Romeo And Juliet: Who's To Blame?

Who’s To Blame? Is fate true? Is a death written in the stars or simply caused by unlikely events? William Shakespeare, in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, says higher powers are behind inevitable deaths. In the play, Romeo and Juliet are lovers from feuding families, preventing them from being together. However, they decide to marry anyway, unbeknownst to their parents. In the end, Romeo and Juliet both take their lives. Shakespeare makes it seem as though the death was completely decided by fate, but the way the situation was structured greatly suggests that real reasons and people are behind Romeo and Juliet’s suicide. In fact, many characters are responsible for their unfortunate demise. The first and most responsible character behind their deaths was Romeo himself. In the play, Juliet fakes her death so she can live with Romeo in Mantua. The friar Lawrence sent a letter to Romeo detailing the situation so he can come to Verona and take Juliet back with him. Instead, the letter is delayed and Romeo is given …show more content…
Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, is a big part in this situation. In the play, Tybalt is hotheaded and always looking to fight the Montagues. After spotting Romeo at the party, he wished to challenge Romeo to a duel. When Romeo refused the duel, Mercutio stepped in and fought Tybalt instead, killing Mercutio. This moved Romeo to challenging Tybalt back. “Thou wretched boy, that didst consort him here,/ Shalt with him hence” (3.1.126-127). Tybalt still wishes to fight Romeo, because he couldn’t accept letting Romeo go and Romeo couldn’t accept Tybalt’s murder of Mercutio. This leads to Romeo killing Tybalt, and thus Romeo is banished for taking Tybalt’s life. This puts the rest of disaster into motion, and eventually leads to the death of Romeo and Juliet. Tybalt instigating the fight between him, Mercutio, and Romeo is what brought upon the rest of the events causing Romeo and Juliet’s