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This blog is for Ms. Shores' tenth grade Communications students.
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March
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- Romeo and Juliet Act V: question 4
- Romeo and Juliet Act V: question 3
- Romeo and Juliet Act V: question 2
- Romeo and Juliet Act V: question 1
- Romeo and Juliet Act IV: question 4
- Romeo and Juliet Act IV: question 3
- Romeo and Juliet Act IV: question 2
- Romeo and Juliet Act IV: question 1
- Romeo and Juliet Act III: question 4
- Romeo and Juliet Act III: question 3
- Romeo and Juliet Act III: question 2
- Romeo and Juliet Act III: question 1
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March
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8 comments:
I believe that the deaths of Romeo and Juliet were caused by a chain of events, and not just one single action. However, I think that the Montague/ Capulet feud played a large part in their deaths. It all began when Romeo and Juliet were married in secret. Though it was their fault for not telling their parents before they were married, the fighting between the families made it almost impossible for the kids to be honest with their parents. Because the friar married Romeo and Juliet, I think he also played a part in their deaths. He seemed to marry them for selfish reasons, to end the family feuds, but by doing this he was forced to cover up this mistake by giving Juliet a sleeping potion to prevent her suicide that he could have been avoided if he had not married them in the first place. Following the marriage was the death of Tybalt which caused Romeo to be banished and Juliet’s parents to push her into a marriage. I think Juliet made the wrong decision by taking the potion in order to get out of her marriage with Paris and that she should have been honest with her parents about her feelings for Romeo in the first place. Even though the parents may have been mad, the kids would not have been forced to keep their love a secret and the chain of events leading to their death could have been avoided.
No one is responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet but themselves. A number of bad decisions made by the lovers led to the unfortunate ending of the play. Romeo and Juliet fell in love the first time they laid eyes on each other at a Capulet party. Being that Romeo is a Montague, he was never supposed to be at the party. I consider this to be that first bad decision leading up to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo was not invited to the problem, but he decided to attend anyway knowing full well the risks that may entail. If Romeo had not attended the party, he would have never met Juliet allowing their unfortunate deaths to not ever occur. Romeo and Juliet then decided to marry without the knowledge or consent of their feuding parents. Both Romeo and Juliet are fully aware that their parents will not agree to this marriage, and only problems will arise from their irresponsible choice. However, neither seems to care. Next, Romeo is unable to control his anger and kills Juliet's cousin, Tybalt. As a result, Romeo is banned from the city of Mantua which leads to the mix-up of communications and the suicides of both Romeo and Juliet. As you can see, the poor decisions made by Romeo and Juliet are the result of their tragic deaths, and no one but themselves are to blame.
The final people who have influence over the deaths of Romeo and Juliet are their parents. The parents of Romeo and Juliet are very strict and overbearing. They do not like to take no as an answer from their children as proven in the scene where Juliet tells them that she will kill herself if she must marry Paris. Her parents then retaliate by saying they will disown her if she did this. Both the parents of Romeo and Juliet forbid the contact between the families which causes the feud. Romeo and Juliet know as soon as they find out that they are from feuding families that they cannot love each other. They know this due to the tension that their parents had previously formed between the two families. The parents of Romeo and Juliet cause Romeo and Juliet to think that their love for each other would be wrong and unnatural. Also, Juliet’s parents mainly want to find someone for Juliet to marry themselves. They do not want Juliet to find someone for herself. Juliet’s parents put pressure on her to marry Paris, which causes more conflict in her mind as to whether she would ever be able to be with Romeo or would have to live with someone she dislikes for the rest of her life. The parents of Romeo and Juliet share responsibility for the deaths of their children because of the preconceived notions that they plant in their children’s minds.
For the most part, the blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet lies with themselves. If Romeo and Juliet had acted more maturely, they would have realized that there much is more to life than a first love. They are so smitten with each other that they cannot see beyond their love for each other. Both Romeo and Juliet choose this action by themselves. They may have been influenced by others in the play, but no one forced the two people to physically kill themselves. In a place where Romeo and Juliet could have utilized common sense, they chose the easier path which led them out of the hard but satisfying life they could have led into death where they would always be together. The deaths are extremely sudden. As Romeo speaks before killing himself, he talks of nothing other than Juliet. He is not considering what the outcome of his decision would be, how it would affect his family, and how much havoc it would create in his city. He only thinks of himself and his situation involving Juliet. When Juliet wakes up, her first action after seeing that Romeo is dead is to kill herself. She shows the same recklessness that Romeo demonstrates. This is a prime reason that the two fell in love in the first place. Because of their irresponsible and impulsive decisions, the death of Romeo and Juliet is primarily their own faults.
