It is not just the other main characters apart from Romeo and Juliet that get the blame. These two do as well. They both have headstrong personalities and love, which seemed so sure; they had in fact condemned themselves. Romeo was the first to promote the relationship at the Capulet’s party. It was a case of ‘love-at-first-sight’ for him, so he felt obligated to seek Juliet at her balcony, and charm the engagement into existence. However the reality was that the relationship was condemned before it had even begun due to the parent’s hatred for one another. Romeo knew the two families didn’t get on, so he also should have known that the relationship was ill fated. Yet he still persisted in promoting the relationship. Surely he could have controlled his urges and stayed in the bushes infront of Juliet’s balcony on the night of the Capulet’s party. But on the other hand love is often considered an impulsive thing, and Romeo being an impulsive person only made matters worse. An example of Romeo’s impulsive behaviour was when he chased Tybalt after Tybalt killed Mercutio, which resulted in Tybalt’s death. Romeo was horrified with what he had done, and expressed that he felt very irresponsible by crying out; “O, I am fortunes fool!”
Juliet also contributed to the idea of marriage. Like Romeo she was too hasty in rushing into the marriage. But she could have avoided the disaster had she respected and obeyed her parents. When Romeo and Juliet do fall in love with each other at first sight, they are unaware that they are from rival houses. But when they find out it is too late. Juliet says
“My only love, sprung from my only hate! / Too early seen unknown, and known too late!” Juliet realises that it was a mistake to fall in love with Romeo, because he is one of the people she would watch out for. He is her first and only love, but he is an enemy of her family. Luckily for Romeo, Juliet is smart, and such dumb thing, as unreasonable hate between their parents wouldn’t stop her from loving Romeo and getting married with him. She is sorry that their families are enemies, though, because everything would be much easier if they weren’t. So this is the first time when the hate between the Montague’s and Capulet’s becomes an obstacle to Romeo and Juliet’s happiness.
The two characters I would next imagine to be highly blamed are Friar Laurence and Juliet’s Wet Nurse. The Friar Laurence should have never agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet without parental consent. He gave Juliet the sleeping drug, and he was responsible for getting the news of the plan to Romeo, but the news never reached him as Friar John failed to deliver it on time. So Romeo thought Juliet was dead.
The nurse is blamed because she encouraged Juliet in her romantic ideas. She acted as a messenger and helped the lovers meet to get married secretly. She should have let the Capulet’s know about the situation. She advised Juliet to marry Paris, knowing she was already married to Romeo. Later on she withdrew he support when it was most needed.
I think that Mercutio and Tybalt are both based on the same level of blame. Mercutio’s attitude towards quarrels and fighting made the situation worse. He saw the feud as a game and that led to his death and the banishment of Romeo. Tybalt started the fight that resulted in Romeo’s banishment and he was always causing trouble. He more than anyone else kept the hatred alive between the two families, but I wouldn’t suggest that they both get the blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet.
The prince is another character to blame. He should have acted earlier to stop the feud between the two families. Near the beginning he did threaten the Lords and Ladies of each house. “If ever you disturb our streets again,
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.” So exclaiming that if they fought again and disturbed the peace and well-being then they would be put to death. It was unjust of him to send Romeo away from Verona as a punishment for killing Tybalt when the fight was Tybalt’s fault.
The characters in the play are not just to blame. Fate, the stars and destiny also had a massive part. It could be said that the tragedy was not the fault of any one individual. It happened because of bad luck. It was fate that Romeo and Juliet met and fell in love, and bad luck that the letter, which could have saved them, didn’t reach Romeo in time.
In conclusion I have two opinions as to who or what is to blame for the tragedy. It is not being said that the inventor of iron is responsible, nor the ancestor of the Capulets, they were simply examples of how silly and useless blaming an individual is. Indeed in situations like these, either no one or anyone is to blame. Every little thing contributes – hence; the only thing that can be blamed is fate.
The other people that I believe to carry the burden of blame are the Capulets and Montagues. If they didn’t hate each other so much, they would let their children marry, and they would be able to live happily ever after. There was only one person that realized how unreasonable the fighting was and even tried to stop it, and he Benvolio. Benvolio was a Montague, but the Capulets didn’t have a peacemaker such as Benvolio. They only had Tybalt, whose only goal was to destroy all the Montagues. We also don’t realise how Romeo and Juliet’s parents would have reacted if they had known that their children love each other. Romeo and Juliet didn’t even try to tell them about the love between them because they were afraid that their parents wouldn’t understand them, but maybe they would. The problem is, we don’t know, because Capulet and Montague learned about their children’s love when they were already dead. It is still mostly Capulets’ and Montagues’ fault that Romeo and Juliet died, but maybe it was just their fate to die.
