does not like peace and prefers to fight. It suggests to the audience that he is a violent and
a bloodthirsty character. His characteristics contributed to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet
because he had the chance to make peace with Benvolio at the beginning of the play, but
he chose to fight. This results in the grudge becoming more serious and the hate for each
other grows bigger. Tybalt’s personality consequently led to his own death. This is
because Tybalt has a revengeful side and came searching for Romeo determined to fight
him. This eventually resulted in Romeo’s banishment from Verona separating the couple.
The separation of the couple resulted in a stronger will to be together, which left them to
seek alternative ways of meeting.
The parents played a large factor in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. This is because they
could have swallowed their pride for the happiness of their children. It would have been
difficult to resolve things between the two families because the situation had become
more personal and extreme. Several characters contributed towards the feud by verbal
and physical abuse for example, Tybalt insulted Romeo, “Romeo the love I bear thee can
afford no better tern than this: thou art a villain.” If these battles did not occur for a long
time period in the play, than time could have heeled the grudge between them. However,
other characters kept renewing the hate they have for each other. All the hate builds up if
fights continue, like an ever increasing mountain of hate. The Montagues and Capulets
were two of the most respected families in Verona. This gave time for a huge amount of
rivalry to develop in many areas including wealth. The two households were of the same
social status, which caused more rivalry. There were clear parts in the play that suggested
the parents were unforgiving for example, Lady Capulet demanded Romeo’s blood after
the devastating news that Tybalt was killed by Romeo. When Lady Capulet saw how
grief stricken Juliet was she suggested hiring someone to murder Romeo in Mantua.
From these events that have occurred it will become less likely for the feud to be
resolved. We do know that the two households eventually make peace but there was a big
price to pay. In addition, another contributing factor to the blood shed was the up
bringing the children received from an early age. The Montagues were brought up to hate
the Capulets and Capulets were bought up to hate Montagues, loosing sight the root of
the grudge.
Romeo had a flaw in his character that appeared obvious to the audience. He was quite
shallow because at the beginning of the play he claimed that he loved Rosaline but when
he spotted Juliet at the ball, he instantly forgot about her. This implies to the
audience that he was only interested in the appearance of women and not their inner
beauty. Further more if he was more considerate to his feelings for Rosaline he may not
have tried to approach Juliet so quickly and so to never meet again. Romeo was partially
responsible for his own death. This is because his hastiness resulted in him not receiving
the letter from Friar Lawrence about his plan. If he had thought about going to Verona
first he would have received the letter. This was a knock on effect from the Prince of
Verona, Escales. Escales had banished Romeo from Verona as punishment for killing
Tybalt. This final part in the play played a huge part because it would have made the
difference of Romeo and Juliet dying tragically or living happily together. Romeo was
partially responsible for Mercutio’s death by being dishonest. When Tybalt challenged
Romeo to a fight, he refused and Mercutio fought for him. He did not tell Mercutio why
he didn’t want to fight Tybalt. The reason was Tybalt is going to be his brother in law. If
he had told Mercutio, he might have restrained himself from attacking Tybalt for his
friendship with Romeo. At the beginning of the play when Romeo first laid eyes on Juliet
he fell in love. This suggests that he gets attached to women too easily. This is a character
flaw because he will not value the true meaning of love. He fell in love with her beauty
and not the person that she is.
The nurse also had weaknesses in her character because she supported the couple to stay
out of trouble and help them to stay together. However, if she were more supportive
towards Juliet’s parents the couple would not have met and therefore, the love for each
other would not grow as deep. If the Nurse was stricter she could have banished Romeo
completely from Juliet’s mind by convincing her it was the wrong thing to do by going
against your parents will. We can relate the Nurse to Friar Lawrence because they both
had sympathy for Romeo and Juliet which drove them to help the couple. These two
characters have proved to be a major influence between Romeo and Juliet’s love
especially Friar Lawrence as he is a religious man and everyone respects and listens to
him. They also deceived the Capulets and Montagues by pretending not to know anything
at all. The Nurse knew they were meeting on the balcony and Friar Lawrence knew that
Juliet wasn’t really dead.
