Shakespeare uses the Nurse as a sort of comical character. She is extremely convincing in her role and a break from the rivalry and fighting, therefore I do not think she is solely to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. I do not think she seriously realised what could happen if things got out of hand. The Nurse was well intentioned, but in her concerns for Juliet’s welfare she became very excited and talkative.
Another person who could be blamed for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths is Friar Lawrence. I think he had good intentions as this quote proves; “for this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households rancour to pure love.” This indicates that the Friar agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet, because he believes that it will bring the enemies together in peace. It shows that he may see himself as a peacemaker. He reaches his decision very quickly once he realises this situation, however he tells Romeo to take things slowly when he says: “wisely and slowly: they stumble that run fast.” He goes against his own advice as firstly he changes his decision very quickly and secondly he marries the two lovers in less than 24 hours. Later, Juliet secretly meets the Friar as though at confession and despairs at the loss of Romeo. The Friar thinks up another rash plan to have her drink a potion that will make her look dead. For a moral, religious man, he has never advised Romeo or Juliet to actually be honest and tell the truth. This may have prevented their death. This shows how much of what the Friar did was motivated by self-interest, and his plans every step have been immoral. If he had slowed down a bit and not taken such drastic action, then he could have seen the bigger picture, and how his actions would have repercussions.
The Friar abused his position in the church; a secret marriage, arranging for Romeo to sleep with Juliet, and using the disguise of confession to talk to Juliet. This makes him untrustworthy. Regardless of what his intentions were, he caused a situation of secrecy and deceit. The plan which Friar Lawrence made was unreliable and later resulted in the deaths of the two.
Someone else who could be said to be to blame is Tybalt. He contributed to most of the deaths in the play, including his own. He provoked Mercutio into fighting him, and then killed him. This then led to his death. Romeo was banished because of Tybalt’s death, and because of the banishment, Romeo and Juliet become separated. This makes them both more desperate. This then results in their death, because they cannot stand to be apart. If he had not provoked Mercutio at the beginning, then Romeo and Juliet’s death may have been prevented. It was due to Mercutio and Tybalt being from separate families, which leads onto the parents.
The Capulet parents played a major part in the death of Juliet. They treated her quite badly, considering she was their daughter. Act 3, Scene 5 is the perfect scene for showing how Juliet’s parents treated her. In the Baz Lurhmann interpretation, the scene is set in Juliet’s bedroom. The bedroom is supposed to be a private space, but her parents just go in her room and intrude without knocking. This is a sign of Juliet’s parents’ ownership of her, and that they make all the decisions for her. This is an example of how things were different in Elizabethan times to now. The parents do as they please, whilst Juliet must obey to their orders.
A line that has a lot of meaning is “How now wife, have you delivered to her our decree?” This line is spoken by Capulet and is a proud entry of his. He expects Juliet to be happy about the proposal. He also thinks he knows her mind, which he does not.
There are a few points about Lady Capulet, to show her attitude towards Juliet. “Ay, sir” Lady Capulet is respectful, but is not considered as an equal when compared to Lord Capulet. She speaks fairly negatively to Juliet. A point that is spoken by her mother is spoken quite rudely. It definitely is not something happy as this shown the relationship between them, “I would the fool be married to her grave.” She is also very formal towards Juliet. Juliet always says “madam” instead of mum. These points show what the relationship was like between Juliet and her parents. She would have found it very difficult to tell them about her and Romeo. If they had known though, Romeo and Juliet may not have taken their lives.
The main reason Romeo and Juliet would not have wanted to tell their parents, is because of the feud. The feud is ancient, and causes many problems. Both of the fights in the play were because of the feud. The feud was one of the main contributions to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Some people say they died because of the rivalry between the Capulet and Montague households. Without the feud, Tybalt would not have had a problem with Romeo and his friends being at the party. This is what led to the death of Tybalt and Mercutio. I think that the feud should have been forgotten a long time ago. If there was not rivalry, then Romeo would have been quite eligible to be Juliet’s husband.
It could be said that Romeo and Juliet’s deaths was a result of fate or chance. Fate is not a physical being, but a force of power that is involved in everyone’s lives. I think that its main aim in this story was to resolve the families’ feud, and the only way to do this was to go through the lovers themselves. This point is included in the prologue, “And the continuance of their parents’ rage: Which but their children’s end nought could remove”. This shows that even Shakespeare thought it was important that Romeo and Juliet's deaths were going to have an after effect. I think it was fate that made Peter ask Romeo to read the invitation for him, because if Peter had asked anyone else, Romeo would never have met Juliet. Also, Romeo always talks about the stars, “….deny you stars.” Romeo was star-crossed throughout the play, but he denied to fate the power to do him any worse injury. Chance is used in this play to bring bad luck. I think that some events were just chance, for example the non-delivery of Friar Lawrence’s letter.
My overall opinion is that it is a mixture of fate and the “ancient grudge” between the two families that results in the youths deaths. These two ideas are introduced during the prologue; “A pair of star-cross’d lovers…And the continuance of their parents’ rage.” This shows that Shakespeare thought it important to introduce these two themes at the very beginning. I could not decide between the two ideas, because fate causes the feud originally, but Romeo and Juliet could not expose their relationship or feelings towards each other, because of the feud. If they had done so, then I believe that their deaths could have been avoided. I do not think however that the parents would have consented to their relationship; therefore, they probably would not have been happy.
By Emma Holgate
