It seems that Romeo is either not afraid to take risks or just doesn’t think about any of his actions, in the balcony scene he risks getting caught by the Nurse, and then later in Juliet’s bedroom when Lady Capulet is looking for her.
Juliet is a young Capulet not quite 14 years old; she is gentle, loyal, obeys her parents and thinks for herself. When she first meets Romeo she falls for him instantly. She is practical in that she quickly asks Romeo to marry her which would be against her parents’ will as they want her to marry Paris whom she does not love. She is also like Romeo in that she does not think of the consequence of her actions. She is loyal to Romeo, as she is worried about him getting caught in the balcony scene
“The orchard walls are high and hard to climb
And the place death, considering who thou art,” (Act 2 Scene 2)
She is different from Romeo in the fact that she does not blame fate for the things that go wrong, she blames her birth as we here in these rhyming couplets
“Prodigious birth of love is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy.” (Act 1 Scene 5)
Whereas friends and Friar Laurence talk to and advise Romeo, Juliet is on her own and has to make her own decisions, with the Nurse offering little or no help. Romeo’s parents seem very caring and loving, but Juliet’s parents especially Lady Capulet are very cold hearted and uncaring, they force Juliet into marring Paris without giving her a choice. “She shall be married to this noble earl”. (Act 3 Scene 4) Juliet visits Friar Laurence and is pleased to about his plans for herself and Romeo as she is at this time distressed at the thought of having to marry Paris for she says
“Oh bid me leap, rather than marry Paris
From of the battlements of any tower”. (Act 4 Scene 1)
Friar Laurence’s plan for Romeo and Juliet was that Juliet was to take a potion to make her appear dead on her wedding day she would then be taken to the Capulets’ vault meanwhile after receiving a letter from the Friar Romeo would return to Verona from Mantua and would be with Juliet when she wakes up. Juliet was very pleased to receive the potion from Friar Laurence
“Give me, give me! Oh tell me not of fear! (Act 4 Scene 1)
The Friar is a man with good intentions but is persuaded to make risky decisions by Romeo and Juliet, such as agreeing to marry them without their parents’ consent. I think he gets too involved and it is then left up to him to ensure that everything goes smoothly as planned.
He goes behind the backs of Juliet’s parents by agreeing to marry Romeo and Juliet but he has a good reason for this. “To turn your households rancour to pure love”, to reconcile the two feuding families. Though the Friar is concerned about what he is doing, “These violent delights have violent ends”, the plan to reconcile the families soon comes to grief as Romeo is banished. This time he makes another plan that is as risky as the first. Romeo is to go to Mantua where he will then try to arrange a meeting between Romeo and Juliet. The plan goes wrong and he accuses fate, “Unhappy Fortune”.
Juliet, who now faces the rest of her life with Paris turns to the Friar for a solution, he supplies her with a “sleeping potion” which she uses to make it look like she is dead so she does not have to marry Paris. I think it is fair to say that Friar Laurence is one of the main people to blame for the tragedy, as it was his plans that went wrong. But from Romeo and Juliet’s view he was very helpful and always had a solution for their dilemmas
The Nurse is one of Juliet’s closest friends, apart from Romeo. She is not particularly clever or sensitive and does nothing to warn Juliet of how an involvement with a Montague might cause problems to Juliet and her family. In Act 1 Scene 3 when Lady Capulet is discussing the possibility of marriage to Paris she makes jokes and finds it very amusing, “A bump as big as a young cockerels stone”. Even though the Nurse may be very simple minded and talkative she is very loving and fond of Juliet
“Well sir my mistress is the sweetest lady” (Act 2 Scene 4)
The Nurse appears to have got too carried away with the situation with Romeo and is eager for Juliet to marry, but she offers no advice or caution to what Juliet is doing, although she clearly knows that Juliet is young and inexperienced. She makes no effort to suggest that this will be a problem. Like Friar Laurence she goes behind her employers’ backs acting as Romeo and Juliet’s messenger, such as when she is asked by Juliet to discover Romeo’s identity. At first the Nurse admires Romeo, “Why he’s a man of wax” (Act 1 Scene 3), but warns him not to lead Juliet into a “fools paradise” (Act 2 Scene 4), mostly because Juliet is young.
