William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Romeo. He acted too hastily throughout the play. He shouldn't have

asked Juliet to marry him so suddenly, and he should have thought more

carefully before rushing back to Verona after hearing of Juliet's

death. He also acted violently and without thinking when he killed

Tybalt and, later, Paris.

Juliet. She shouldn't have deceived and disobeyed her parents. Like

Romeo, she was too hasty in rushing into marriage. She was already

engaged to marry Paris at the time of the ball, and until then, had

been very happy with her parents choice.

The Prince. He should have acted earlier to stop the feud between the

two families. It was unjust of him to send Romeo away from Verona as a

punishment for killing Tybalt when the fight was Tybalt's fault.

Lord and Lady Capulet. They were partly responsible for keeping the

feud going. They had authority over their household, and could have

stopped the quarrelling if they wanted to. They should have paid more

attention to Juliet's wishes and listened to her opinions. They were

too hard on her when she refused to marry Paris.

Lord and Lady Montague. Like the Capulets, they were also responsible

for keeping the feud going. If they had been more understanding, Romeo

would not have felt he had to keep secrets from them.

Fate. The tragedy was not the fault of any one individual - it

happened because of bad luck. It was fate that Romeo and Juliet met

and fell in love, and bad luck that the letter which could have saved

them didn't reach Romeo in time.

Tybalt. He started the fight that resulted in Romeo being banished,

and he was always causing trouble. He, more than anyone else, kept the

hatred alive between the two families.

The Nurse. She encouraged Juliet in her romantic ideas. She carried

messages, and helped the lovers to meet and get married secretly. She

should have let Juliet's parents know what was going on. She advised

Juliet to marry Paris, knowing she was already married to Romeo.