Romeo and Juliet At the end of the play many of the young people are dead. To what extent is this the fault of the older generation?

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Matt Molyneux 10S1

At the end of the play many of the young people are dead. To what extent is this the fault of the older generation?

Verona has an unstable, tense environment, where the citizens are always on edge, wondering when the next conflict between the two families might be. The Montagues and the Capulets have been at war for so long no one can remember why, It’s just the way things are and the younger generation have to accept this and are brought up to hate the other family and now they are starting to fight in their own conflict with the other family’s younger generation.

At the time the play is set, the older generation were dominant over the younger relatives and the younger family members were forced to oblige. Marriage is seen as a contract to increase family’s assets, rather than a unity of two lovers. Parents would not let their child have any say in the decision and the parents would choose their new son/daughter in law by how much influence they would bring to their family name. For example Capulet is considering having an arranged marriage for Juliet with County Paris. Initially Capulet is being liberal with the marriage and letting Juliet have a certain amount of influence over who she is to marry but at Capulet’s ball Juliet and Romeo instantly fall in love with each other. However they are falling in love with someone who their parents have always taught them to hate.

The first young person to die is Mercutio, he is a Montague and is one of Romeo’s cousins. Mercutio’s death comes about after Tybalt came looking for revenge for what he saw as an insult from Romeo when he intruded on the Capulet ball. At the ball Old Capulet restrained Tybalt from dealing with Romeo and laid down his authority as head of the household but in doing so he only fuelled Tybalt’s rage. Old Capulet said to Tybalt “Go to, go to, You are a saucy boy. Is’t so indeed? This trick my chance to scathe you. I know what: You must contrary me… You are a princox; go.” This humiliates Tybalt and makes him him more determined to seek revenge. Tybalt went looking for Romeo with only one intention, to kill him. When he found Romeo, Romeo was reluctant to fight because he was now married to Juliet and Tybalt was his brother in-law. Mercutio stepped in and started provoking Tybalt. The latter’s rage then boiled over and he and Mercutio draw for their swords and fight. Mercutio gets stabbed and his injury proves to be fatal. I think the blame for this death should not be allocated to a single person. I think Old Capulet should be held partly responsible for not dealing with Tybalt’s rage efficiently, whilst Mercutio should be to blame partly for his own death for goading Tybalt. “Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?” Here Mercutio is clearly asking for a fight and a fight is what he got and therefore he must be, to a certain extent, held accountable for his own death.

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Tybalt is a Capulet and Juliet’s cousin. He is the next young person to be killed. After Tybalt killed Mercutio, Romeo went into a mad rage and went looking for Tybalt. When Romeo found him they fought and Romeo slew Tybalt. Both Tybalt and Old Capulet are to blame for this death. Old Capulet is to blame for the same reason as he was for Mercutio’s death; he treated the situation with Tybalt incorrectly at the ball and promoted Tybalt’s anger. Tybalt is also at fault for misunderstanding Romeo’s intentions at the ball, thinking he was there to insult ...

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