After Tybalt’s death she turns against Romeo “Will you speak well of him that killed your cousin” (Act 3 Scene 2), “Shame come to Romeo” (Act 3 Scene 2). Finally when Juliet needs the Nurse most “Comfort me, council me” as her parents tell her that she must marry Paris, the Nurse lets her down by simply telling her to forget Romeo and marry Paris. It is at this point that Juliet dismisses the Nurse, ending their friendship. I think that the Nurse was partly, to blame. I don’t 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 excitable and could not hold her tongue.
Benvolio is one character who seems to realise the potential dangers such as when he tries to dissuade Mercutio from starting another street brawl. He also urges Romeo to leave the scene of the fighting as he has a good idea of the Prince’s reaction, the prince enters the scene after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, he shouts angrily,
“Romeo slew him; he slew Mercutio.
Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?” (Act 3 Scene 1)
I think Benvolio is not at all to blame, if anything he actually tried to help the situation; he is a peacemaker.
Tybalt is a hot tempered and aggressive person. His view of the Montagues and his part in the play is summed up in one sentence “What, drawn and talk of peace ! I hate the word /As I hate hell, all Montagues and thee” (Act 1 Scene 1). Again at the ball when he overhears Romeo he is angered and looks for his sword but is luckily stopped. Tybalt is always looking for trouble and will not back off, he tries to make fun of Romeo by saying things like,
“Romeo, the love I bear thy can afford
No better term than this - thou art a villain.” (Act 3 Scene 1)
Lastly, he challenges Romeo to a duel. Mercutio steps in but Tybalt is happy to fight him as well. Romeo attempts to sort out the situation peacefully but Tybalt is uninterested. In his anger over the death of his dear friend Mercutio, Romeo takes revenge and in his anger kills Tybalt. I think Tybalt should take some blame in the tragedy as it was his actions that killed Mercutio which in turn led to his own death and Romeo’s banishment.
Mercutio is a lively character who tries to resolve Romeo’s problems and advise him in a light-hearted way, he says to Romeo,
“Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting; it is a most sharp sauce.”
He is loyal to Romeo in the way he steps in when Tybalt challenges Romeo. His death is a turning point in the play as Romeo, then avenges his death by killing Tybalt. All these deaths add more fuel to the fire. I think maybe that Mercutio should not have intervened, but being that type of person he did. I do not think he can be to blame for the tragedy as neither Tybalt nor Mercutio knew of Romeo and Juliets love for each other. Also Tybalt would probably have fought Romeo anyway and one of them could have been killed.
The Prince is the ruler of Verona. He tries quite hard to keep the peace, but not enough to stop the tragedy, he is big in his threats but does not carry them out for - he has the chance to enforce the death penalty on Romeo. For example after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt the Prince tells the citizens of Verona “who now the price of his dear blood doth owe?” (Act 3 Scene 1) in other words he seeks justice for these murders. If he had tried harder to prevent the quarrelling and carried out more of his threats the feud might not have got as bad as it did. However at the end of the play he accepts some of the responsibility for what has happened by “Winking at their discords” (Act 5 Scene 3). He also tries to bring the two sides together by, “What a scourge is laid upon your hate, /that heavens finds means to kill your joys with love” (Act 5 Scene 3).
I do not think there is one single person who is wholly to blame but Friar Laurence plays a large part in the tragedy, mainly through his complicated plans, which require accurate timing, and in the end simply did not happen.
The hasty marriage, wrongful use of the potion, failure to send the letter, and selfishness of the Friar are the causes for the deaths that occurred in the play. In spite of the many coincidences and references to heaven and stars, Romeo and Juliet however, is not totally a tragedy of fate. Each character has his/her freewill and is responsible for his/her actions. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet should be designated as the failure of human responsibility or human error rather than fate. Who should be blamed for this tragedy may remain long controversial, but the story of the two star-crossed lovers will remain timelessly in the world of literature. "For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo" (Act 5 Scene 3).
