Free Will In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Whenever most people think of love at first sight, they imagine a Disney movie with a young main character falling in love and living happily ever after in the end. However, the play, Romeo and Juliet, presents two star-crossed teenage lovers, members of rival families, who do not have a Disney ending but rather a catastrophic one. Following Shakespeare’s love of tragedy, the ill-fated relationship results in six deaths, including the lovers, but the question of who is most responsible for these casualties has fueled debates for centuries. Romeo is the most blame worthy as he is unable to control his anger, makes assumptions, and has ill-fate more than any other character in this play, putting himself at risk and causing others to be killed.

Romeo cannot control his anger which leads to Tybalt’s and Paris’ death. After seeing Mercutio dead and Tybalt approaching, Romeo exclaims “Mercutio is slain...And the fire eyed fury be my conduct now.”(III.i.127-9) “Either thou or I, or both, must go with him” (III.i.134). The Montague grieves at first but a line later is infuriated. As his anger blurs his conscious, he kills Tybalt without a second thought. Romeo’s actions lead to him being banished and his and Juliet’s death. The Montague contributes to Paris’ death in this way: Paris I do defy thy commination And

Romeo makes an unnecessary move of grabbing a dagger and trying to kill himself without acknowledging that the Nurse has come to deliver a message. If he did acknowledge that there may be a message from Juliet, he assumes that Juliet does not want to be his wife anymore though the Nurse mentioned that she is weeping for him in addition to Tybalt. Fortunately, Friar Lawrence shames Romeo for acting like a “unseemly woman in a seeming man”(III.iii.122). However, the next unfortunate assumption causes his