Responsibility In Romeo And Juliet Essay
Thumbs Up for Responsibility
Most teenagers try to blame others for their problems and attempt to justify themselves as faultless. Some teenagers blame their teachers for undesirable grades in order to escape the responsibility and consequences of their poor work ethics. Shakespeare disapproves how teenagers act and applies this idea in Romeo and Juliet when he portrays characters like the Montagues, Capulets, Prince and Friar Lawrence as people that deny responsibility. Similar to the teenagers, these characters consistently blame fate for events in the story. Thus, Shakespeare depicts fate as a scapegoat to assert that people use fate to avoid the responsibility of their actions or inactions. Specifically, Shakespeare depicts …show more content…
fate as a scapegoat to assert that people use fate to avoid the responsibility of their actions. The characters believe that if they blame fate, they will be subject to less responsibility or punishment. When Mercutio, a relative of the Prince of Verona, dies because of a duel with Tybalt, Romeo declares he “[is] fortune’s fool” after he kills Tybalt (Shakespeare 125). This suggests that Romeo believes fate caused him to kill Tybalt, so Romeo does not want to hold any responsibility for his actions. Romeo does not want to accept neither the Prince’s punishment nor the idea that he wanted to “shed Tybalt’s blood” (Shakespeare 135). Similar to Romeo, when Juliet wakes up from the sleep potion and finds Romeo dead, Friar Lawrence disregards the role he took in this scheme and tells Juliet “a greater power than [they] can contradict hath thwarted [their] intents” (Shakespeare 231). Shakespeare illustrates Friar Lawrence as a “wise [man]” that facilitates Romeo and Juliet’s love (Shakespeare 145). Yet once Friar Lawrence’s plot goes wrong, he blames fate for the two lover’s death in order to escape the Prince’s punishment for “this direful murder” (Shakespeare 237). The characters blame fate to assert that people should take responsibility for their own actions. In addition, Shakespeare depicts fate as a scapegoat to assert that people use fate to avoid the responsibility of their inaction.
A person aware of a plan to commit a crime will receive punishment just as severe as the person who committed the crime. The characters think that fate prevents them from taking action and punishes them for inactions. After the Montagues and Capulets see the bodies of Romeo and Juliet, the Prince declares that fate punishes the families for the brawls, and punishes him “for winking at [their] discords” (Shakespeare 241). The Prince believes that fate decided to punish him by killing “his dear blood”, Mercutio (Shakpeare 129). This suggests that the Prince uses “[the] [heavens]” as a scapegoat so he can comfort himself by the thought that he did not directly cause Mercutio’s death. Unlike the Prince, although Friar Lawrence blames “lamentable chance” Friar Lawrence made an effort to try to send the letter to Romeo regarding Juliet’s fake death (Shakespeare 231). But when Friar Lawrence finds out that Romeo never received the letter, Friar Lawrence thinks “unhappy fortune” prevented the delivery (Shakespeare 219). Despite his age and knowledge, Friar Lawrence acts just as irresponsibly as the teenagers Romeo and Juliet when Friar Lawrence blames fate for events caused by him. Friar Lawrence has power to carryout Romeo and Juliet’s scheme and the Prince has power to stop the duels between the families yet both characters blame fate when they
do not fulfill their responsibilities. Shakespeare depicts the characters as idle to assert that people in power should exercise their powers responsibly and effectively. Primarily, Shakespeare intended for the audience to walk away from the plays with a lesson and to apply that lesson to their own lives. A person should learn to take full responsibility of their actions as a part of a successful life. The scapegoat will not always work as an adequate excuse because the actual cause of the problem comes from the person himself. Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat for all of Germany’s problems when actually Germany itself caused the national crisis. Germany did not act responsibly when resolving the national crisis, thus leading to the abrupt rise and fall of Hitler’s Germany. Throughout history and to this day, responsibility remains a stressed topic from politics to daily life.
Most teenagers try to blame others for their problems and attempt to justify themselves as faultless. Some teenagers blame their teachers for undesirable grades in order to escape the responsibility and consequences of their poor work ethics. Shakespeare disapproves how teenagers act and applies this idea in Romeo and Juliet when he portrays characters like the Montagues, Capulets, Prince and Friar Lawrence as people that deny responsibility. Similar to the teenagers, these characters consistently blame fate for events in the story. Thus, Shakespeare depicts fate as a scapegoat to assert that people use fate to avoid the responsibility of their actions or inactions. Specifically, Shakespeare depicts …show more content…
fate as a scapegoat to assert that people use fate to avoid the responsibility of their actions. The characters believe that if they blame fate, they will be subject to less responsibility or punishment. When Mercutio, a relative of the Prince of Verona, dies because of a duel with Tybalt, Romeo declares he “[is] fortune’s fool” after he kills Tybalt (Shakespeare 125). This suggests that Romeo believes fate caused him to kill Tybalt, so Romeo does not want to hold any responsibility for his actions. Romeo does not want to accept neither the Prince’s punishment nor the idea that he wanted to “shed Tybalt’s blood” (Shakespeare 135). Similar to Romeo, when Juliet wakes up from the sleep potion and finds Romeo dead, Friar Lawrence disregards the role he took in this scheme and tells Juliet “a greater power than [they] can contradict hath thwarted [their] intents” (Shakespeare 231). Shakespeare illustrates Friar Lawrence as a “wise [man]” that facilitates Romeo and Juliet’s love (Shakespeare 145). Yet once Friar Lawrence’s plot goes wrong, he blames fate for the two lover’s death in order to escape the Prince’s punishment for “this direful murder” (Shakespeare 237). The characters blame fate to assert that people should take responsibility for their own actions. In addition, Shakespeare depicts fate as a scapegoat to assert that people use fate to avoid the responsibility of their inaction.
A person aware of a plan to commit a crime will receive punishment just as severe as the person who committed the crime. The characters think that fate prevents them from taking action and punishes them for inactions. After the Montagues and Capulets see the bodies of Romeo and Juliet, the Prince declares that fate punishes the families for the brawls, and punishes him “for winking at [their] discords” (Shakespeare 241). The Prince believes that fate decided to punish him by killing “his dear blood”, Mercutio (Shakpeare 129). This suggests that the Prince uses “[the] [heavens]” as a scapegoat so he can comfort himself by the thought that he did not directly cause Mercutio’s death. Unlike the Prince, although Friar Lawrence blames “lamentable chance” Friar Lawrence made an effort to try to send the letter to Romeo regarding Juliet’s fake death (Shakespeare 231). But when Friar Lawrence finds out that Romeo never received the letter, Friar Lawrence thinks “unhappy fortune” prevented the delivery (Shakespeare 219). Despite his age and knowledge, Friar Lawrence acts just as irresponsibly as the teenagers Romeo and Juliet when Friar Lawrence blames fate for events caused by him. Friar Lawrence has power to carryout Romeo and Juliet’s scheme and the Prince has power to stop the duels between the families yet both characters blame fate when they
do not fulfill their responsibilities. Shakespeare depicts the characters as idle to assert that people in power should exercise their powers responsibly and effectively. Primarily, Shakespeare intended for the audience to walk away from the plays with a lesson and to apply that lesson to their own lives. A person should learn to take full responsibility of their actions as a part of a successful life. The scapegoat will not always work as an adequate excuse because the actual cause of the problem comes from the person himself. Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat for all of Germany’s problems when actually Germany itself caused the national crisis. Germany did not act responsibly when resolving the national crisis, thus leading to the abrupt rise and fall of Hitler’s Germany. Throughout history and to this day, responsibility remains a stressed topic from politics to daily life.