The next character who influences Romeo and Juliet to kill themselves is the Friar. The Friar is a large part of why Romeo and Juliet die. Firstly, he supports Romeo’s decision to marry Juliet from the beginning. He does not stop to think about the situation before he decides to let Romeo marry after Romeo’s pleading speech. He does have a noble motive, in wanting to settle the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, but the situation is really not in his hands. The Friar should have also been more responsible and followed the requirements of his job which include advising people that come to him for aid in life situations. If he had really considered the circumstances, he would have told Romeo that this marriage would not be ideal for Romeo’s happiness later in life. The Friar practically promotes the relationship. He does not see the distress that the relationship could cause. He can only see the positive outcomes of the marriage due to his predisposition. The fact that the Friar actually goes through with the act of marrying the two impulsive lovers further proves his irrationality. Another argument that supports the Friar’s impact on the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is the fact that he gives Juliet the potion which causes her to fall asleep. He has excellent intentions because he wants to make reparations for what he has done, but the confusion that ensued after Juliet took the potion is a large part of why the two ended up dead. Overall, the friar has a sufficient impact on Romeo and Juliet throughout the story to have a share in the responsibility for the tragedy of their deaths.
I believe that, indirectly, Tybalt is to blame. When Mercutio and Tybalt fight, resulting in Mercutio's death, it brings everything else down with it. Romeo is banished for his revenge against Tybalt, and Juliet is forced into marrying Paris against her will, where she turns to drastic measures to ensure her and Romeo's 'happily ever after'.
Friar Laurence plays a part in the fatal outcome, but he was never really a main component. If Romeo hadn't killed Tybalt, then none would have been the wiser. They could have warmed their parents up to the idea of them together, maybe even calmed the feud before they told their secret. Things could have worked out the way the friar wanted if not for the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutio.
I strongly believe that the Capulet and Montague families are solely to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. The parents taught their children to hate and look down upon the other family. They kept the feud going simply because they didn’t know how to stop, due to generations of quarrelling. Because of all the hatred and malice, Romeo and Juliet’s relationship was not accepted. If the families had not been fighting, Juliet and Romeo would be open about their love. This openness would mean no sneaking around and getting married in secret. If their relationship was accepted and not a secret, Tybalt would probably not have fought with Romeo, and in turn gotten killed. If Tybalt had not gotten killed, Romeo would not have been exiled. Being able to stay in the city, Romeo would have heard of Juliet’s plan to “kill” herself. There would have been no miscommunications. Also, the wedding with Paris might not have even been forced at all! First off, Capulet makes Juliet marry Paris because Tybalt died: no death, no marriage. Secondly, if Capulet knew Juliet’s true feelings about Romeo, I don’t think he would have made her marry anyway. In turn, Juliet would not need to fake her own death. If Juliet never faked her death, then Romeo would have no reason to kill himself, and as a result, Juliet would be alive too.
The people who are at fault for Romeo and Juliet's death is none other than both of their parents. The feud between the two families continues due to the hatred festered between the two rival families. Because of this hatred Romeo and Juliet are forced to try and hide their relationship. As a result they could not be open to their parents about their feelings, forcing them to find another way to get together. Lord Capulet furthers the want of the two lovers to meet by trying to force Juliet to marry Paris as fast as he possibly can. When Juliet tells him no he refuses to listen, throwing Juliet into a frenzied state of emotion and making her run to the Friar for help. The Montague side is a less present in the book thus making them seem less restrictive although it is assumed they would not approve of the relationship. Although just because they are less present throughout the story does not make them any less guilty than the Capulet family.
The deaths of Romeo and Juliet should be solely blamed on the feud of their two houses. One has to look at the chain of events that occured. If there was never a feud, Romeo would have been allowed at the party, Tybalt wouldn't have been mad, he wouldn't have picked a fight with Romeo, and Mercutio wouldn't have gotten involved. If Mercutio had never been involved he wouldn't have been killed which wouldn't have made Romeo mad enough to kill Tybalt which wouldn't have resulted in his exile. If he had never been exiled Juliet wouldn't have fake killed herself which would lead to no misunderstanding. If you look back on the whole cause of this, it is the feud of their two houses. Romeo and Juliet couldn't even mention that they talk to each other to their parents. They were forced to keep a secret that ended up leading to their death. They couldn't live with loving each other because of a meaningless feud. Romeo and Juliet are definitely not to blame for this.
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