But it would be rather simplistic however, to dismiss the fact that coincidence could be responsible for the tragedy. It may have just been a coincidence that Juliet didn’t wake in time to stop Romeo before he killed himself, and it could have been plain coincidence that the letter from the friar didn’t reach Romeo.
But we cannot assume that fate and other things beyond the characters control caused the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, as the tragedy was possibly caused by their own lust and adolescent passion. Throughout the play Shakespeare keeps the audience pondering as to whether Romeo really loves Juliet or if he loves her looks. This is an ever-occurring war of love against lust, which is one of the main themes of the play. The friar’s comment that even a “weak flower/poison hath residence and medicine power”(II, iii) is symbolic of the couples adolescent relationship as their love brings great happiness but has the power to cause great pain. There is an instance in the play where the audience wonders if Romeo really loves Juliet, like when he asks her “wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied.”(II, ii) in this quote Shakespeare depicts Romeo as a lustful adolescent, who is very shallow when it comes to women. (But also at times he depicts him as a passionate lover. This further more makes the audience curious about Romeo’s true intentions towards Juliet.) But more proof of Romeo’s shallowness is just after he has broken up with Rosanna and he swears he will never love again. But when he sees Juliet he wondered, “did [his] heart love till now.”(I, v) This obviously shows how small minded and shallow Romeo can be. There are many references to looks in the play which add to the suspicions of Romeos motives for being with Juliet, when he first saw Juliet he believed he had never “[seen] true beauty till [the] night”(I, v) he saw Juliet. Which shows he saw how beautiful Juliet was, and then decided, he “loved” her. But there is a quote which can be taken in two different ways, when Romeo says he “should adventure for such merchandise” this can be interpreted as a loving gesture said or as a sexual one either way the war between love and lust is still one which is being pondered by the people who see the play. The audience may believe that Romeo only had a physical attraction towards Juliet but we also need to consider that Romeo took his own life when he found Juliet “dead”, and for this reason it makes the audience think that maybe Romeo really did love Juliet.
But even if we acknowledge Romeo and Juliet’s love was genuine it does not account for their rash and hasty behaviour. The friar must have believed that Romeo and Juliet were impatient and hasty as he said “wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast”(II, iii) meaning that the couple are too hasty in what they do. Even Juliet thought that their relationship was going too fast (at first) when she met Romeo, she thought that it was “too rash, too unadvised, too sudden”(II, ii) for her to love someone she had only just met. For these reasons it is easy to see how the couples hastiness and lust could have been responsible for their tragedy.
So we have considered that the present and future may have caused the tragedy but we cannot rule out the past. The “ancient grudge” that consisted between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s was the only thing that kept the couple apart from each other and due to this separation, information was not given to certain people who needed it (e.g. the letter didn’t reach Romeo). Juliet finds that her “her only love [is] sprung from her only hate”(I, v) which means the only person she loves is someone she must hate, this proves that the grudge was keeping the couple apart.
This grudge was caused by the families, but they may also be blamed not just for the grudge but also for their attitudes and pressure that they put on the couple. When Juliet decided she didn’t want to marry Paris her father put pressure on her to marry him and eventually threatens that he will “drag [her] on a hurdle of thither”(III, v) if she doesn’t go to Saint Peters Church to marry Paris. This is ironic as earlier on in the play Shakespeare depicts Capulet as a caring father. Capulet puts so much pressure on Juliet that she eventually says “I am ruled by you” this shows that Capulet thinks he has the power to control everyone by putting pressure and forcing his attitude upon them. So from these reasons you can deduct that the family attitudes and pressure put on the couple may have been responsible for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
The grudge also affected everyone around the families and caused the social attitudes of people to change. Romeo and Juliet are stricken to a private love as in public; the social attitudes of people would forbid a Montague to be with a Capulet (unless a battle is being thwart). In public places where social attitudes matter Romeo and Juliet must sneak around so no one can know of their forbidden love. But in private “Romeo kisses Juliet” and can express his love for her. Some more proof of different attitudes socially and privately are at Capulet’s party where he is talking to the crowd and his nephew, “well said my hearts! – You are a princox, go, and be quiet, or – more light, more light! – For shame, ill make you quiet, what! – cheerly, my hearts!” this shows that in public Capulet is very false and wants everything to be happy. When really he is angry with his nephew. So it is plain to see that back in Shakespeare’s time it was the norm to keep public and private separate and social attitudes separate from private opinion. From these reasons it is easy to see that the “ancient grudge” changed the social attitudes of people making it wrong for Romeo and Juliet to love each other. Therefore it is possible that social attitudes may have caused the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
There are other causes that may have been responsible for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The interference of the friar is one of the key factors, which may have caused the tragedy. The Friar married the couple for the wrong reason he thought that the “alliance may so happy turn [Romeo and Juliet’s] households rancour to pure love” meaning that he only married them to try and end the feud between their families, it is ironic because he was right but the couple died. So the interference of the Friar may have been responsible for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
So we have seen that an uncontrollable fate may have caused the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and that they foreshadowed their own deaths. This indicates that an element of fate was present through out the play. But we have seen much proof that points towards the couple hastiness and adolescence, which possibly made their love blind. We have also seen how the past grudge between the families brought the couple up as enemies this made their love hidden and dangerous. So it must have been a combination of the past grudge, the adolescent present and the uncontrollable future.