As we go on in the play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ we discover that the cause of the two lover’s death has someone responsible.
Tybalt’s anger, his argumentative nature and his deep and violent hatred of the Montague’s is clearly responsible in part for the death of the lovers. Tybalt’s hot-blooded nature leads him to confront the Montague’s in Verona’s market place. He has come looking for Romeo to avenge the ‘insult’ he feels because Romeo has gate-crashed the Capulet feast. When he kills Romeo, ‘thou art a villain’ and Romeo refuses to fight saying ‘villain I am none, therefore farewell’, Tybalt turns his fury on Romeo’s closest companion, Mercutio. Mercutio has stepped in because he sees Romeo’s refusal to fight as cowardly, a ‘vile, dishonourable submission’. Tybalt’s murder of Mercutio and Romeo’s subsequent murder of Tybalt leads directly to Romeo’s banishment and thus all that follows it.
Mercutio’s loyalty to the Montagues, his hot-blooded personality is clearly responsible for the death of the lovers. Mercutio’s loyalty to the Montague’s leads him to confront Tybalt all because Romeo backed down from a challenge. Mercutio says ‘Will you pluck your sword out of his pilcher by the ears? Make haste, leste mine be about your ears ere it be out’ which blatantly suggests that he is up for a fight! Tybalt agrees to the challenge and says ‘I am for you’ (let’s fight). However, Tybalt eventually slays Mercutio causing Romeo to be angered and killing him thus leading to his banishment from Verona and all the dreadful things that happen after it…
Friar Lawrence’s nervousness, his big mistake is clearly responsible for the death of the lovers. Lawrence’s careless mistake leads Romeo to misunderstand that Juliet is really dead. He says ‘I’ll send a Friar with speed to Mantua, with my letters to thy lord’. What he should have done is to send someone to deliver the letter personally rather than with a whole lot of letters by a mail merchant. Lawrence should have had the ‘brains’ to figure out that a donkey is slower than a horse! However, this was not the main cause because Lawrence is held back in Verona due to a number of reasons so he cannot depart to Mantua.
The Nurse’s over protection of Juliet, her personality of ‘pretending’ Juliet as her daughter clearly is responsible for the death of the lovers. The Nurse’s quick decisions draw Romeo and Juliet together hoping that their marriage would hopefully stop the feud between Capulet’s and Montague’s. However, all this backfires when the Nurse finds out that Tybalt is dead and Romeo is banished. The Nurse then tells Juliet ‘Tybalt is gone and Romeo banished, Romeo that killed him, he is banished’. After telling Juliet the news the Nurse gets worried about what will happen to her in the future.
Old Capulet’s laid-back attitude, his personality to seek control over Juliet’s marriage is clearly responsible for the death of the lovers. Old Capulet’s decision came so quick that Juliet said ‘No’ towards the marriage. However, Old Capulet threatened Juliet and said ‘To go with Paris to St Peter’s Church, or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither’. He also threatens to disown her which is one of the main causes as to why Juliet decides to take the poison to fake a death so she could be with Romeo.
Romeo’s ‘hot-headed’ personality and his loving nature towards Juliet is clear responsible for the death of the lovers. Romeo kills Tybalt and immediately says ‘O, I am fortune’s fool’ and then runs away to hide. Later on, he is found guilty of slaying Tybalt resulting in his banishment from Verona. Romeo’s love towards Juliet draws him back to the tomb containing Juliet. He says ‘Is it e’en so? Then I defy you stars!’ and then heads back to Verona to seek Juliet. However, despite his efforts to go back to see Juliet, he didn’t get the letter containing the plan Friar Lawrence has devised; instead, Bathasar gets to him with the dreadful news.
Juliet’s lack of experience in life and her love for Romeo is clearly responsible for the death of the lovers. Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris inevitably leads to Juliet ‘faking’ a death just to avoid the marriage and be with Romeo. She says ‘Give me, give me! O tell not me of fear’ to prove that she is willing to do anything to avoid a marriage. However, this backfires because Romeo arrives in the tomb and kills himself minutes before Juliet wakes up! Shortly after when Juliet wakes she kills herself in the name of love.
Aspects of the play other than the people who come into contact with the lovers can be seen as partly responsible for their deaths:
The Family Feud puts an invisible barrier between Romeo and Juliet because they both are a member or the different houses: one Capulet and one Montague. Although Romeo is in love with Juliet, their love can never go public all because of the feud between the two families. However, the Nurse wants this feud to end so she decides to marry Juliet to Romeo in a bid to stop the feud. Also, to make matters worse, Romeo kills Tybalt and gets banished from the city of Verona.
Accidents and bad luck are the most unlucky thing to happen to a person. In the play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ we see quite a lot of it because of what Friar Lawrence sent to Romeo (the letter containing his plan) never came into the hands of Romeo. Later on, Balthasar comes and gives the news that Juliet is dead. Romeo rushes back to Verona without knowing Lawrence’s plan. Another thing is the timing of Romeo’s death if he would have lived for a few minutes longer then he would have seen Juliet wake up because she does so straight after he dies.
Fate is a mysterious force which drives people into particular directions but which cannot be predicted or clearly understood, can be seen to play a part in the series of events leading to the double suicide. The chorus mentions fate as a controlling influence upon the lives of the lovers, before the action has even begun! He calls the ‘star-crossed’. Romeo is particularly sensitive to the idea that some greater force, something he doesn’t comprehend, is guiding his actions. Before he gate-crashes the Capulet feast he says he fears ‘some consequence yet hanging in the stars’ some unknown fate that will end his life ‘bitterly’. He calls himself ‘fortune’s fool’ immediately after murdering Tybalt. ‘I defy you stars’ he says as he prepares to race back to Juliet’s tomb to take his own life…
Love is a natural feeling everyone gets, but no one knows where its origin is and where it comes from can be seen as partly a cause that leads to the double suicide. The play itself is entirely based upon love and how much one person would give up just being with the other person. Love can be blind because you never know where your heart lies within someone’s heart. Romeo sees ‘love’ within Juliet as soon as he sets eyes on her. He says ‘It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night, as a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear’ to signify that he has not seen such beauty before. In the end, love, can be a vital key to leading Romeo back to the tomb because he is willing to die for love.
Conflict of generations, a ‘battle’ that has gone on for a very long time can be seen as a cause for the death of the lovers in a double suicide. The conflict has put a barrier against the two lovers. Also, the conflicts make the families hate each other so every time each house meets then it ends up in a fight! The younger generations (Romeo and Juliet) want to make peace between the two houses and hope their marriage would stop the feud between them.
I would conclude that the lover’s deaths are caused by ‘love’ and they died because they love each other and willing to give up including their own lives. Also, if they truly love each other, they will be inseparable. Love can be a very mysterious character because you won’t know where it lies and when you feel it. The power of ‘love’ has guided Romeo to go back to the tomb to die with Juliet. The love at first sight can be seen as the most common way of falling in love with somebody because you are simply attracted to them when your eyes lock-on to each other and this happens in the play when Romeo sets eyes on Juliet during the Capulet feast. From then on, all the events that happen after that go downhill for Romeo and Juliet which mean they cannot be together so they decide to die instead, which is a brave, yet sad and emotional ending to the play.
