Many people argue that Romeo and Juliet is not very convincing, as to many important incidents fell into place by chance. The play is such a big tragedy, that it seems unreal as you are made to think the fall of Romeo and Juliet was the fault of a series of accidents. When Mercutio wants to take Romeo to the ball, Romeo does not want to go, but he then changes his mind for no apparent reason to go and meet Juliet. Another accident is when Romeo doesn’t get friar Lawrence’s letter to say Juliet is not dead. This is the very thing that makes him want to kill himself so it shouldn’t be an accident. When he gets the potion, he hurries himself into taking it and if he had waited, he would have realised that Juliet was not dead. Over all the tragedy could be no ones responsibility, and it could have been a series of accidents which took place by chance.
In the city of Verona, fathers expect obedience from their daughters. When Juliet is first introduced to the play, she is very obedient to her father and she is considering a marriage with Paris. However when Juliet meets Romeo, she is disobedient to lord Capulet and refuses to marry Paris. This is very unusual for daughters to act like this. The outbursts of lord Capulet to Juliet rush Romeo and Juliet’s wedding. This is another important point to developing the tragedy.
It could be argued that the feud between the two families was the fault of the tragedy. We first hear about the feud in the prologue, “from ancient grudge, break to new mutiny”. This shows the unsettled arguments have restarted. It also says Romeo and Juliet die as a result of their families “grudge”, “Doth with their death bury their parents strife”.
At the Capulet’s ball, Tybalt notices Romeo is there and immediately wants to make trouble and wants to confront him, but lord Capulet stops him. All through the play, there are arguments and quarrels, which bring tension and add danger to Romeo and Juliet’s life. The feud is one of the main reasons for the tragedy and if the families hadn’t been arguing, the deaths could have been avoided.
Romeo is a young teenager, a member of the Montague household, who unfortunately falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet whose family are bitter enemies of the Montague’s. He blames Fate or misfortune for nearly everything that goes wrong; after he kills Tybalt, he then realizes the seriousness of his action but prefers to blame the stars rather than himself. “O, I am fortune’s fool”. I think killing Tybalt was the biggest mistake Romeo made as it led to his banishment and it meant he could no longer see his beloved Juliet, without the risk of being caught. I do not think though that you can blame Romeo for killing Tybalt as he was determined to fight Romeo and when he refused, Romeo’s closest friend Mercutio stepped in and drew his sword. They fought and Romeo intervenes trying to stop them but this according to the dying Mercutio gave Tybalt the opportunity to kill him, “I was hurt under your arm”. Romeo then fought and killed Tybalt. Later when he hears from Balthasar the news that Juliet is dead he says, “Then I defy you stars”, meaning he is not going to let Fate dictate what happens to him anymore. 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,” 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.”
Both the lovers each play a role in their own deaths by wanting to be together and from being loyal to each other, however they are not the only reason they die.
Prince Escalius is the head of Verona. He makes sure there is no trouble and keeps the peace. “If you ever disturb our streets again your lives shall pay the forfeit of the piece”. He isn’t happy with either families and is angry that they always fight for no reason. He says he wants the fighting to stop, but he also says who ever fights again will die, so he is contributing to the unsettlement and aggression between the families. He is unable to stop the feud and it is out of his hands, so it isn’t him that brings peace and prosperity with both families, it is the death of Romeo and Juliet.
The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet could be considered to be the fault of all the points stated, but one important point in particular is the feud between the families. If there was no unsettlement, Romeo and Juliet would not have to hide their love for each other, and lots of people wouldn’t have died. When the feud “broke through to new mutiny,” it was only a matter of time before the tragedy occurred.
