Who To Blame For The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet

Whenever a tragedy takes place, our human nature quickly inclines us to want to know the cause of the tragedy. Murders, terrorism, school shootings and many other tragic events all have one thing in common; a culprit who committed or contributed to these acts. It takes us time to figure out who the culprit is, but we are quick to blame anyone reasonably possible. This evolution of human nature has allowed for us to learn from our mistakes and direct our emotions towards a scapegoat. Either way, controversy is created. Who really caused the problem? Who contributed to the tragedy? In a drama like Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare depicts various characters who contributed to the suicides of the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Tybalt,
who got himself killed in a fight between him and Romeo, was the one who took part in the fight that got Romeo banished from Verona. Mercutio, who provoked Tybalt to fight him, started the fight that got Romeo banished. The Nurse, who should have been providing Juliet with emotion support instead of betraying her and even Paris, who forced his love upon Juliet all had their own role to play in this tragedy, but some characters are more to blame than others. Lord Capulet, Juliet’s abusive father, is the most to blame for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet since he is at the root of the two lover’s problems.
In the drama, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare portrays Lord Capulet as one of the people to blame for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet since he was one of the main people whose personality kept the feud between Montagues and Capulets going for as long as it did.
Lord Capulet’s aggressive, abusive and childish behavior is a major part of the reason why the feud that kept Romeo and Juliet lasted so long. The second that Juliet shows any sign of going against Lord Capulet’s wishes, he begins to yell at her and throw a tantrum. Lord Capulet says, “What’s this? What’s this? Subtle hairsplitting! What’s this?... Just get your fine self ready for next Thursday, to go with Paris to Saint Peter’s Church, or I’ll drag you there on a sled! Pah! You sick looking object! Get away with you, you minx! You coward!” (183B). Here we see that Lord Capulet is acting really childish and abusive toward his daughter. A good father and ruler would at least try to hear Juliet’s reasoning instead of just insulting her and forcing her to do something she doesn’t want to. Lord Capulet’s behavior in this scene can reflect how he interacts with others about not getting what he wants. Politically, Lord Capulet could create a lot of enemies if he cannot make a compromise. He would need to be much more diplomatic. Lord Capulet does not have what it takes to be a successful ruler who can keep positive relationships with other people, and this is clearly presented through how long and serious the feud is. If he
did not act like such a child and actually bothered to try and make amends with people, the feud would not have gone on and both Romeo and Juliet could have lived a happy, peaceful life. Another reason why Lord Capulet is the one to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is that he was the one who arranged the marriage between Paris and Juliet; the same marriage that pushed Juliet to think of suicide. Lord Capulet was forcing Juliet to marry Paris when she was already married to Romeo. Of course, Juliet did not want to tell about her secret marriage because of the ongoing feud between the Capulets and Montagues. When Juliet refuses to marry Paris, her father threatens her and does not listen to why she will not marry Paris. “If not, you can hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, for, by my soul, I’ll never recognize you or leave you anything in my will! You can be sure of that. So think about it. I won’t change my mind!” (187T). With Romeo banished and no one, not even her mother, who sides with Lord Capulet, to support her opinions on her own marriage situation, Juliet is in a state of devastation. The only person who can help her now is Friar Lawrence. Juliet goes to Friar Lawrence and takes a potion from him that will make her fall into a death-like slumber until her wedding day has passed and Romeo comes to see her. This plan failed and both Romeo and Juliet end up committing suicide in the Capulet’s mausoleum. If Lord Capulet had not forced Juliet to marry Paris, she would not have been inclined to put herself to sleep for two days. If she had not put herself in a death-like sleep, the Friar’s plans wouldn’t have needed to happen and go wrong and Juliet wouldn’t have killed herself. Lord Capulet should have been a real father and should have cared for the well-being and wishes of Juliet.
Lord Capulet also could have been a more supportive father to his daughter Juliet after the loss of her cousin and her feelings about marrying Paris. Juliet is already in a depressive state because of the tragic loss of her cousin and the dreadful banishment of Romeo. She does not need her father, who is supposed to care for her and support her, to yell at her about being “ungrateful” for a marriage that she does not want to take part in. Juliet’s father does not care about the fragile emotions of Juliet. Instead, he torments her and shouts, “only to have a wretched, puking idiot, a whining crybaby, when good fortune is offered to her, reply, ‘I won’t marry, I can’t love, I’m too young, please excuse me’” (185B). After Lord Capulet tells Juliet that she is an ungrateful idiot, Juliet is dismayed. She later says, “has he no pity for me, in the depths of my grief?” (187M). Juliet is already feeling plenty of emotional pain and any other forms of emotional hurt could push her into despair. That is exactly what happens. Because of her father, Juliet is now more willing put herself into a death-like slumber so that she doesn’t have to be married to Paris. Lord Capulet caused Juliet lots of emotional trauma in this scene. She is willing to take the risk of permanent death, just so that she will not have to marry Paris. All of this is because her father, Lord Capulet, did not listen to her wishes. If he had just taken the time to listen to Juliet instead of being rash and judgemental, Juliet would not have taken the sleeping potion and the events that followed leading up to the death of the two lovers would not have occurred. He could have been more reasonable with Juliet and suggested something other than the option to go hang herself.
