“Prodigious birth of love is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy.” (Act 1 Scene 5)
Friends and Friar Lawrence offer support to Romeo, whereas Juliet is on her own and has to make her own decisions, with the Nurse offering little or no help. Romeo’s parents seem very caring and loving, but Juliet’s parents, especially Lady Capulet, are very cold and hard-hearted, they force Juliet into marriage with Paris, “She shall be married to this noble earl”. (Act 3, Scene 4) Juliet visits Friar Lawrence and is pleased to of his plans for herself and Romeo, as she is, at this time, distressed at the thought of having to marry Paris,
“Oh bid me leap, rather than marry Paris From off the battlements of any tower”. (Act 4, Scene 1)
Friar Lawrence's plan for Romeo and Juliet is that Juliet is to take a potion to make her appear dead on her wedding day she would then be taken to the Capulets’ vault. Meanwhile after receiving a letter from the Friar Romeo would return to Verona from Mantua and would be with Juliet when she wakes up. Juliet is very pleased to receive the potion from Friar Lawrence
“Give me, give me! Oh tell me not of fear! (Act 4, Scene 1)
The Friar is a man with good intentions but is persuaded to make risky decisions by Romeo and Juliet, such as agreeing to marry them without their parents’ consent. He gets too involved and it is then left up to him to ensure that everything goes smoothly as planned.
He goes behind the backs of Juliet’s parents by agreeing to marry Romeo and Juliet but he has a good reason for this. “To turn your households rancour to pure love”, to reconcile the two feuding families. Though the Friar is concerned about what he is doing, “These violent delights have violent ends”, the plan to reconcile the families soon comes to grief as Romeo is banished. This time he makes another plan that is as risky as the first. Romeo is to go to Mantua where he will then try to arrange a meeting between Romeo and Juliet. The plan goes wrong and he accuses fate, “Unhappy Fortune” for the misfortunes.
Juliet, who now faces the rest of her life with Paris, turns to the Friar for a solution. He supplies her with a “sleeping potion” which she uses to make it look like she is dead so she does not have to marry Paris. It is fair to say that Friar Lawrence is one of the main people to blame for the tragedy, as it is his plans that go wrong. But from Romeo and Juliet’s view he is very helpful and always has a solution for their dilemmas
The Nurse is one of Juliet’s closest friends, apart from Romeo. She is not particularly clever or sensitive and does nothing to warn Juliet of how an involvement with a Montague might cause problems to Juliet and her family. In Act 1 Scene 3 when Lady Capulet is discussing the possibility of marriage to Paris, she makes jokes and finds it very amusing, “A bump as big as a young cockerels stone”. Even though the Nurse may be very simple minded and talkative she is very loving and fond of Juliet
“Well sir my mistress is the sweetest lady” (Act 2, Scene 4)
The Nurse appears to have got too carried away with the situation and is eager for Juliet to marry, but she offers no advice or caution to what Juliet is doing, although she clearly knows that Juliet is young and inexperienced. She makes no effort to suggest that this will be a problem. Like Friar Lawrence she goes behind her employers’ backs acting as Romeo and Juliet’s messenger, such as when she is asked by Juliet to discover Romeo’s identity. At first the Nurse admires Romeo, “Why he’s a man of wax” (Act 1, Scene 3), but warns him not to lead Juliet into a “fools paradise” (Act 2, Scene 4), mostly because Juliet is young.
After Tybalt’s death she turns against Romeo “Will you speak well of him that killed your cousin?” (Act 3, Scene 2), “Shame come to Romeo!” (Act 3, Scene 2). Finally when Juliet needs the Nurse most “Comfort me, council me” as her parents tell her that she must marry Paris, the Nurse lets her down by simply telling her to forget Romeo and marry Paris. It is at this point that Juliet dismisses the Nurse, ending their friendship. The Nurse is partly to blame. She does not realise what could happen if things get out of hand. The Nurse has good intentions but in her concerns for Juliet’s welfare she becomes very excitable and cannot hold her tongue.
Benvolio is one character that seems to realise the potential dangers such as when he tries to dissuade Mercutio from starting another street brawl. He also urges Romeo to leave the scene of the fighting as he has a good idea of the Prince’s reaction, the prince enters the scene after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, he shouts angrily,
“Romeo slew him; he slew Mercutio. Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?” (Act 3, Scene 1)
Benvolio is not at all to blame, if anything he actually tries to help the situation; he is a peacemaker.
Tybalt is a hot tempered and aggressive person. His view of the Montagues and his part in the play is summed up in one sentence “What, drawn and talk of peace! I hate the word /as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee” (Act 1 Scene 1). Again at the ball when he overhears Romeo he is angered and looks for his sword but is stopped. Tybalt is always looking for trouble and will not back off; he tries to make fun of Romeo,
“Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford No better term than this - thou art a villain.” (Act 3, Scene 1)
Tybalt should take some blame in the tragedy, as it is his actions that kill Mercutio, which in turn lead to his own death and Romeo’s banishment.
Mercutio is a lively character that tries to resolve Romeo’s problems and advise him in a light-hearted way,
“Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting; it is a most sharp sauce.”
He is loyal to Romeo in the way he steps in when Tybalt challenges Romeo. His death is a turning point in the play as Romeo avenges his death by killing Tybalt. All these deaths add more fuel to the fire. Maybe Mercutio should not have intervened, but he did. He cannot be to blame for the tragedy, as neither Tybalt nor Mercutio know of Romeo and Juliet's love for each other.
The Prince is the ruler of Verona. He tries to keep the peace, but not hard enough to stop the tragedy. He has the chance to enforce the death penalty on Romeo. For example after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt the Prince tells the citizens of Verona “who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?” (Act 3, Scene 1) He seeks justice for these murders. If he tries harder to prevent the quarrelling and carries out more of his threats, the feud may not get as bad as it does. At the end of the play, however, he accepts some of the responsibility for what has happened by “Winking at their discords” (Act 5, Scene 3). He also tries to bring the two sides together by, “What a scourge is laid upon your hate, /that heavens finds means to kill your joys with love” (Act 5, Scene 3).
I do not think there is one single person who is wholly to blame but Friar Lawrence plays a large part in the tragedy, mainly through his complicated plans, which require accurate timing, and in the end simply do not happen. Romeo does not receive the letter, so when he hears the bad news from Balthasar, he thinks Juliet is really dead. Friar Lawrence need not have granted the requests of Romeo and Juliet without carefully considering the consequences. I do not think fate plays a part in the play as there are too many mistakes made by the main characters.