Who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet?

Juliet's naivety can be seen as the main reason she could be accountable for the deaths of the lovers. Her naivety can be broken down into several points; first of all Juliet did not have to keep her relationship with a foe however as she was naïve, she may not have been able to see past the "love" that she thought she and Romeo shared. By taking the potion and following Friar Lawrence's plan is again an example of Juliet's naivety. By following the plan to be with Romeo but without having a main input on the plan itself. Juliet admits herself that she can be of no good by saying "if in thy wisdom thou canst give no help" this shows that she could have no input even if she wanted to. If Juliet had told her parents they may have been understanding about the situation however she assumed that they wouldn't be and avoided telling them and they had to find out for their selves, enraging them.

Lord and Lady Capulet and Montague have a large part to play in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Reasons they could be held partially if not completely responsible may include; The initial fued between the families, created a hatred to anyone linked by blood or service between the families. This tells us that even if Romeo and Juliet admitted to their parents that they had been seeing each other and told them of their desire to be wed , they may have taken a negative attitude to the situation and to the opposing family and it would have been harder for Romeo and Juliet to see each other if they were allowed at all. The Capulets put pressure on Juliet to be wed to Paris, Juliet does not like this idea at all, so is willing to try almost anything to avoid having to be wed to Paris and be with Romeo who is already her Husband, this pressure forces Romeo and Juliet to devise the plan which leads to their lives ending. The impression Romeos parents create is one that shows that they don't know Romeo all too well this is shown when the Montagues turn to Benvolio to find where he has been going in the mornings. This is best shown towards the start of the story, lady Montague asks Benvolio "O where is Romeo, saw you him today?" this shows concern, however most parents prefer to know the whereabouts of their children.

Tybalt continued violence into the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, ever since the party he had an individual score with Romeo so the hatred was in effect doubled, his fiery attitude caused the fourth civil brawl between the families, he confronted Romeo who did not want to fight but to be nice, in the end this brawl causes two casualties Mercutio and Tybalt, Tybalt is killed by Romeo as he Killed Mercutio, Romeos best friend. As this was the 4th civil brawl Romeo is exiled, as before warned by Prince . This distance between Romeo and Juliet, makes them long for each other even more so, forcing their plans to become more drastic.

Friar Lawrence can be seen as partially responsible too. By marrying the two families together Friar Lawrence could have turned the feud two ways, to either resolve or it may have gotten worse. Also he devised the final plan that immediately caused the deaths. The plan was simple but bad timing and miss communication brought about the tragedy. Romeo kills himself slightly before Juliet Awakes, once Juliet arises and realises Romeo is dead, she too wants to die, this is evident as Juliet says, "...And left no friendly drop, to help me after".

Many peoples actions can be seen to be a main cause or reason behind Romeo and Juliet's deaths. Proportions of blame can be labelled to certain people or all can share an equal amount of blame.