The separation of Romeo and Juliet, leads to the plot twist where Juliet drinks the ‘distilling liquor’ to appear in death. While Romeo was intended to wake her, a twist of fate means he doesn’t get the letter and does not know that the death is faked. The plan to run away from the feud between their parents wasn’t free from danger, on the contrary it was the only way they could be together and escape the ‘grudge’. The ‘ancient grudge’ is very important to the play because they died in order to ‘bury’ the ‘grudge’.
Shakespeare puts an emphasis on the fact that the feud is about their name; Romeo feels his name is ‘hateful’ for he knows because of it; he and Juliet couldn’t be together. Similarly, Juliet knows if she was to be 'sworn her love she would ‘no longer be a Capulet’. The younger generation are dragged into the feud because of the family they’re born into. Juliet questions ‘what’s in a name?’ which shows she doesn’t understand that their name means they automatically have a ‘grudge’ against each other.
Another input towards the death of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ would be their parents. Shakespeare suggests that Romeo and Juliet barely know their parents and find it difficult to confide in them or they would have spoken about their love rather then trying to run away. ‘Capulet’ doesn’t consider Juliet’s feelings about her aversion to the proposed marriage to Paris. Juliet was ‘not proud’ with her parents for arranging a marriage, ‘but thankful’ they did, Capulet responded ‘mistress minion you’ which shows a lack of respect for what she requests.
Shakespeare show’s the audience that Juliet is closer to the Nurse than her mother by how she confides in her. The Nurse and Juliet are suggested to be very close by when she speaks to Romeo for Juliet:
‘If ye should lead her in a fool’s paradise, as they say; it would be a very gross kind of behaviour’.
This clearly demonstrates how the Nurse cares for Juliet, and tries to protect her. Lady Capulet feels awkward when speaking to Juliet alone because she hardly knows her. Lady Capulet requests the nurse to ‘give us a while’ because she wants to talk to Juliet ‘in secret’ but the Nurse is immediately recalled after Lady Capulet doesn’t know what to say to her. The Nurse saw Juliet as a daughter figure because of the death or her own daughter ‘Susan’ this is the reason why the nurse is so protective over Juliet.
The reader knows ‘Montague’ doesn’t know or understand Romeo his conversation with ‘Benvolio’. Romeo was upset about ‘Rosalin’ due to the fact he thought he was in love. Benvolio asks Montague if he ‘knows the cause’ of Romeo’s sorrow and he replied ‘I neither know it, nor can learn from it’. This shows Romeo couldn’t talk to his father about ‘Rosalin’ but spoke to ‘Friar Lawrence’ about his sorrow. It also suggests he wouldn’t be able to understand Romeo’s dilemma. Romeo seems to be closer to ‘Friar Lawrence’ by how he referrers to him as ‘father’ this is ambiguous because he is a priest and also like a father figure to Romeo, the Friar refer’s to Romeo as his 'good son' suggesting they have a very close bond. Romeo also confides in him about his love for ‘Juliet’, which must mean he trusts him because he would be shamed if his family knew.
If Romeo and Juliet could talk to their parents they wouldn’t of had to die to be with each other and there would be no reason for them to hide their love. Their parent’s should not have ‘an ancient grudge’ between them, since they don’t seem to know how the feud started and they shouldn’t have dragged the younger generation into the feud.
Friar Lawrence I feel has a significant part in Romeo and Juliet’s death, because he was the one who married Romeo and Juliet, and he knew it would end in death. Romeo persuades the Friar to wed them but as he is the friar said ‘not in a grave’ this suggests he already knew there marriage was ‘death marked’ but persisted anyway. Friar Lawrence shouldn’t have agreed to marry them with such a civil grudge for the reason that they died because of it.
Friar Lawrence also thought of the plan of how Romeo and Juliet could be together, which had a lot of flaws in it. He gave Juliet the ‘distilling liquor’, which may perhaps be a poison and kill her unintentionally. Friar Lawrence should of informed Romeo before the plan was carried out so he would of known it was fitted in the plan. If Romeo were informed about the plan, they both would have lived. The Friar should have made the plan more reliable or not agreed to the plan or the marriage in the first place.
The Premonition’s Juliet has about Romeo’s death is part of the reason they died. Shakespeare uses the premonitions as a dramatic device in order to build suspense around their deaths and to make a shift because the genre is more comedy and romance towards the beginning of the play; the premonitions change the tone of the play to a tragedy. Juliet’s premonitions should have stopped her from going ahead with the Friar’s plan. In her premonitions she saw Romeo ‘dead at the bottom of a tomb’ the friar’s plan involved Romeo and Juliet going into the tomb her premonition’s should have warned her against the Friar’s plan.
Juliet speaks to the Nurse about ‘myself have power to die’, which tells us before she dies; she has the ability to kill herself if the friar’s ‘remedy’ doesn’t work. Shakespeare suggests Juliet knows they’re going to die because she asks Romeo ‘O think’st thou we shall ever meet again?’
Juliet’s premonitions also link with the fate of there death’s, by seeing Romeo dead before the Friar’s ‘remedy’ is showing the audience their fate was to die. Juliet’s premonitions are too precise to be consequence, at that point in the play she wasn’t aware of the Friar’s plan so it couldn’t of been an image of what could happen. Juliet saw her destiny.
The fact that Romeo didn’t receive the friar’s letter explaining the plan was related to their fate, it was fated that ‘Friar John’ was prevented from leaving ‘Verona’ meaning it was unable for Romeo to get it in time. It was fated they would die in the tomb because of Juliet’s premonitions so if Romeo received the letter they would have lived. The prologue in the play tells us their love is ‘death-marked’ so the audience already know their destined to die ‘to bury their parents strife’. The ‘star-cross’d lovers’ were fated to meet at the caplet’s party so they could immediately fall in love. Romeo wasn’t in love with ‘Rosalin’; he was in love with the idea of love. If he didn’t think he was, he would never have gone to the party and met his true love Juliet. The whole play is based on their fate, to bring peace between both ‘households’.
Their death, as tragic as it is, could never have been avoided. I feel the main reason Romeo and Juliet died was because of their fate. Romeo and Juliet could not determine their fate, and their death happened for a reason. Their fate was to meet and die for their love and to ‘bury their parents strife’.
Before the play began we knew they were ‘death marked’ so the other factors which feature in their death only happened because it was fated. If Romeo and Juliet had spoken to their parent’s about their love for one another their fate would still end in death to re-unite their ‘households’. Also if the friar’s plan were successful their fate would still be to die at the ‘bottom of a tomb’ because of Juliet’s premonitions.
Fate in the play was how the ‘grudge’, premonition’s, Friar’s plan and parents all contributed to their death. Without them destined to die they could have avoided their death but because it was ‘death-marked’, meaning it was out of anyone’s control. Shakespeare wrote in the prologue the reason for their death was fated, and their death was destined to ‘bury their parents strife’. The main reason for their death was their fate.
