Who is to blame for the star-crossed lovers tragic death?

The death of Romeo and Juliet were partly due to the star-crossed lovers lack of careful consideration and planning. The first day they met and the next they got married. Juliet knew she was betrothed to Paris yet she married in haste. Maybe if they had been older they would have realised that their 'happily ever after' was inconceivable. Therefore we have established that the young lovers were mainly responsible for their untimely death because their fate was in their own hands.

However there were others who assisted them in their romance namely the nurse and Friar Lawrence, and the parents who were also responsible because they did not listen to the wishes of their offspring and many other characters were pivotal in actions, which led the couple to their grave.

The nurse was in someway responsible for Romeo and Juliet's death, but not intentionally. She only wanted what was best for Juliet and wanted her "lamb" to be happy. She is more of a mother figure to her mistress than Lady Capulet, who has a very strained relationship with her daughter.

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This maternal love that the nurse has for Juliet, we assume is to make up for the loss of her own daughter, Susan, who died at a young age "Susan is with god". This love may have also instigated the nurse to act the way she did, disobeying her employers, Juliet's parents, by following the whim of an infatuated teenager.

In the star-crossed lover's story the nurse plays the part of Juliet's confidante but also the messenger between the two lovers.

She chooses to ignore the disastrous consequences that would follow the union between a Capulet and a Montague. She cares about Juliet's well being and therefore before they are married the nurse went to visit Romeo to find out if his intentions were honourable and that he was suited for Juliet "if ye should lead her in a fool's paradise..." Once she has assured herself of Romeo's kind heart, she passes the message on to her young lady that Romeo wanted to marry her that night "Then hie you hence to Friar Lawrence' cell". She only thinks of what will make her beloved Juliet happy and hopes that everything will sort itself out. She helps Juliet sneak out of the house for her marriage, giving her a rope ladder to climb down her balcony "And bring three cords made like a tackled stair". She also keeps the union a secret form the rest of the family. This is a touch irresponsible as her mistress is only thirteen and perhaps cannot be expected to know whom she does and does not want to marry.

But the nurse also instigates Romeo and Juliet's romance less in subtler ways too. She refers to sexual encounter constantly and her language is full of sexual connotations: "Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days". This validation of Juliet's awakening sexual desire can be seen in her impatience for Romeo to arrive in act 3 scene 2: "O, I have bought the mansion of a love, But not yet possessed it" The young girl does not seem to care that her cousin's death was at the hands of Romeo but instead is scared that this event may disrupt the night she had been awaiting " bid him come to take his last farewell". This yearning may have been the reason her eagerness to marry Romeo which lead to their untimely death, thus being partly the nurse's fault.

However, for all the nurses scheming, she seems to think that Romeo and Juliet's romance is just a teenage crush that would not last. When Juliet's parents state that Juliet was to marry Paris Juliet turns to her Nurse asking for her advice "Comfort me, counsel me". But the latter contrary to Juliet's expectations, agrees with her parents, saying that she should forget Romeo now that he was forever exiled to Mantua, and marry Paris "best you married with the County. O, he's a lovely gentleman!" When Juliet feigns to agree with her "thou hast comforted me marvellous much" the Nurse is very pleased "this is wisely done". But Juliet in fact feels betrayed by the nurse who had supported her all along "O. most wicked fiend". This betrayal persuades Juliet to seek help from Friar Lawrence.

As the nurse is Juliet's confidante, Friar Lawrence is Romeo's counsellor. Friar Lawrence is it seems very close to Romeo, as he knows about Rosaline "wast thou with Rosaline" and probably about Romeo's past heartaches. Also Romeo goes straight to him in the morning to confide in him his new found love for Juliet "the fair daughter of rich Capulet". But Friar Lawrence although naively thinking that by marrying the two young lovers the family feud will disappear agrees to help Romeo. He does this even though he is having doubts of Rome's love for Juliet given how he had stopped liking Rosaline so quickly "Young men's love then lies". He is also is the one who actually does the act of uniting them in marriage. He should have been wiser and realised that this marriage would only cause more problems not resolve them.

Friar Lawrence is further culpable for the death of the lovers, because he hands Juliet the poison that makes her sleep for three days, pretending she is dead so that she can escape her marriage with Paris. Friar Lawrence sends a message to Romeo explaining Juliet's plan but he arrives too late as Romeo had already rushed back to Juliet. Romeo kills himself before Juliet wakes up therefore both Friar Lawrence's plan failed terribly resulting in the death of two innocent teenagers. The holy man had only meant to help but in his naivety he handed the two lovers their tragic fate.

On the other hand, the family feud was the reason that Romeo and Juliet had to marry in secret and therefore caused all this confusion. If it hadn't been for the "ancient grudge" between the two families Romeo and Juliet might have lived happily. The feud was also responsible for the death of Mercutio "A plague a'both your houses!" which resulted in Romeo's murder of Tybalt. If this murder had not been committed Romeo would not have been exiled "we do exile him hence" and there would not have been such confusion in Friar Lawrence's plan. At the end of the play the Prince seems to think that it is because of the family quarrel that the lover's tragic deaths happened: "See what a scourge is laid upon your hate". This might have been rightly said because Juliet might have felt she could not confide in her parents because of their hate for the Montagues. This forces the lovers connection to be illicit even before it starts, resulting in misunderstanding and then death.

Many other people were responsible for their death but without being strongly connected with it. Mercutio convinced Romeo to go to the Capulet's party where he met Juliet and fell in love with her " we must have you dance". Furthermore Mercutio provoked Tybalt who killed him and in turn was killed by Romeo who was then exiled, which I have already proved led to his death. Consequently both Mercutio and Tybalt are indirectly responsible for the lover's death. The Prince is also responsible for exiling Romeo although he was just acting as the law commended " Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill".

Therefore it is not only one person responsible for Romeo and Juliet's death, but a series of events all leading up to this tragic end. Nobody was directly or purposefully responsible for the infatuated pair apart from themselves. The Nurse and Friar Lawrence both acted out of the goodness of their heart even if their actions were sometimes rash and na�ve. The family feud was the main storyline and it must be said that without it the lovers could have been betrothed, but would they have loved each other with as much passion as when they were acting illicitly? In some ways the moment Romeo and Juliet fell in love, their untimely death became their fate.