Who To Blame For The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet

Whenever a tragedy takes place, our human nature quickly inclines us to want to know the cause of the tragedy. Murders, terrorism, school shootings and many other tragic events all have one thing in common; a culprit who committed or contributed to these acts. It takes us time to figure out who the culprit is, but we are quick to blame anyone reasonably possible. This evolution of human nature has allowed for us to learn from our mistakes and direct our emotions towards a scapegoat. Either way, controversy is created. Who really caused the problem? Who contributed to the tragedy? In a drama like Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare depicts various characters who contributed to the suicides of the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Tybalt,
Lord Capulet’s aggressive, abusive and childish behavior is a major part of the reason why the feud that kept Romeo and Juliet lasted so long. The second that Juliet shows any sign of going against Lord Capulet’s wishes, he begins to yell at her and throw a tantrum. Lord Capulet says, “What’s this? What’s this? Subtle hairsplitting! What’s this?... Just get your fine self ready for next Thursday, to go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church, or I’ll drag you there on a sled! Pah! You sick looking object! Get away with you, you minx! You coward!” (183B). Here we see that Lord Capulet is acting really childish and abusive toward his daughter. A good father and ruler would at least try to hear Juliet’s reasoning instead of just insulting her and forcing her to do something she doesn’t want to. Lord Capulet’s behavior in this scene can reflect how he interacts with others about not getting what he wants. Politically, Lord Capulet could create a lot of enemies if he cannot make a compromise. He would need to be much more diplomatic. Lord Capulet does not have what it takes to be a successful ruler who can keep positive relationships with other people, and this is clearly presented through how long and serious the feud is. If he
Friar Lawrence was naive for thinking that there would only be positive results to the marriage of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence does not bother to think about the consequences, instead, he just tells Romeo, “there’s one good reason why I’ll assist you: this marriage could be the happy cause of turning the enmity between your two households into real love” (105T). If Friar Lawrence had thought about the consequences of the marriage between Romeo and Juliet, perhaps they would not be dead. Friar Lawrence also married the lovers without consent from their parents. A marriage cannot be held in secret without the parents knowing. The Capulets and Montagues are responsible for their children, not the Friar. It was not his place to interfere in the lives of the children. Another reason why Friar Lawrence could be blamed for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is that his plan following the wedding was way too complicated and not thought out properly. There were too many instances where a flaw could occur in the process of his plan to get the letter to Romeo. These circumstances were not taken into account and as a result, the letter was not able to get to Romeo. With too many factors that could go wrong, Friar Lawrence should have known better and should have