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Romeo And Juliet Pardoned Analysis

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Romeo And Juliet Pardoned Analysis
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is composed of a plethora of characters with varying personalities. Romeo and Juliet is a tale of a boy and a girl from feuding families who fall in love with each other, and end up killing themselves. Shakespeare ends with “Some shall be pardoned, and some shall be punished” (Cite). Among the ones who deserve to be punished for their selfish actions are Friar Lawrence, the Nurse, and Lady Capulet. Through these characters’ malevolent actions came the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. On the other hand, the two characters that deserve to be pardoned for doing everything in their power to keep Romeo and Juliet alive are Balthasar, and Friar John.

Amongst the selfish characters was Friar Lawrence. He didn’t contemplate the consequences that might have been suffered if he married Romeo and Juliet without the consent of their parents. By making this serious mistake, it led to …show more content…
Even though he was the one that falsely informed Romeo that Juliet had died, he was totally unaware that she was still alive. He didn’t do anything wrong because he honestly didn’t know that Juliet was dead. When Balthasar told Romeo the bad news, he was reluctant in doing so. Balthasar didn’t want to tell Romeo the news, but he felt he had to for it “was left for his office.” (Act 5 scene 1) This is a perfect depiction of the old saying “don’t kill the messenger.” Balthasar clearly did not want to tell Romeo of the tragic news, but he felt obligated to because he was loyal to his occupation.

Some may argue that Balthasar was mistaken in telling Romeo the truth, but Balthasar was just doing his job. In addition, how could Balthasar possibly have known that Romeo was going to commit suicide after hearing the news? Balthasar was given an order, executed the order, and reported back. Those were his instructions, and that is what he performed. Therefore, Balthasar did nothing wrong, and deserves to be
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