Who's to Blame: Romeo and Juliet

Who’s to Blame? There are few pieces of literature that remain timeless and influential throughout the years that can impact and entertain multiple generations of people, and the story of Romeo and Juliet is one of these few gems. Set in the Italian city of Verona, Romeo and Juliet tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers who cannot be together because of a family feud. The story ends in tragedy with both Romeo and Juliet dying, along with other characters in the story. Though there are multiple characters in the story that contribute to the young lovers’ deaths and the rest of the characters’ fates, Romeo bears the most guilt of the characters in Romeo and Juliet because of his inability to think before acting. Throughout the course of the play, Romeo makes rash decisions without putting any forethought into it, and this ultimately leads to the deaths of him, Juliet, and the characters. For example, when Tybalt killed Mercutio, Romeo went after Tybalt and killed him to avenge his friend. Romeo, himself, was even willing to die for his friend and says “Either thou or I, or both, must go with him’ (III.i.125). Though avenging the death of his best friend was a noble action, this incident lead to the banishment of Romeo which caused the death of his mother and other problematic events that transpires later on in the tragedy. Also, at the beginning of the play, Romeo declares he loves a girl named Rosaline and his causes him to fall into a period of depression because she rejects his love for her. However, after he spends a small fraction of time with Juliet, Romeo completely forgets about the girl he was pining after and switches to Juliet without a second thought. Less than twenty-four hours after he meets Juliet, Romeo marries her even though he has only known her for a miniscule amount of time. Rushing into the marriage without giving it time or logical thought is a main reason for the two lovers’ deaths, and according to Friar Lawrence “They stumble that