Roles of Parents in Romeo and Juliet Essay Example

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is known for the four tragic deaths of Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, and Mercutio. But who is most responsible for these four deaths? Everyone has a caretaker in their life, someone who watches over them, teaches them, protects them, and for Romeo and Juliet, these people are supposed to be their parents. But in reality, their parents easily failed at their job to provide, protect, and care for their children. The parents of Romeo and Juliet are most liable for the four deaths in Romeo and Juliet. The parents of Romeo and Juliet selfishly pulled their children and family into the feud between the houses, were very uninvolved in their children's lives, set a terrible example as parents, and forced the expectation of the feud upon others. 

Romeo and Juliet are pulled into a feud by their parents when they have no connection to it. From the beginning, Romeo and Juliet are taught to dislike the opposing house without having any real reasons of their own. Romeo and Juliet got dragged into the feud, making their love forbidden from their parents. The first time Romeo saw Juliet, he didn’t know that she was a Capulet, they fell in love without any pressure from their parents to do so. When they learned which house each other belonged to, their love had to be hidden from their parents making for a difficult relationship that eventually ended in death. If the parents hadn’t pulled their children into the feud, their relationship wouldn’t have been forbidden, and they could have fallen in love as teenagers do. Due to their love being forbidden, Romeo and Juliet had to hide it from their parents and navigate the relationship with only a little help from the Nurse, and Friar. This caused many difficulties and miscommunication, leading to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet at such a young age. The parents pull the younger generations into the feud even though it is a fight between the adults of the houses. Throughout the story of Romeo and Juliet, we never find out why the families are fighting and hate each other. It is unfair for the parents to pull their children into the feud when they are not informed why they hate the other house and are told not to associate with them. Romeo and Juliet don’t want their parents to know about their “illegal” love because they fear what their parents will think. Romeo and Juliet wouldn’t have had to hide their love and wouldn’t have ended up killing themselves if they hadn’t gotten dragged into a feud that make it forbidden. 

The parents of Romeo and Juliet were very uninvolved in their kids' lives and were rarely seen interacting with them. Parents are supposed to care for their children, but Romeo and Juliet’s parents did the opposite, it was like they forgot about them. The parents were not involved in their children's lives and knew nothing about the relationship that was going on. If they did know, they might have been able to help their kids through the relationship and marriage. But instead, the Nurse and Friar had to help them, neither of them being married and not having the first-hand experience like the parents of Romeo and Juliet do. There was no one to guide the kids through the relationship and it ended up not working out. If the parents knew, they could have potentially saved their children's lives, but since they don’t have a bond with their kids, Romeo and Juliet would never think to bring it up to them. The parents also never know where their kids are and let them roam around the streets of their town. If the parents kept tabs on their kids, they would prevent them from getting into fights. If Romeo’s parents kept close watch over him, he probably would have never gotten into the fight with Tybalt and Mercutio. This could have prevented at least the death of Tybalt meaning Romeo wouldn’t get exiled, therefore, Romeo and Juliet would have never committed suicide. Everything is a chain of events that could have been avoided if the parents watched over their children and were involved in their lives. 

Romeo and Juliet’s parents set a terrible example for their children to follow after. If the parents cared about their children, they would teach them not only by words but also by example. The parents could have raised their children better and taught them right from wrong. The parents of both Romeo and Juliet do not show true love to each other if any love at all. Romeo and Juliet only know what “love” is based on what they see around them, and that is their parents. Romeo and Juliet’s love doesn’t work out and ends in death because they don’t know how to handle the situation at hand. If their parents showed them that love can still last through hardships, then the situation might have not ended in death. The parents of Romeo and Juliet also don’t communicate with each other. In the story Romeo and Juliet, we can see that miscommunication is the reason that Romeo and Juliet kill themselves. If the parents set a better example of how to communicate with their significant other, the deaths could have been prevented. Lady Capulet and Capulet don’t communicate with each other when it comes to Juliet marrying Paris and this ends up leaving Juliet torn between two parents and Romeo. If the parents communicated, they could have presented this to her together in a better way. The parents also don’t communicate and forget about their children. Lady Montegue lost Romeo and couldn’t find him without asking around. If the parents communicated they could take better care of their children and prevent trouble. However, even when the parents do communicate, it is usually fighting. This is setting the example for the kids that it is ok to fight and that is what love looks like. If their parents didn’t set this example of fighting, Romeo might have not killed Tybalt and would have thought of a better solution than physical fighting. If the parents weren’t always so concerned with fighting and the feud, they could have cared for their children better. 

Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, and Mercutio are all affected by the feud between the houses. Both Romeo and Juliet are expected to hate the other house like their parents have taught them to. But when they fall in love they have to hide from their parents and the world, breaking the expectations forced upon them. However, if there wasn’t the projection of the feud by the parents onto Romeo and Juliet, their relationship would’ve been more successful due to aspects of being able to see each other and communicate. Tybalt is also affected by the expectation of the feud because of the Capulet and Montegue parents and Tybalt has learned to protect his house and his name due to this. Because Tybalt is a hothead and likes fighting, when Mercutio challenges him and insults him, he does what he is expected to do, protect his name and fight. This proves useless when he slays Mercutio and eventually creates more problems for the future, but shows that Tybalt doesn’t know how to solve a conflict any other way than what the parents have taught him. Romeo has the same expectation and follows Tybalt's lead when he kills Mercutio. Romeo is expected to protect his name and his house, just like his parents, and he does so by avenging Mercutio, resulting in the death of Tybalt. 

The parents of Romeo and Juliet are most responsible for the four deaths in the story Romeo and Juliet. They selfishly pulled their children and family into the feud between the houses, were very uninvolved in their children's lives, set a terrible example, and force the expectation of the feud upon others. If the parents hadn’t pushed the feud onto their kids, their love wouldn’t have been forbidden. If the parents were involved in their kids' lives, they could have prevented many problems and possibly even saved the four characters' lives. The parents set a terrible example for the kids and town of Verona on how to act when it comes to disagreements. And if they expected everyone to pick sides on the feud leading to unnecessary fighting and deaths. Shakespeare’s writing is packed with lessons to learn from all the characters and how they act towards each other and situations. The parents never stopped or thought about how their words and actions were impacting the people around them. If they did, this could have possibly saved all four lives in the story. People can apply this to real-life by being aware of how they are making others feel.