Similarly, Mercutio, a strong, wilful and loyal friend of Romeo, was looking for trouble. He antagonises Tybalt by insulting him and encouraging him to fight. When he died he was standing up for Romeo because Romeo wouldn’t fight. He finds Romeo embarrassing because he wouldn’t fight and possibly confused to the reason behind it; I know this because he says, “Oh calm, dishonourable, vile submission.” And has to turn to fight Tybalt himself or Romeo may have been injured.
He uses humour a lot which Tybalt may have found patronising and didn’t help the situation. He says, “Here’s my fiddlestick, here’s that shall make you dance,” as he draws his sword. And when he dies he says, “Ask for me tomorrow and you will find me a grave man.” He died simply because he fought Tybalt instead of following Benvolio’s instructions to leave the site and the Princes orders not to fight. He was also standing up for himself as he was insulted by Tybalt, as Tybalt says that he “consortest with Romeo.” But the main factor of this fight seen happened to be Mercutio cursing the two households. This could be THE factor that contributed to the death of Romeo and Juliet. But should he have left the site would Romeo have died in the fight?
Juliet's Nurse who is closer to Juliet than her mother is; she nursed baby Juliet and most probably breast fed her, which was a typical thing to happen in those days. She is a comical character, who mourns over her lost daughter and husband, yet constantly delivers sexual jokes. Always talkative and playful, she urges Juliet to “seek happy nights.” The Nurse also provides support for Juliet and knows about her marriage to Romeo. I believe she acted irresponsibly when she found out about marriage with Romeo. All she wanted Juliet to do was have a good time, have a boyfriend and just live life as she wants. But she should have put a stop to the marriage. She knew what would happen if Lord and Lady Capulet found out and did nothing to stop it. In my opinion she hindered the situation. Although immediately after the fight that caused the death of Tybalt, she changes her mind and asks if she will “speak well of him that killed your cousin?” So she tries to turn Juliet against him and continues by saying, “Romeo is banish’d, and all the world to nothing…I think it best you married with the county. O, he’s lovely gentleman. Romeo’s a dishclout to him.” So she is implying that Paris is so much better than Romeo and she should move on. All she wanted was the best for Juliet and give as much love and support as she had done in the past.
Further more Friar Lawrence who is Romeo's friend and advises him in many ways; he is wise and practical, with good intentions although he is a bit short-sighted when he gets the idea. He was worried about Romeo when he had not slept and found another girl so easily after being so madly in love with Rosaline. The Friar marries Romeo and Juliet in an attempt to bring peace to their families. Friar Lawrence is a man who is not afraid to take risks when he feels it is necessary to help someone or in this case the whole of Verona. When he marries Romeo and Juliet, he is risking his reputation as a Friar, in those days priests were very highly thought of and respected, so he can help the two lovers families come together and stop the “ancient feud”. Also, when he says “Take thou this vial, being then in bed, and this distilled liquor drink though off,” He tells Juliet to drink a potion that gives the effect that she is dead and avoids her marriage Paris. In the end it goes horribly wrong as the letter he writes never gets to Romeo. He is the key part in the death of Romeo and Juliet, even though he set out with good intentions. He should have acted more maturely by not going ahead with the marriage or at least telling the parents.
Alternatively, Lady Capulet saw this as an opportunity to join with royalty but Lord Capulet initially wanted to keep Juliet in the household for another two years or “two more summers wither” as he puts it. But soon changes his mind. If he had kept to his first opinion then she wouldn’t have had to drink the potion. When he had changed his mind he began to pressure her into the marriage and threatened her with “get thee to church on a Thursday or never look me in the face” as did Lady Capulet. If Juliet’s parents hadn’t pressured her into the marriage and listened to what she wanted then she wouldn’t have had to drink the potion and the series of events would have been altered. Although in those days this might not have been moral, as the daughter was the fathers possession until she married so she should have obeyed her father’s wishes.
Romeo’s behaviour however, was not always rational as he quickly changed his mind from being madly in love with Rosaline, “In sadness, cousin I do love a woman” and then we changed his mind and married Juliet he never told anyone of their marriage. It was due to this fact that, Tybalt and Mercutio engage in a duel. Romeo tries to stop the duel when he says “Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier down” and also when he says “Draw, Benvolio; beat down their weapons. Gentlemen, for shame, forbear this outrage! Tybalt, Mercutio, the Prince expressly hath forbidden bandying in Verona streets; Hold Tybalt! Good Mercutio!” As Romeo holds Mercutio under his arms, Tybalt stabs Mercutio. Mercutio then responds, “I am hurt. A plague o' both your houses!” Romeo is outraged and saddened by Mercutio's death and through rage he attacks Tybalt and kills him. Romeo's punishment for this act is banishment from Verona. If he had let Tybalt go after he murdered Mercutio then Tybalt would have been executed and the story would have changed dramatically.
In my opinion fate was the largest role in the play. I don’t believe in fate but this is but a story. Fate brought Romeo and Juliet together and it forced them apart. Shakespeare hints at the fact that fate has a role in the play through one of Juliet’s lines, “Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb.” She sees Romeo dead in a tomb, which is where he eventually ends up in the end of the play, beside her. This why she talks about Romeo being so low in a tomb, he's dead, and she has foreseen it, before it has even happened. How could she have seen the future if it wasn't already decided for her? The answer is she probably couldn't have. The prince at the start of the play says, “By thee, old Capulet, and Montague, have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets...If ever you disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.” Which also hints at something going to happen which has already been decided. Romeo and Juliet’s actions may have been predestined, but they were their own. They may not have realized the consequence of their love, but even if they did, they didn't care. Things happen because of fate, and actions happen because of things. It's a never ending circle of actions. Each depends on the other, yet each has the power to affect everything on its own.
In conclusion, from the very beginning, the love of Romeo and Juliet was destined to be destroyed. Not by one man alone but due to fate. It is tragic that both these people had to die. There were circumstances throughout the course of their lives that led up to their deaths. It is impossible to pin point the specific person to blame for the two deaths. The reason behind this is one thing leads to another and that couldn’t have happened without the previous incident. If the families had not been feuding and Friar Lawrence’s plan had worked, the outcome of this story may have been different, although fate could not be changed. The murderer in the case of Romeo and Juliet was, over all, fate. “For never was there a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo”.
From this powerfully written play I have learned how the social context has such a dramatic effect upon the feelings, actions and generally the everyday life of people. If there was no feud between the families maybe they would never have met or hated each other or have lived happily ever after. Maybe if the families we’re great friends they would have been made to marry each other and killed themselves because they didn’t want to marry.
I believe all our lives as individuals would be different if we came from a different background, a different place to live or a wealthier background.
I have also learnt that feuds should never be long lasting. One party should have the maturity to attempt at making up and if that fails, have the maturity to leave the situation and let it die out. There should be no wrong in trying to make up whatever the reason was behind the feud in the first place. This is why I believe in ‘forgive and forget’ because in the end people will get hurt due to immaturity.