give Juliet the illegal potion. His plan would require perfection on everyone’s part and inevitably it fails. It could be argued that he concocted this awful plan, “lest in this marriage he should be dishonoured.” I don’t think this is the case as, in spite of his arrogance, he does care for Romeo. I think it is more down to him not thinking it through, an attribute he has passed on to Romeo. The quotation shows that Juliet believes the Friar to be an honourable man and it is hard to believe an honourable man would purposefully make a plan in order for it to fail.
It is also possible to blame Juliet as she shouldn’t have vowed to marry Romeo when she was already engaged to Paris. As with Romeo, she was too quick in making the decision to marry. This illustrates her naivety, as does her speech in Act II Scene 2. She says, “fain would I dwell on form.” This means that she would like to be formal but it appears she finds this hard to do when she uses informal language such as, “farewell compliment.” Because she is so naïve she accepts Friar Lawrence’s plan despite all her second thoughts. This naïve decision is an important one without which it is possible that she wouldn’t have died. She seems very desperate to learn “how to lose a winning match.” This could be interpreted as she wants to lose her virginity and this could be the reason she wants to get married to Romeo so desperately.
I think that it is the Nurse, Juliet’s mother figure, who encouraged Juliet to lose her virginity. She is always telling Juliet about the joys of sex and how she “wilt fall backwards when thou hast more wits.” The Nurse bought Juliet up and these constant references to sex obviously had an effect. The Nurse is also very naïve. She shouldn’t have helped Juliet to meet Romeo and carry messages between them. Another example of her naivety is when she advised Juliet to marry Paris, even though she knew Juliet was already married. The Nurse should have stopped Juliet from marrying Romeo and should have told Lady Capulet but she wanted to feel important and involved and this naivety may have cost Juliet her life. As with Friar Lawrence’s impulsiveness, the Nurses naivety was adopted by Juliet and this turned out to be fatal.
The feud also plays a major part in the deaths of the two protagonists. As Juliet says, her “only love sprang from her only hate.” The word “hate” is a very strong word showing just how much the feud meant to her and therefore how strong the hatred between the houses truly was. From the beginning of the play the feud is apparent. The prologue states that “From ancient grudge break to new mutiny.” The word mutiny has strong connotations of violence and uprising giving the impression that violence. This “new mutiny” intensifies the feud and means Romeo & Juliet’s love for each other is worse than if it happened at any other time.
This could be seen as just bad luck but I believe it to be fate, a common feature in the genre of Tragedy. In Shakespearian times audiences would have believed strongly in astrology and fate. The lovers are destined to die as is illustrated by the prologue which informs the audience that Romeo and Juliet are fated “to take their lives.” Romeo mentions “some consequence yet hanging in the stars” before he goes to Capulet’s party. This mention of “stars” shows that Romeo is a believer in fate and is worried by it. In my opinion it is fate which results in them getting married and eventually dying as it is mentioned throughout the play. For example when Romeo hears of Juliet’s death he cries, “Then I defy you, stars!” This demonstrates that he believes it is fate’s doing and is openly against his own inevitable destiny.
Overall I think that it is fate which is most responsible as there are constant references to stars and fate throughout the play. It would have been very unlikely for Romeo to meet Juliet, get married, and not receive the letter and so on, had fate not lent its hand. Although Romeo, Juliet, the Friar, the Nurse and everyone who helped keep the feud strong have their part to play, it is a complex mix of factors which contributed and I believe Fate was the most influential factor.
