William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet loved each other, but they knew that it wouldn't be

possible to have a relationship because of their feuding families.

Their deaths were tragic, as it was mainly the people around them that

made them so unhappy. They were so in love with each other that they

took risks to be together, which lead to their unfortunate deaths.

Romeo is a Montague. He falls in love with Juliet the moment he sees

her at a Capulet ball. Juliet is just under 14 years old, and a

Capulet, whose family are bitter enemies of the Montagues. As the

prologue explains,

"From forth the loins of these two foes

A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life".

The words "star-crossed lovers" suggest that fate is an important

element in the events in the play, but the personalities of those

involved, particularly Romeo, play a vital role in the tragedy.

I think that Romeo should not have killed Tybalt, as the result of

Tybalt's death was Romeo's banishment. He could have left Tybalt to

the Prince's justice; he had decreed that if anyone disturbed the

peace their "lives shall pay the forfeit". I do think that Romeo can

be excused for killing Tybalt though, as Tybalt killed Romeo's best

friend, Mercutio, and Romeo was blind in a heat of passion. Although

Romeo, at the start of the play, may come across as a peaceful, loving

character, all six deaths in the play are linked to him in one way or

another. After Romeo killed Tybalt he blamed the stars because he

didn't want to accept responsibility for what he had done. Romeo's

recklessness is much to blame:

"O, I am fortune's fool".

He had tried t...

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...k there is just one person alone that is to blame for the

deaths of Romeo and Juliet, but Friar Lawrence and Romeo both play a

large part in the tragedy, mainly because of the Friar's poor

planning, that simply did not work out as he hoped. Romeo did not

receive the letter, so when he heard the bad news from Balthasar about

Juliet's death, he believed Juliet was really dead. I don't think that

Friar Lawrence should have wedded Romeo and Juliet without thinking

about the consequences it could have. I think that fate might have

played a small part in the events in the play because it is all very

co-incidental that two people met, married and died for each other all

in the time span of 5 days, but I think fate didn't play a big role.

It was too easy for Romeo to blame fate, when he should have been less

impetuous himself.