The Feud: Unmasking The True Villain

640 Words2 Pages

The Feud: Unmasking the True Villain of Romeo and Juliet

At first, the villain behind Romeo and Juliet’s tragedy may seem obvious, but only analyzing the story in depth can reveal the true culprit. Reviewing the major events of the play, such as Juliet having to marry Paris, Romeo getting banished, or the couple having to get married in secret reveals that any obstacle that Romeo and Juliet face can be traced back to one source: the family feud.
To begin with, while Paris or Capulet could be considered the villains since they drove Juliet to fake her death and ultimately expedite her demise, none of it would have happened if the feud between Capulets and Montagues had never existed in the first place. In the beginning of the play, Paris wishes to marry Juliet, but Capulet says “woo her, gentle Paris, …show more content…

As a result of this fight, Romeo is banished from Verona and separated from Juliet, which leads to the tragic ending of the play. In Act 3, when the fight takes place, Tybalt says “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford no better term than this: thou art a villain… this shall not excuse the injuries that thou hast done me. Therefore turn and draw,” (3.1.68) to which Romeo responds “I do protest I never injured thee.”(3.1.69) According to Tybalt, Romeo has injured him greatly, making him a villain; in truth, Romeo never hurt Tybalt in any way other than by simply being a Montague, which Tybalt proves when he says “Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe, a villain that is hither come in spite to scorn at our solemnity this night” (1.5.69) during the Capulet’s party. Tybalt believes that Romeo has it in for them, even though Capulet ensures him that Romeo “bears him like a portly gentleman.” (1.5.75) Tybalt only hates Romeo because he’s a Montague; if the houses weren’t at odds, he wouldn’t have wanted to fight Romeo and Romeo wouldn’t have been

Open Document