immensely dramatic and was so depressed over Rosaline. He wanted to die. Then right
away, he falls in love with the Capulet, Juliet. Juliet was dropped out of Romeo’s mind
though while fighting, and all he could think of was the vengeance on Tybalt for his
friend’s death, and so “the male friendship overrode his love for his lady.” Not
thinking about Juliet or being rational, he is responsible for this tragedy. Like the
relationship with Rosaline, he wants to kill himself as soon as he finds out that he can’t
be with her anymore.
Juliet killed herself because she was unhappy with her parents for forcing her to
marry Paris. She thought the Nurse was her only friend, but she too ended up betraying
her. Juliet had given up all hope as soon as she realized that she was alone in this battle for Romeo and not Paris
Like the Nurse, Friar Lawrence had good intentions as well, but his plan could
have been structured better. Like Romeo and Juliet, he was hasty in his actions. He did
not have that much time though to think things through. If Romeo would have gotten the
message on time about Juliet, he wouldn’t have killed himself. He was willing to do
anything for them and showed true kindness. I think that his plan was partly to blame for
the tragedy, but I don’t believe that Friar Lawrence is responsible because he did not
mean for that to happen and did everything he could. He should not have left Juliet alone
at the end in the tomb and proves to be cowardly there. Most likely, he knew that she
would do something drastic if she was left there alone, but he gets scared and thinks only
of himself at the moment. As a result, she commits suicide because of his hasty and not
careful actions and planning.
Romeo’s friend, Mercutio, could have contributed to their fate because while he
was dying, he screamed out to the streets, “A plague o’ both your houses.”
This is a curse he gives to the families, which will affect Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio is totally unaware though of Romeo’s love for Juliet. He dies without even knowing the purpose of this play. Love is nonsense to Mercutio. He believes like in his speech about Queen Mab that love is “an open arse and a poperin pear.” Mercutio should have never gotten into the middle of the fight between Romeo and Tybalt, but as a result, he dies and Romeo kills Tybalt, which really catapults the horrible events yet to happen.
He seems to provoke the feuding and battles. During the dance, where Romeo and Juliet first meet, Tybalt is furious that Romeo is there, but Capulet is angry with Tybalt for not being tolerable. Even when talking of peace, he seems to want war anyway. At the very beginning, Benvolio says that he wants peace, but Tybalt fights with him anyway and says, “What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. Have at thee, coward!” He even goes after Romeo to fight, and after Romeo refusing many times to fight, he ends up fighting Mercutio instead and kills him and then later fights Romeo, whom he is killed by in that duel. He was one who encouraged the war and hatred between the families. To me, he is greatly responsible for the two lovers’ deaths just because of his persistence to not have peace.
If I were a 16th century scholar and had to answer this same question, I don’t
believe that I would blame Juliet or Romeo for any part of it because scholars believed
that there was “Courtly Love,” which was when “the god of love, Eros or Cupid, angry at
being left out of things, forces the man to fall in love with a woman. The falling in love
is involuntary and instantaneous. It is never gradual. As a modern day thinker, I believe that Romeo and Juliet should not have continued their affair because of the dangerous conditions between the families, and they could have controlled their love for each other
instead of the gods controlling it. This proves that the lovers were more interested in the idea of love and were in anticipation for it. Their lust could have eventually developed into love, but they could not truly and completely be in love with each other most likely if they did not know each other at all too well. “This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, may prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.”
With all my proof stated in this essay, I will continue to keep my answer to this
proposal. The families feuding were the most responsible for the terrible outcome of the
star-crossed lovers, then second is Romeo, third is Friar Lawrence, fourth is Tybalt, fifth
is the Nurse, sixth is Mercutio, and then last is Juliet. It is obvious why the feuding is
most responsible, but the reason why Romeo is second is because he decided to not be
careful with his fate and is responsible for his own actions and choices. Friar Lawrence is to blame for a large portion as well because the misunderstanding of his plan at the end is what made the lovers finally commit suicide. Tybalt encourages the families to be even more distant and hateful, the Nurse inspires Juliet to lose hope, and Mercutio curses their fate together. I think the least responsible is Juliet because given the circumstances she was in, it is understandable why she did the things she did. She was clearly miserable
with her family and did not want the life that her parents planned for her. There was
nothing that she could do to stop that, so the only outlet was suicide or to run away.
Romeo died though, and that is why she did as well. With that said, that is why I believe
my argument is still valid.
