Romeo and Juliet is a play set in Renaissance Verona with a tragic conclusion of the two young lovers, Romeo and Juliet, dying. The whole play is about the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets and how their children, Romeo and Juliet, have to pay the price for their actions and hatred to each other. As a result, the older generation play key roles in the play’s tragic conclusion due to their actions and decisions. Juliet’s death in particular is influenced by her parents’ and the Nurse’s betrayal to her and their lack of understanding in her. These characters also influence Romeo’s death and other individuals of the older generation like, Friar Lawrence and the Prince contribute to the play’s tragic conclusion.
The influences of Romeo’s and Juliet’s parents play a major part in the play’s tragic conclusion. We know this because in the prologue it says their ‘ancient grudge’ and their ‘rage’ will cause Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths which will be the only way to ‘bury their parents’ strife’. Shakespeare emphasises the importance of the parents’ roles in the play’s tragic conclusion by using sonnet form and iambic pentameter in the prologue. The prologue implies that the parents play a major part in the play’s tragic conclusion because it shows that their ‘ancient grudge’ creates Romeo’s and Juliet’s doomed fate and the use of the sonnet form and iambic pentameter emphasises their importance.
Among the parents, Capulet plays a key role in the play’s tragic conclusion, in Juliet’s death in particular. In Act 1 Scene 5, Tybalt recognizes Romeo’s voice as a Montague and wants to ‘strike him dead’ but Capulet orders him to do nothing ‘Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone’. He keeps a peaceful attitude to Romeo’s uninvited presence and prevents Tybalt from starting a brawl. This suggests that if he hadn’t stopped Tybalt, it would have prevented