When considering the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, one of the most significant facts you must think about is fate. Many instances in the play reveal that the love of Romeo and Juliet would end in death.
"A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life".
From the very beginning it is evident that they were destined by the stars to bad fortune (star-crossed, doomed by the influence of the stars). It could be that Romeo and Juliet’s love for each other was destined for death so that their parent's feud would be over.
Also, in the prologue it states that the dreadful course of their love was destined for death.
"The fearful passage of their death marked love".
Both of these quotes show us that the love of Romeo and Juliet was already destined to end tragically.
The party at the Capulet’s house was above all the most important aspect of fate. The fact the servant was unable to read and had to ask Romeo to read him the guest list, and then not knowing that he was a Montague inviting him to the Capulet party. If the servant had known who Romeo was he would never have been invited Romeo to the party. At the party Romeo was masked, hiding his face and allowing Juliet to fall in love with him without her knowing who she had fallen in love with. If Juliet had known who Romeo was she would probably have not fallen in love with him. This was all circumstance of fate. Another example of fate was when the letter that Friar Lawrence wanted to send to Romeo was held in quarantine with its deliverer, Friar John to isolate a disease. Fate could not have been changed whatever was meant to be would happen and no one could change that. That is why fate helped the death of Romeo and Juliet.
In most tragedies, especially Shakespeare’s, the tragic hero, or heroes play a part in their own downfall. It is also known as a tragic flaw. This is true of “Romeo and Juliet”. Their tragic flaw that led to their death was their selfishness. Examples of the couples selfishness is how they risk the jobs of the nurse and the friar to organise and keep secret their marriage when they could have waited, and when Tybalt and Mercutio are in conflict, Romeo tries to part them, only to allow Tybalt to wound Mercutio.
After the death of Tybalt, when Romeo is exiled, all he thinks about himself and says that he would rather die than be away from Juliet.
“ ’Tis torture and not mercy. Heaven is here
Where Juliet lives,”
Juliet demonstrates selfishness when she says that she would rather commit suicide than marry Paris, forcing the Friar to find another option.
“ ‘Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife
Shall play the umpire, arbitrating that
Which the commission of thy years and art
Could no issue of true honour bring.”
A final act of selfishness is when Romeo drags Balthazar to the tomb where Juliet lies, threatening to kill him if he doesn’t go, but also risking both of their lives because if they were caught they would both be killed.
Friar Lawrence was Romeo’s confident in the play; he was also one of the town’s holy men and plays an important role in the downfall of Romeo and Juliet. It is questionable, that when Romeo comes to Friar Lawrence with news of his new love, whether he should have married Romeo and Juliet, as he knew that Romeo was often infatuated with love and supposedly fell in love with every girl he thought to be sexually attractive.
“For doting, not for loving, pupil mine.”
If the Friar had played his correct role in society in the play he would have known not to marry Romeo and Juliet because firstly, they were too young to know what they were doing. Secondly, they didn’t have their parents consent to marry. Their families were two of the most important families in Verona at the time and the Friar should have respected their position in society.
The Friar can also be blamed because he seemed incapable of not perceiving the consequences, that if Juliet were married to Romeo, it would be against the law for her to marry Paris.
Later on in the play, the Friar once again acts in desperation when Juliet comes to him for help after the nurse betrays her over the subject of her marriage to Paris, threatening to commit suicide,
“Oo thou but call my resolution wise,
And with this knife I’ll help it presently”
He gave her a poison that would imitate death. The plan, that Paris and her parents would think she was dead. Therefore she wouldn’t have to marry Paris and would be able to go off and live with Romeo without her parents knowledge of it, but the friar should not have provided her with this, but with a fake instead, and then have played his role as a man of God and told someone who could have sorted out the dilemma that Romeo and Juliet were in. Also, he should not have carried out Juliet’s funeral, as she wasn’t dead.
When the Friar devised the plan, he didn’t follow it up and ensure its completion. When the Friar the letter to Romeo, informing him of the plan was unforseeingly stopped in quarantine with Friar John in a small town on its route, Romeo was not informed about the plan before he hears the news that Juliet is supposedly dead. Fate is partially to blame here, but the Friar should then have gone out of his way to ensure that Romeo didn’t do anything rash when he saw what he would have thought to be the dead body of Juliet.
Finally, he didn’t make sufficient effort to get to the Capulet vault and Juliet before Romeo did anything rash because he kept on falling over gravestones. Eventually, if he hadn’t had left Juliet in the vault with the dead Romeo, she wouldn’t have killed himself. The Friar didn’t stay because he was afraid of getting the blame for the deaths of the two lovers. He was selfish and said,
“I dare no longer stay.”
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Romeo’s two other friends, Mercutio and Benvolio helped play a part in the lovers’ death. If Mercutio had been more understanding about Romeo’s infatuation,
“Nay I’ll conjure too.
Romeo! Humour! Madman! Passion! Lover!”
Romeo may have confided in him about his love of Juliet, Mercutio may have convinced Romeo and stopped the marriage. Also, if Mercutio hadn’t challenged Tybalt resulting in him becoming slain, Romeo wouldn’t have felt the need through anger and revenge, to slay Tybalt, resulting in his exile from Verona.
In the play, no matter how good-natured Benvolio is portrayed, if he hadn’t have suggested that Romeo go to the Capulet Ball, he would have never met Juliet and none of the later problems would have arose.
“Go thither, and with unattained eye,
Compare her face with some that I shall show,”
The death of Romeo and Juliet can be partially blamed on the hot headedness of Tybalt. When Tybalt attacks and slays Mercutio this forces Romeo into resentment and seeked revenge for the death of his best friend,
“This day’s black fate on moe days doth depend,
This but begins the woe others must end.”
In Romeo’s rashness he seeks his revenge resulting in the death of Tybalt. This causes Romeo to be exiled from Verona,
“And for that offence.
Immediately we do exile him hence.”
This began Romeo’s downhill spiral, forcing desperate decisions to be made resulting in the death of Romeo and Juliet. So if Tybalt had not been so hot headed, none of the later problems would have arose.
The role of Old Capulet and lady Capulet in the death of Romeo and Juliet is not major, but still significant. If Old Capulet had not held such a grudge against the house of Montague, Romeo’s family, the dilemma of Romeo and Juliet love would not have been a problem.
“MONTAGUE: Thou villain Capulet! Hold me not, let me go.”
If Lady Capulet had played more of a mother role towards Juliet, then maybe she would have confided in her about her love affair with Romeo and the problem with the two families could have been sorted out and then maybe her father would never have engaged Juliet to Paris. Here is an example of Juliet and her mother weren’t very close, Lady Capulet isn’t even sure how old her daughter is,
“She’s not fourteen!”
The Prince can’t be really be blamed for the death of Romeo and Juliet, except for that he should have made more of an effort to stop the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues instead of just stopping them from fighting in the public streets,
“On pain of death, all men depart.”
The above quotation is the Prince’s threat to the two households if they were caught fighting in the streets again.
In conclusion, the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is the result of the actions of the individuals, even though fate and the characters all played a role in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, the only people who can be blamed for their suicide are themselves as they are the ones who committed the crime.
