How far are Romeo and Juliet to blame for the tragedy of their deaths?

Laura D’Anzieri

10HD

15-05-04

How far are Romeo and Juliet to blame for the tragedy of their deaths?

I do feel that Romeo and Juliet are partly responsible for their own deaths but I definitely believe that others contribute to the their deaths. To find who is to blame for the tragedy you must consider how young Romeo and Juliet are, fate, love, the feud and other factors as well.

At the beginning of the play we are told about the feud that exists between the Capulets and the Montagues: ‘from ancient grudge, break to new mutiny’. Romeo and Juliet must hide their love for each other from their families because their families would most probably disown them if they found out. I believe if Romeo and Juliet had not had to hide their love then there would not have been a tragedy. They would not have needed to take any of the desperate measures they adopt. The feud leads to events such as the death of Mercutio and Tybalt; these events lead to the terrible tragedy. As Mercutio dies he blames the feud for his death: ‘A plague O’ both your houses, I am sped’.

Old Capulet is largely to blame for all the rash measures taken by Romeo and Juliet because he gives Juliet the ultimatum of either marrying Paris or being disowned by her family: ‘And you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend, And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets’. Juliet cannot marry Paris because she loves Romeo and is already secretly married to him. The way in which Old Capulet speaks to Juliet would be shocking to an audience today but in the late 1500’s it would have been normal for a father to tell his daughter exactly what to do and threaten her if she did not cooperate: ‘…go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church, Or I will drag thee on a hither-thither’. Without these ultimatums given to her I do not believe Juliet would have taken Friar Laurence’s potion that leads to even more catastrophe.

Therefore someone I believe is greatly to blame for the tragedy is Friar Laurence. Friar Laurence comes up with the idea that Juliet should drink the poison that will make her appear dead for 42 hours: ‘and in this borrow’d likeness of shrunk death, Thou shalt continue two and forty hour, And then awake as from a pleasant sleep’. I think it is completely irresponsible of the Friar to let Juliet use such a concoction, as she is only fourteen and not even very mature for her age. Although it is not Friar Laurence’s fault that Romeo does not find ...

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Therefore someone I believe is greatly to blame for the tragedy is Friar Laurence. Friar Laurence comes up with the idea that Juliet should drink the poison that will make her appear dead for 42 hours: ‘and in this borrow’d likeness of shrunk death, Thou shalt continue two and forty hour, And then awake as from a pleasant sleep’. I think it is completely irresponsible of the Friar to let Juliet use such a concoction, as she is only fourteen and not even very mature for her age. Although it is not Friar Laurence’s fault that Romeo does not find out that Juliet has taken a potion to make herself appear dead, it is ridiculous of Friar to let adolescents take part in such an elaborate scheme. However in the 1500’s teenagers of Romeo and Juliet’s age were considered adults so an audience of Shakespeare’s contemporaries would not think that it is foolish of the Friar to give Juliet the potion. I believe that when Juliet goes to Friar Laurence when she is desperate and hysterical, if he had tried to calm her down instead of giving her the potion I doubt the tragedy would have occurred.

I feel that fate works against Romeo and Juliet throughout the play resulting in their tragic deaths. We learn at the very beginning of the play that they are ‘star-crossed lovers’ and there are references to the workings of fate throughout the play: ‘the yoke of inauspicious stars’. There are several times during the play where the audience feels that Romeo and Juliet’s destinies are working against them. For example at the end of the play when Juliet awakes seconds after Romeo has killed himself because he thinks Juliet is dead, makes the audience think that they are extremely ill-fated. Also when Romeo slays Tybalt it is made clear that Tybalt was a better swordsman however, Romeo manages to kill him; he is amazed and blames fate: ‘O, I am fortune’s fool’. There are other fundamental events that take place because of fate. Romeo and Juliet meet at the Capulet’s ball, however Romeo was not invited to this ball. He came because by chance the illiterate clown asked him to read the invitations for the ball and he decided to go. It is in my opinion that another work of fate is that Romeo and Juliet should find love in the wrong place – in families that hate one another. All these occurrences make the audience feels that fate does not want Romeo and Juliet to end up together.

The last people that must be considered for their role in the terrible outcome of the play are Romeo and Juliet themselves. They do obviously have some role in their tragic end as they both commit suicide! I do not believe that Romeo and Juliet’s relationship can be dismissed as just a teenage infatuation; so all the reckless measures Romeo and Juliet take are due to true love. Therefore one cannot say they are solely responsible for their deaths. It is obvious from the way that they talk to one another that it is true love. For example Romeo’s beautiful personification of the Sun as Juliet: ‘It is the East, and Juliet is the Sun. Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she’. Although it is clear that Romeo and Juliet are not just infatuated with each other, but are truly in love, that is not to say their relationship has nothing to do with their terrible end. I think they are very absorbed in their passionate affair, causing them to make hasty decisions. This could definitely be a factor of their terrible deaths. I think the reason why Romeo and Juliet fall in love with each other so willingly is because of their lack of experience in love and this is why they make such fateful choices such as a secret marriage. Although it could be seen as self-centeredness, I believe Romeo and Juliet do not really consider the consequences of their actions because of their youth and immaturity. Therefore I do not think one can put all the blame for the awful tragedy on Romeo and Juliet, as they are young and naïve. However an audience in the 1500’s might not have been so kind about Romeo and Juliet as adolescents were counted as adults so youth and inexperience would not warrant as an excuse.

In conclusion I do not believe there is one character to blame for the tragic finale of the play. I believe that Romeo and Juliet do have an input in their deaths but I do not believe that their end is just. I think all the other characters contribute to the tragedy but I believe the main force behind the atrocity is fate. Fate works against Romeo and Juliet throughout the play resulting in their tragic demise.