Romeo and Juliet is a romantic tragedy where two star crossed lovers in the middle of a family feud couldn’t find a way to be together so they planned to run away together. However Romeo found Juliet ‘dead’ and killed himself, shortly after Juliet awakens to find her lover dead and kills herself with his dagger. Their deaths were down to, not just one, but many of the characters in the play.
The deaths of Romeo and Juliet were not solely down to one person but in fact down to many different actions of many different characters. Of course their parents were a major cause to their deaths. In Verona there were two main families. The Montague’s and the Capulets. They had an ongoing ancient feud which resulted in constant fighting. However Romeo refused to fight and fell in love with Juliet. It also didn’t help that Juliet’s parents, the Capulets, never really acknowledged their daughter, as they had a nurse bringing her up, and Juliet didn’t really see her mother as her ‘real’ mother:
Act 1 Scene 3 ‘Madam, I am here, what is your will?’
Here when addressing her mother she refers to her as madam and not mother. This shows she didn’t feel particularly close to her mother. Then her parents tried forcing her to marry Paris, a young wealthy man:
Act 1 Scene 3 ‘What say you…………. Paris’ face’
Her it was clear that lady Capulet wanted Juliet to marry Paris. Lord Capulet also made it clear Juliet was to marry Paris even if she didn’t want to:
Act 3 Scene 5 ‘I tell thee what: get thee to church a’Thursday Or never _ look me in the face.’
Here lord Capulet was making it clear to Juliet that she either married Paris or was disowned from the family, giving her no choice but to marry Paris which she still refuses. Juliet was obviously distressed and turned to her mother for support where unsurprisingly she was turned away:
Act 3 Scene 5 ‘O sweet my mother, cast me not away! Delay this marriage _ for a moth, a week’
Lady Capulets response to this was expected but Juliet still had to try and delay the marriage long enough for her to run away with Romeo.
Also part of Romeo and Juliets deaths were the nurse and Friar Lawrence. The nurses part in it was as the beginning she helped Romeo and Juliet to marry and even goes to find Romeo to get news of their marriage arrangements to Juliet. However when the nurse learns of Juliets wedding to Paris is being arranged she quickly changes her mind and betrays Juliet by telling her to forget all about Romeo and marry Paris:
Act 3 Scene 5 ‘I think its best you married with the County…. Romeos a _ dishclout to him.’
When the nurse says this Juliet feels betrayed as the person she has trusted and confided in for all these years is now betraying her and discouraging her from following her heart.
The Friar plays a part in their deaths as he is the one who supplied the potion to Juliet to make it look like she was sleeping:
Act 4 Scene 1 ‘distilling liquor drink tho off….for no pulse’
The friar was offering Juliet a way to escape the marriage to Paris and a way to be with Romeo forever. However he didn’t get the message to Romeo in time and Romeo thought Juliet was dead.
Some of the blame has to be put down to the fighting. One fight in particular which lead to Mercutio and Tybalts deaths. Shortly after Romeo and Juliet got married Tybalt challenged Romeo to a fight but Romeo refused because he was now related to Tybalt and didn’t want to hurt Juliet. Unfortunately Mercutio ended up fighting with Tybalt:
Act 3 Scene 1 ‘Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk?’
Mercutio challenges Tybalt to a fight where unfortunately he loses when Romeo intervenes and steps in between Tybalt and Mercutio to stop them fighting:
Act 3 Scene 1 ‘Hold, Tybalt! Good Mercutio!’
In interfering with the fight Tybalt manages to stab Mercutio and killing him. Romeo suddenly comes over in a huge rage when seeing his friend die and challenges Tybalt to a fight. Tybalt loses the fight to Romeo. This is where the prince plays the part in Romeo and Juliets deaths. When learning of the fighting between Tybalt, Mercutio and Romeo and hears of the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt the prince banishes Romeo from Verona therefore stopping him from seeing Juliet.
Act 3 Scene 1 ‘Immediately we do exile him hence’
In some ways Romeo and Juliet are responsible for their own deaths. When they met at the ball thrown by the Capulets Juliet and Romeo learned they were in fact meant to be enemies:
Act 1 Scene 5 ‘His name is Romeo, and a Montague, the only son of your _ great enemy.’
When Juliet learnt this she should have known nothing but bad would become of their relationship and stopped seeing Romeo. However they carried on seeing each other and got married where they eventually spent the night together.
At the end of the play when Romeo discovered Juliet he should have waited and not reacted as quickly as killing himself, and when Juliet awoken she should have done the same.
I think that although a lot of people where involved with Romeo and Juliets deaths the main people to blame were in fact lord and lady Capulet. Had they have shown more compassion and love for their daughter instead of cold heartedness she might not have felt the need to go to Romeo, the one person her parents despised the most.