Who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet

Lady Capulet does not stand up for Juliet when Lord Capulet degrades her.

"Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word

Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee."

One who sends Juliet to her death albeit with good intentions is Friar Lawrence. He is to blame for the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet because he is the one with the plan that ends up killing both Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence is a Friar of the Order of Saint Francis so he would not intentionally wish to kill Romeo and Juliet. He is a holy man. He wants to see Romeo and Juliet happy so he has to make a plan. The plan sounds good at first, but when the slightest mistakes arise the plan ends in devastation.

"Miscarried by my fault, let my old life

Be sacrific'd, some hour before his time,

Unto the rigour of severest law."

I think the Friar acts foolishly because, firstly, he is the one who marries Romeo and Juliet. Since Romeo and Juliet are two children who were married at a young age, it made them vulnerable and unable to make considered decisions. Friar Lawrence's other foolish action is giving Juliet a potion that will put her into a death-like sleep:

"Take thou this vial, being then in bed,

And this distilling liquor drink thou off,"

He does send a message to Romeo, but one that never reaches its destination. The Friar helps Juliet fake her death and fool her parents. Although the Friar's intentions were good, the end resulted badly because he thought that if Romeo and Juliet were married, it might help to reunite the two families.

"Till holy church incorporate two in one."

At the end of the play, the Friar brings the two families together, but unfortunately he brings them together through death rather than marriage.

The Nurse is also to blame because she tells Juliet to have two marriages, with Romeo and Paris. At the beginning of the play, she encourages Juliet to marry Romeo. Then, she rapidly changes her mind and starts preferring Paris to Romeo.

"I think it best you married with the County

O, he's a lovely gentleman!

Romeo's a disclout to him."

The Nurse advises Juliet to marry Paris, knowing she is already married to Romeo. The Nurse should have told Lady Capulet about Romeo.

Tybalt is also to blame for the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet because he is always causing trouble and is always harassing Romeo and trying to start a fight.

"Fetch me my rapier, boy."

."..To strike him dead I hold it not a sin."

When Romeo fights to get revenge after Tybalt killing Mercutio, Romeo ends up killing Tybalt and therefore gets exiled from Verona by order of the Prince.

"And for that offence

Immediately we do exile him hence."

The Prince of Verona causes problems leading to Romeo and Juliet's death by exiling Romeo. Romeo cannot hear about the Friar and Juliet's plan, so he does not know that Juliet is really alive.

In my opinion it is unjustified of the Prince to banish Romeo from Verona as a punishment for killing Mercutio when it was Tybalt's fault for starting the fight and killing Mercutio.

Romeo and Juliet are to blame for their own deaths. Romeo's hastiness

causes their deaths. We can see this when he attacks Tybalt with rage and

violence. This ends up in his banishment from Verona. Romeo believes the first

thing he hears of Juliet's death and immediately rushes off to buy some poison.

When he hears of Juliet's death while in Mantua, it is his hastiness that leads to

Juliet's death. He should not have asked Juliet to marry him so suddenly. We

can see this when Friar Lawrence says:

"Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast."

Juliet should not have deceived her parents. She rushes into marriage with Romeo, disobeying her parents' wishes for her to marry Paris.

Some of these actions could have been avoided but I think something sooner or later was going to happen. As was said in the prologue:

"A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life."

It was fated to happen.

On saying that, Romeo and Juliet have faith in the power of the stars and believe their actions were not always their own. Romeo has a dream which leads him to believe he is going to die young.

"By some vile forfeit of untimely death."

When Romeo and Juliet meet at the Capulet ball, it seems like fate brings them together.

Therefore, my conclusion is that the main explanation for what is to blame for the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet is fate. Although, their death were tragic, it did bring the Montagues and Capulets together.

"O brother Montague, give me thy hand."

Other people did have an impact on Romeo and Juliet's deaths, but fate was the greatest present.