Although the nurse was like a mother to Juliet, she was also a cause for the death of Romeo and Juliet. The nurse knew that Juliet was rushing into things but she never advised and told her that. Even though she knew that Juliet was going to marry Paris, she still agreed to be their messenger ‘for love.’ The nurse thinks that Paris is a good man so why does she help Juliet? We know this because in act 2 scene 4, the nurse tells Romeo “O, there is a nobleman in town, one Paris.” Not only was she their messenger but she also encourages their romance as she says in act 3 scene 2 “Hie your chamber. I’ll find Romeo to comfort you. I wot well where he is. Hark ye, your Romeo will be here at night.” Then later in the story, she betrayed Juliet totally, knowing that Juliet was married to Romeo, by advising her to marry Paris. Juliet was right to tell the nurse about Romeo because the nurse was more like a mother to Juliet rather than her own mother but the nurse knew what kind of trouble it was going to cause. She shouldn’t have told the parents but she herself should have given Juliet proper advice from the beginning rather than just being their messenger for love and then just betraying her later.
Friar Laurence shouldn’t have got Romeo and Juliet married, as he knew it was wrong. He was aware of the fact that they were both too young to make such big decisions. He did do it for a good cause though; he wanted the two families to make up again as he says in act 2 scene 6 “Till holy church incorporate two in one.” In the end it only caused the death of the two children. In the end, Friar Laurence only worried about himself so that he didn’t get caught as he says in act 5 scene 3 “(Noise again) I dare no longer stay.” Friar Laurence was very selfish. I think giving Juliet was a very good thing though because if it weren’t for fate, the letter would have got to Romeo in time. Friar Laurence was a good person but he let himself a bit down at the end of the play.
The prince had a chance to stop the feud between the two families but instead he just banished Romeo. One would think that the Prince was on the Capulet’s side because the Montagues got two punishments – Mercutio died and Romeo was banished and the Capulet’s only got 1- Tybalt died. I don’t mean punishment by the Prince in fact I mean that Montagues lost two but Capulets only lost one. Romeo did what was going to be done anyway.
Mercutio shouldn’t have made the fight a big deal. If he was really a good friend of Romeo’s, he should have listened to what Romeo had said. In act 3 scene 1 Romeo tells Mercutio “Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up” but Mercutio just ignores Romeo and says to Tybalt “Come sir, you passado.” Mercutio didn’t take anything seriously and this led to his own death and Romeo’s banishment.
Romeo and Juliet were a cause for their own death as well. In the beginning of the story, Romeo loved Rosaline and suddenly he just looked at Juliet and fell in love with her. He rushed into things by asking to marry Juliet and he hardly even knew her and he definitely wasn’t aware of the problems that it was going to cause. After being banished, he should have thought before rushing back to Verona to see Juliet. He shouldn’t have killed Tybalt or Paris. He knew that if had killed anyone, his life would pay the forfeit of the peace but instead both of their lives did.
Juliet shouldn’t have fallen in love with Romeo knowing that she was going to marry Paris. She shouldn’t have deceived her parents. Both her and Romeo rushed into marriage too soon. She was very happy with her parent’s choice until Romeo came along – what made her change?
One main reason for their death is fate. Fate controlled their lives and forced them together. These two lovers are a fate as it is said “a pair of star – crossed lovers.” Not only did fate take over them but their actions as well as Romeo says in act 1 scene 4 “Some consequences yet hanging in the starts… By some vile forfeit of untimely death.” He is basically telling his friends that he will die young because of something in the stars. If they had known before hand that Juliet was a Capulet and Romeo was a Montague, maybe they wouldn’t have fallen in love. It was fate that told them only after they had fallen in love. In the end of the story, it was fate, which didn’t let Romeo receive the letter in time as Friar Laurence says in act 5 scene 2 “Unhappy fortune.” Why was there a feud, why did the Montague and Capulet children have to fall in love, why didn’t the message get to Romeo, why did Juliet only wake up seconds after Romeo had drank the poison. Everything was fate.
Love and hate could be a reason too. If there were no such thing as love or hate, none of this would have happened. I personally think that love is too strong to describe their relationship because they hardly even knew each other. They looked at each other, spoke for five minutes and decided to get married – is that really love?
By looking at this essay, it can be concluded that everyone was part of the cause of Romeo and Juliet’s death but there isn’t a specific person who is to blame. More than the people, I think that fate was the most to blame because if fate hadn’t taken over, these tragedies and complications wouldn’t have occurred.
