Examples Of Who Is To Blame In Romeo And Juliet

Who’s to Blame? A romantic tragedy can be defined as a piece of literature in which two intimate lovers meet an unfortunate end because of their heart felt love. Throughout history many romantic tragedies have been written, but none such more renowned than Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Within this play resides the infamous star-crossed lovers, Romeo the Montague Prince and Juliet the Capulet Princess, who unfortunately meet a tragic-suicidal end. The two star-crossed lovers come from two feuding families, who have been fighting for generations. Both families refuse to end the fued, but rather continue the fight. After meeting, the two lovers soon marry, and by the end of the play, meet their downfall in the most tragic of deaths.

Due to Friar Lawrence’s intervention throughout the play, he is to blame for the death of the two star-crossed lovers. Friar Lawrence is a prominent and frequently seen character throughout the play making him a prime suspect for the blame. The first example that shows the Friar is at fault for the death of Romeo and Juliet occurs early on in the play when Romeo goes to seek the Friar’s assistance. After meeting with Juliet and deciding they should marry, Romeo seeks Friar Lawrence in hopes of him marrying them. Friar Lawrence then decides to marry the two lovers, which is his first mistake. After marrying Juliet, Romeo is now related to Tybalt through marriage. Later that day, Romeo is confronted by Tybalt who is looking for a fight. After Tybalt calls Romeo a villain, Romeo states, “Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee/ Doth much excuse the appertaining rage…” (3.1.58-59). Romeo is saying that he has reason to be friends with Tybalt because he is now related to him, but Tybalt does not know this. Tybalt continues his attempts to get Romeo to fight. Romeo avoids the fight, but Mercutio sees this as a cowardly action and

One of Friar Lawrence’s interventions which leads to the death of Romeo and Juliet again comes from his plan to help Juliet escape her wedding with Paris. Friar Lawrence’s plan is flawed in many ways, one such flaw is sending the letter to Romeo through Friar John. After he tells Juliet about the potion, the Friar explains the next part of the plan, he states, “In the meantime, against thou shalt awake,/ Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift/ And hither shall he come,...” (4.1.14-16). It is clear the letter plays a vital role in Friar Lawrence’s plan. If the letter does not get to Romeo he will truly believe Juliet is dead. Because the note never makes it to Romeo, he eventually kills himself, this also leads to Juliet's death. Later in the book we meet Friar John who was the one sent to deliver the note, which did not reach Romeo. Only after Friar John returns does Friar Lawrence tell him of the importance of the letter. Had Friar Lawrence told him of the importance of the letter before he left, maybe Friar John would have found a way to deliver the note to Romeo. Friar Lawrence could have also delivered the letter himself ensuring its delivery. Another intervention of Friar Lawrence that leads to him being blamed occurs towards the end of the play. This time Friar Lawrence is directly to blame for Juliet’s death. After realizing that