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The death of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet was a tragic event that was unavoidable...or was it? In this essay I will be debating who is to blame for this tragic occurrence and why. I will be going through all the characters and putting up an argument for and against their innocence.
In this novel, whether you believe in it or not, Fate is one of thee most important characters. 'Star-crossed Lovers' is the description of Romeo and Juliet in the prologue of the play.
If Romeo and Juliet are star-crossed lovers then surely they were also meant to die. If this is the case and nothing could be done about it then surely Fate is most to blame. This is a belief that cannot be held by all, but if fate has decided what is to be and what is not then we are free to drift through our lives being pulled along by fate. If Fate is solely to blame for their deaths we must look at whom fate decided to take the blame.
One person who could not have done more to stop the deaths of the 2 lovers is Prince Escalus, ruler of Verona.
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On every occasion he tried seamlessly to stem the violence of the two feuding families. When there was a fight he would threaten both families to stop or be banished from Verona. Prince Escalus was obviously a peacekeeper and in no main way can be blamed for his actions. His only mistake was done with good intentions.
This was to banish Romeo from Verona after the murder of Tybalt. This escalated matters. By keeping Romeo and Juliet from immediate contact Juliet could not convey her master plan to fake her death, which lead to the deaths of both Romeo AND Juliet. Prince Escalus was not a bad man, but in a very small way he was linked to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
Unknown to the reason Romeo was illegally buying poison from him, the Apothecary was the second most to blame for the death of Romeo. And in turn, also for the death of Juliet.
Juliet's wet-nurse is in the long run largely to blame. She raised Juliet almost as her own as her child: Susan, died at birth. This upbringing would have greatly restructured Juliet's life as apposed to being brought up by Juliet's natural mother or another nurse. This also would mean that she may never have met Romeo and if she had things would be very different. In the short term, advice she gave to the lovers, i.e. where and when to meet and eventually to marry will have affected their relationship and may not have caused Tybalt's death, Romeo's Exile and the couple's deaths. Though she doesn't know it, Juliet's Nurse is high up on the list of blame.
Juliet's young suitor Paris was a nice man, who seemed...fairly interested in Juliet couldn't have had too much to do with her death, after all she did kill HERSELF. He almost acts like marrying her would be like signing a business deal that would increase his empire. Most interested in the marriage of Paris and Juliet was Lord Capulet, Juliet's father. Knowing that this was daddy's will Juliet did what any girl in her position would have done; Rebelled. She didn't turn to Romeo as part of this rebellion, as after all she did love Romeo. But instead her pleasure in displeasing her father isolated her from her family and they just drifted further apart. If she could have talked to her family about her problems then maybe she wouldn't have killed herself and Romeo and Juliet's Love could have united the Montagues and the Capulets rather than their deaths.
Balthasar was Romeo's loyal servant who did as his master commanded. His master's final command was to watch over the church yard that Juliet's tomb was in. In doing so he did not expect his master not to come out again alive. Balthasar, in my opinion cannot be to blame as he was following his master's orders blindly, but could be blamed for not acting to stop his
master killing himself.
Lord and Lady Capulet were the parents of Juliet. Lord both of whom were not that close to Juliet in her lifetime. They left her upbringing in the hands of the nurse. As the nurse' own child was still born and Juliet was 'given' to her so soon after, Juliet was raised as her own child. She was raised as a good, nice person in the image of the nurse' child. This upbringing changed her. Another reason Lord and Lady Capulet were to blame for the deaths of their daughter and her lover is them continuing the feud with the Montagues.
After Romeos break up with his girl friend he seemed down. Romeo's parents noticed this and they wanted him to cheer up. They sent Romeo's cousin Benvolio to cheer him up. They take an interest in their son, and although keeping up the feud they do try to help Romeo. So this tells us that they are less to blame than the Capulets.
Friar Lawrence did not know what was to become of the ill-fated young lovers, so he tried to aid them in. Throughout the book Friar Lawrence was a friend to Romeo and helped him in anyway he could. Later in the book he made a plan to fake Juliet's death so that Romeo and Juliet could be together. Unfortunately word did not get to Romeo in time as Friar Lawrence sent the message using a messenger boy. Unfortunately Benvolio reached Romeo first and told him what he knew: that Juliet was dead. Although Friar Lawrence tried to help he only exacerbated things and in the long run killed them both. Friar Lawrence was highly to blame in my opinion.
Tybalt was a nasty piece of work who fought the Montagues whenever possible. Tybalt was also highly to blame for the lovers deaths. Killing Mercutio, Romeo's best friend made Romeo mad. Even though at first Romeo refused to fight Tybalt when challenged, the death of his friend drove him to murder Tybalt, which in turn lead to his exile. Tybalt, although dead played a key role in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. If he hadn't murdered Mercutio, Romeo wouldn't have killed him and be exiled. If Romeo hadn't been exiled he would have known of Friar Lawrence and Juliet's plan to fake her death. Tybalt was at fault.
Mercutio was one of Romeo's best friends who was keen for a fight any day and saw the feud as a game. Mercutio getting himself killed by Tybalt led to Romeo avenging his death by slaying Tybalt and then being exile from Verona by the Prince. Mercutio's unserious nature led to his own death and in turn Tybalt's. Mercutio was part of the chain that came undone leading to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. This can be seen as Mercutio's fault.
Benvolio was Romeo's cousin and good friend. All Benvolio ever did was attempt to lighten the situation and help out Romeo, not by fighting his battles but as moral aid. At the beginning while Romeo was still upset about losing Rosoline (his girl friend). Benvolio did nothing bad in the Play and in my opinion did not contribute to death's of his cousin and his cousin's lover.
In my personal opinion Romeo and Juliet were most to blame for their deaths, seeing as they killed themselves. They both acted too rashly. Romeo got over Rosaline leaving him, surely he could get over Juliet dying without taking his own life. Another thing that the couple might have done to avert disaster would be to have not rushed into things and waited to get married, or even better to tell their families of their love. This might have in the short term enraged the 2 families, but through time they might have been brought closer together making things better.
In conclusion, the perspective of the reader will change the view of who was to blame. I personally solely blame Romeo and Juliet for their deaths as it is so easy not to kill yourself, I've managed it for the past 15 years or so, surely they could. If you believe in fate then this can shift the blame from any of the characters to Fate, arguing that the events that took place are not the fault of any person but instead, how things were meant to be in the grand scheme of things. Fate had preordained the death of Romeo and Juliet and no one person was to blame for that. Only you can decide who is to blame, and I blame Romeo and Juliet.
Who was responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet?. (2020, Jun 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/responsible-deaths-romeo-juliet-2-new-essay
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