Comparing The Characters Responsible For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet

The Jury of Romeo and Juliet

Of all the characters whose actions lead to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt and Friar Lawrence are most guilty because they trigger the chain of events that leads to the suicides of both Romeo and Juliet. Although Tybalt is most to blame, the friar is also at fault here. Both these characters in the play have an important role in ending the love and lives of the two children from both families.

If not for Tybalt’s hate of peace and his murder of Mercutio, he would not have gotten into the fight that caused the banishment of Romeo. The fight at the beginning of the play shows how much Tybalt hates peace. This is shown when he says to Benvolio, “peace? I hate the word / As I hate hell, all Montagues and thee”

No normal person would have come back to fight after killing someone, showing how truly corrupt Tybalt is. This corruption is the reason for the lover's deaths and the reason Tybalt is the most responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. He actively tries to get “revenge” for Romeo’s presence at the party, a faulty reason, if a reason at all to put a knife through someone’s heart. This depravity leads Tybalt to kill Mercutio. As if one death wasn’t satisfactory, the killer comes back to keep fighting. After Romeo slays Juliet’s cousin, he is banished from Verona and is forced to leave to another city. Because the friar and Juliet are unable to communicate their plan to the bridegroom due to his absence from the city, Romeo commits suicide thinking that Juliet is dead. This provides Tybalt closure by completing his goal to have Romeo dead, but in the process, Juliet dies as well. As aforementioned, rage only leads to grief, and no one gets anything out of it. The indignation between the two families caused both their children to die, and the rage of Tybalt towards Romeo caused both his cousins, Romeo and Juliet to