Essay on The Deaths of Romeo and Juliet

People make decisions every day, whether it's the shirt they wear or the college they go to. When faced with challenging, important choices it is crucial to carefully consider the options so that one can be sure that the outcome will be favorable. Problems arise when those making life-changing judgements do so in the face of strong emotions, which is precisely what happened to the young lovers in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, where the characters were doomed not by the stars but by the flaws of themselves and the people around them. Romeo and Juliet’s tragic death was at the fault of misguided, hasty decisions made by Romeo, Friar Lawrence, and The Capulets.

By acting before considering the consequences, Romeo contributed to his own fate. He is shown many times over the course of the play to be impulsive and immature, especially in love. When Juliet brings up the danger of being seen together, he responds that, “My life was better ended by their hate, Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love” (2.2.82-83).  From the beginning of their relationship he dismisses Juliet’s worries with sarcastic remarks or romantic phrases, establishing his immaturity and obsessive attitude towards Juliet. He shifted his attention from Rosaline to Juliet extremely quickly, causing the reader to question if his love for her is different from his love for Rosaline. Later, in Act 3 scene 1, Mercutio is slain by Tybalt as the latter was attempting to injure Romeo. Soon after, Romeo makes the claim to Tybalt that one of them is going to die with him. After a short brawl, Tybalt is killed by Romeo and in return Romeo is banished from Verona. Romeo sought revenge for Mercutio’s death out of grief and rage, without accounting for the Prince’s threat to Capulets and Montagues who were violent to one another. Tybalt’s death resulted in Juliet and Paris’ wedding to be moved up by Lord Capulet. Had Romeo considered the princes’ threat and the relationship to Juliet that Tybalt had, he may not have murdered Tybalt. He would not have been banished, Juliet's wedding wouldn’t have been rushed, and she wouldn’t have faked her death. When Romeo received news of Juliet’s “death” he immediately made a plan to “lie with thee tonight” (5.1.37). Had Romeo slowed down and waited just a few minutes before racing back to Verona, the Friar would have been able to alert Romeo that Juliet’s death was a tactic to convince her family and Paris that she was dead. Throughout his and Juliet’s love story, Romeo’s fatal flaw was his impulsivity, which caused him to act on his emotions and prompted the death of Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Juliet, and Himself.

While Romeo’s rash choices can be attributed to his youth, Friar Lawrence’ doesn’t have this defense. His dedication to creating unity between the Capulets and Montagues blinded him from the outcomes that enabling Romeo and Juliet’s secrecy could have. Romeo comes to the Friar early in the play, asking for him to officiate his marriage to Juliet. Though hesitant, he agrees, claiming that, “For this alliance may so happily prove, to turn your households’ rancor into pure love” (2.3.98-99). The Friar’s uncertainty was based on the fact that Romeo had believed he was in love with Rosaline shortly before, and “too swift arrives as tardy as too slow” (2.6.15).  While that statement is an example of the Friar warns Romeo about the haste of his relationship, had he truly envisioned that their marriage would do more harm than good the Friar should have had an obligation as a father figure for Romeo to protect him. Instead, he went through with it out of desire to connect the families. He put his motives above the safety of Juliet and Romeo. Friar Lawrences’ largest contribution to the couples’ death, however, was not marrying them in secret. It was the fact that he provided Juliet with a potion that would fake her death without an assured way to alert Romeo. Lawrence knew that Romeo would react extremely if he thought Juliet was dead, yet didn’t check on whether or not Friar John had delivered the letter until after Juliet drank the potion. Juliet threatening to kill herself created a sense of urgency, leading to the Friar’s decision to give her the poison being made on an impulse without thought about alerting Romeo, laws against distributing poison, and Paris’ reaction. He could have suggested for Juliet to tell her parents about her love for Romeo, which may have been a more efficient approach to stopping violence between the families - especially considering the parents reconciliation after their death. Friar Lawrence consistently put his motives before the children’s safety when guiding Romeo and Juliet in their plans to deceive their parents.

The Capulets, specifically Lord Capulet, were also responsible for Juliet and Romeo’s suicides because they quickly rise to anger when Juliet objects them, and make descisions for her. Lord Capulet specifically told Paris that he could not marry Juliet without her consent; however, when Juliet proposes to her wedding being moved up, he is infuriated. He orders Juliet to “hang, beg, starve, die in the streets' ' upon her refusal to marry Paris, and ignores her feelings or demands that the wedding be postponed. His short temper caused him to threaten her in a state of rage, where she felt there was no option but to go to the Friar. Though the Capulet’s were unaware of her involvement with Romeo and did not know why Juliet was against being married, they refused to hear her out or open an opportunity for a conversation about Romeo. Their emotionally driven actions in a time where Juliet was already grieving both her cousin and the banishment of her husband led to her feeling trapped and desperate for any solution, regardless of the danger. In the beginning of the play Lord Capulet was portrayed as a peaceful man wanting the best for Juliet- even letting Romeo into their party, but over the course of the story he was revealed as overbearing and hotheaded. By not taking Juliet’s input on the choices he made about her life, he set the circumstances for Juliet to fake her death.

Romeo’s obsession towards Juliet, Friar Lawrence’s determination to bring peace in Verona, and Lord Capulet’s tendency to rise to anger can all be blamed for the impulsive decisions that they made which led to Romeo and Juliet’s suicides.