Finally, Lord Capulet is more to blame than any other character since he could have made a compromise with Juliet about her marriage to Paris. Lord Capulet is an aggressive man, but he is the planner of this wedding. He could have easily changed the dates of the wedding in a way that would allow for Juliet and Friar Lawrence’s plan to work. Even Juliet’s mother, Lady Capulet, does not think to try and make a compromise with Juliet about the conditions of the wedding. Instead, Lord Capulet says, “hold on. I’m not with you. I’m not with you, wife. How do you mean- she’ll have none of it? She doesn’t thank us? Isn’t she proud? Doesn’t she think herself fortunate, unworthy as she is, that we’ve persuaded such a worthy gentleman to be her bridegroom?” (183T). Lord Capulet is quick to throw Juliet’s opinions aside. Instead, he could try to hear her out and take control of the schedule of the wedding. If he had just asked her if the wedding could be moved to a different day or why she didn’t want to marry, the events leading to the lover’s deaths would not have occurred. Lord Capulet, as the planner of the wedding, has the most control over it. He could have at least given Juliet a say in how the wedding should be planned out, being that Juliet is the bride-to-be. Lord Capulet had the power to change the events that led to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, but his childish and undiplomatic behavior stopped him from doing so.
Although Lord Capulet has plenty of blame to be placed on his shoulders for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, many believe that Friar Lawrence also has his own fair share of blame since he was the one to marry the two lovers.
Friar Lawrence was naive for thinking that there would only be positive results to the marriage of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence does not bother to think about the consequences, instead, he just tells Romeo, “there’s one good reason why I’ll assist you: this marriage could be the happy cause of turning the enmity between your two households into real love” (105T). If Friar Lawrence had thought about the consequences of the marriage between Romeo and Juliet, perhaps they would not be dead. Friar Lawrence also married the lovers without consent from their parents. A marriage cannot be held in secret without the parents knowing. The Capulets and Montagues are responsible for their children, not the Friar. It was not his place to interfere in the lives of the children. Another reason why Friar Lawrence could be blamed for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is that his plan following the wedding was way too complicated and not thought out properly. There were too many instances where a flaw could occur in the process of his plan to get the letter to Romeo. These circumstances were not taken into account and as a result, the letter was not able to get to Romeo. With too many factors that could go wrong, Friar Lawrence should have known better and should have
not given the potion to Juliet. Finally, Friar Lawrence put the lives of two innocent children and other at stake with his plan to marry them. If the Montagues and Capulets figured out the marriage of Romeo and Juliet, war could have broken out between the two households. Friar Lawrence once again did not think about the consequences of his actions, he just went ahead blindly with his own plans. Even though Friar Lawrence did not think his plans through, his intentions reveal his true motives. Friar Lawrence had only goodwill for both the Capulets and the Montagues. As the spiritual guide of the town, it is his job to create peace. The marriage of Romeo and Juliet gave him that chance. Just like any other human being, he took the time to do good and he did what he needed to do to achieve his goals. When people have goals, they would do anything to do to achieve them. The Friar was only doing what his natural human instinct told him to do. Even if his plan failed, it was due to outer forces that he could not control. One man cannot control the Black Plague. It is the outer force of nature that does so. Friar Lawrence can’t be blamed as much as Lord Capulet. Lord Capulet knew he was hurting his daughter and he could have controlled the events that happened. Friar Lawrence was doing good and he could not control the events that followed the marriage of Romeo and Juliet.
Lord Capulet has the most blame placed on his shoulders for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Lord Capulet’s childish and hostile behavior is the reason why the feud between the Montagues and Capulets continued up until the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Because of the ongoing feud, Romeo and Juliet were unable to have a public wedding and a happy life together. Lord Capulet also arranged the marriage between Paris and Juliet. This is the same marriage that Juliet dreaded. This is the same marriage that made Juliet go up to the Friar and threaten to commit suicide in front of him. Lord Capulet also could have been much more supportive of the wellbeing of his daughter, but instead, he continued to be abusive toward her. This abuse made Juliet even more willing to go to the Friar to get a potion that would put her into a death-like slumber. If she had not taken the potion, then the events that followed wouldn’t have happened and the lovers would still be alive. Lord Capulet could have changed the fate of these two star-crossed lovers, but his bitterness did not allow for that change to take place.