Juliet’s character flaws were that she deceived her parents into believing that she would
listen to her parents by agreeing to marry Paris. The audience knew that she still loved
Romeo and had no intention of marrying Paris. She could have told the truth about her
love for Romeo and convince her parents it is the right thing to do. Another character
flaw with Juliet is that she got attached very quickly to Romeo. They did not know
anything about each other and carried on meeting. Had they been more cautious and
sensible they may have found out that they could not meet as Romeo is a Montague and
Juliet a Capulet. If these two characters had known that they would not continue to meet
therefore, the tragedy may not have occurred. When they found out they were on from
different families it had become too late. Their love had developed into something very
serious and dangerous.
The Prince of Verona was not a role model for the other characters as he too had bad
characteristics. When fights broke out between the two families he did not try to resolve
the situation between the two families. He could have provided solutions to resolve this
feud. The only thing he did was to state the consequences of it continuing for example,
Romeo’s banishment to Mantua. When banishing Romeo to Mantua his decision was
very hasty. This is because he did not want to know why the fight broke out and what
provoked Romeo to kill Tybalt.
The death of Romeo and Juliet was not purely down to character flaws but also a great
deal with instances of misfortune. These incidences affected the direction the play was
heading. Firstly, Romeo tried to stop the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio but Tybalt
took advantage and stabbed Mercutio under Romeo’s arm. This was unfortunate for all
three characters involved because Mercutio died without a fair fight, Romeo killed Tybalt
and Romeo was banished from Verona. The events in this short time span affected
Romeo and Juliet because they could not see each other and became harder as the
Capulets sought a way to get revenge over Romeo.
Another incidence of misfortune is Lord Capulet bringing forward the date of Juliet’s
marriage to County Paris. It is unlucky because if there was more time to the wedding,
Romeo and Juliet could have thought up a better plan to escape together. Therefore,
Romeo and Juliet still may be alive.
A very misfortunate incident occurred near the end of the play, which would have made
the difference of life and death. When Romeo received the news that Juliet was dead, he
rushed to Verona so quickly that he did not receive the letter from Friar Lawrence.
Eventually, Romeo drank potion from the apothecary just as Juliet awoke. This was a
matter of seconds that killed the couple. Although, Romeo was hasty in making his
decision the Balthasar had told him to have patience. Had he waited, the second letter
would have arrived. So, this final part in the play could also be blamed on character
flaws. It seems that every factor that could change the course of the pay was not on their
side including, time, character flaws and fate.
In the play, we have seen some pessimistic portents, often in the form of dreams. On the
way to the Capulet party, Romeo admits: “My mind misgives. Some consequence yet
hanging in the stars shall bitterly begin his fearful date with this night’s revels, and expire
the term of a despised life clos’d in my breast by some vile forfeit of untimely death.”
This quote from Romeo informs the audience that something terrible is waiting to
happen and it is not in Romeo’s control, it is controlled by the stars.
There are other references to bad fate that reminds the audience that something bad will
happen. Romeo replies to the news of Mercutio’s death with, “This day’s black fate on
moe days doth depend this but begins the woe others must end.” This quote implies that
fate has more dark days to encounter. Another reference to fate is, “I have an ill-devining
soul. Methinks I see thee now, thou art so low as the dead in the bottom of a tomb.” This
quote is from Juliet to Romeo when she bids fairwell to him. This implies that she has a
bad feeling about the separation of the couple.
Friar Lawrence put his trust in a supernatural power to help Romeo and Juliet to be
together. Although, Friar Lawrence believes that the heavens will be pleased, “so smiles
the heavens upon this holy act...” it does not seem as so as we find out later in the play.
When Friar Lawrence finds Romeo dead he came to the conclusion that, “A greater
power than we can contradict hath thwarted our interests….. the work of heaven..” He
believes that a much stronger power (heaven) will not let the couple live together. The
prince, too, reprimands both the Montagues and the Capulets, “See what a scrounge is
laid upon thy hate that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love!” From these
quotes we can clearly see that fate appears to be punishing both families for their
weaknesses.
To conclude, I feel that fate played a large part in the play due to several incidences that
symbolise misfortune, the personality traits of the characters equally contributed to the
tragedy. The character weaknesses eventually resulted in six deaths signifying the
weaknesses of the characters including Romeo, Tybalt, the Nurse, Friar Lawrence, the
prince, Juliet and the parents.
