“Hie you to church. I must another way to fetch a ladder by the which your love”
She also approves of arranged marriages as at the moment of Juliet’s deepest despair, she counsels the expedient solution of arranged marriage with Paris as the way out of the dilemma.
“I think it best you married with the County.”
Friar Lawrence’s role in the play parallels that of the Nurse. He is respected by Romeo and has what may be called a sense of destiny: he feels it in his power to alter the course of history, to make life better and more peaceful. This is why he agrees to conduct the marriage ceremony. He hopes this will “turn your households’ rancour to pure love.” Despite his prophetic reservation that “These violent delights have violent ends” he unites the pair in marriage .His plan to unite the two families, however, comes to grief as he is left to tell Romeo that he is banished from Verona and must go to Mantua. In Act 5 Juliet comes to him for help and he thinks of yet another plan that is even more far-fetched than his others. He gives a potion to Juliet, which is to make her seem dead when she isn’t. At this point I wonder if the friar is thinking more of saving his skin rather than to help Juliet. This also crosses Juliet’s mind:
“Lest…..he should be dishonoured/Because he married me before to Romeo?”
The plan goes wrong, as the note never reached Romeo in Mantua. He tries to persuade Juliet to leave the dead Romeo but she refuses and he deserts her. Juliet then kills herself. Eventually the Friar comes forward to reveal the truth but he is given no punishment. The Prince excuses him with “we still have known thee for a holy man”. The Friar is left to live with the consequences of his actions.
Lady Capulet could also be blamed for the death of her daughter.
“Well, think of marriage now. Younger than you here in Verona, ladies of esteem, are made already mothers.”
We know that Lady Capulet herself was married young and quickly pregnant maybe this is why she agrees to the arranged marriage of Juliet to Paris. Lady Capulets attitude towards the feud is made clear in Act 3 Scene 6. Lady Capulet seems to be distraught over the death of her nephew Tybalt. Her distress might be because the Montagues have killed him. Her enemy have killed him.
“For blood of ours shed blood of Montague.”
When Juliet does not agree to marry Paris her mother is not sympathetic but instead says:
“I would the fool were married to her grave” and “talk not to me, for I’ll not speak a word.”
For a child to hear her own mother disown her this would be very hurtful. Maybe this is why Juliet took drastic measures and ended her life. She did not have her mother to guide her.
Could Romeo and Juliet to some extent be to blame for their own deaths? Some might think that they were young, vulnerable teenagers misled in love. Romeo fell in love with Juliet the moment he saw her saying she danced like a “snowy dove drooping with crows” They talk to each other that night at Juliet’s balcony, the next time we see them together is when they get married. They had only met hours before their wedding is this a sign of two mislead teenagers not knowing what real love is?
I think everyone in the play to some extent contributes to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Ironically the tragic deaths of these two young people resulted in the two families uniting:
“o brother Montague, give me thy hand”
These are the words of Lord Capulet to Lord Montague after he sees his dead daughter. This makes them realise that their stubbornness and bitterness has caused so much pain in their families and resulted in the deaths of their only children.
