“Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, it might have been.” -Kurt Vonnegut. After reading Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, all one can think about is what might have been. Set in Verona hundreds of years ago, two rival families continue to fight because of an “ancient grudge” (Prologue.3) Two teens, Romeo and Juliet, fall in love, defying their families rules. After only a couple of days, their love cause both of their deaths. Friar Lawrence was the cause of their deaths for his irresponsibility and lack of urgency to solve the conflict he started.
Romeo was too young to realise that he should have waited until he got over Rosaline before he became involved with Juliet. People and feuds influenced their paths and actions but fate is what brought the lovers to their end. "For never was there a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo." Another act of fate was the lack of communication, the letter failing to arrive to Romeo and Juliet being by herself in the tomb. And once Romeo discovered her without knowing she was really alive, he didn’t see much point living without her and ended his life.
He warned Romeo that “violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die, fire and powder, which as they kiss, consume.” (2:6:9-11). Friar Lawrence had a feeling that the quick and hasty decisions that were made would not end well. However, he continued on to marry them, believing that their marriage would stop their parents’ feud. In addition, Friar Lawrence gave Juliet the idea of faking her death and saying, “…take thou this vial, being then in bed…” (4:5:93). He suggested the plan of killing herself, which led to Romeo committing suicide due to the death of Juliet.
This betrayal hurt Juliet in many ways, and it hurt her parents a little too, as this would soon lead to her death. The first way that this betrayal hurt Juliet is that she was forced to marry someone she did not love, and completely forget about Romeo, her husband. Lord Capulet does not care about Juliet's feelings when he hears that Juliet does not want to get married. All he wants is money and a good connection to the Prince. He did not always think like this though.
Romeo, in an act of revenge, kills Tybalt. The Prince, trying to maintain peace, banished Romeo from Verona. The Nurse brought the news to Juliet “Tybalt is gone, and Romeo banished; Romeo that killed him, he is banished” (Romeo and Juliet 2. 2. 69-70 ) This made Juliet miserable over Romeo's banishment, meanwhile her parents thought her unhappiness was over Tybalt's death.
Friar Lawrence offers advice that hehimself does not follow. While his advice is well meaning, because he doesnot follow it, terrible events occur. The death of Romeo and Juliet, and,indirectly, Tybalt and Mercutio, are due to Friar Lawrence’s inability to backup his own advice with action. For example, had Friar Lawrence gone with hisown advice that marrying Romeo and Juliet would be too hasty, Romeo andJuliet would not have ended up dead. But, in the end, he married the coupletoo soon, eventually resulting in a disaster.
Imagine being kept from one’s true love, deceiving one’s family, and finding one’s husband deceased. Your honor, Juliet Capulet would not have had to go through these terrible conditions and would also be alive today if Friar Lawrence would have not involved himself with Romeo Montague’s and Juliet Capulet’s difficulties. We come to this courtroom today to determine who is responsible for Juliet Capulet’s death. The court will clearly prove Friar Lawrence is to blame in this horrible tragedy. First, Friar Lawrence made the mistake of marrying Romeo and Juliet.
If this was the case, Juliet may not have felt so driven to take the potion and fake her death. Capulet’s forcing and uncaring parenting caused Juliet’s death. Above all, fate’s unavoidable reach is at most to blame for Juliet’s death. Fate’s first prediction was “one dead in the bottom of a tomb,” meaning when Juliet faking of her death. Fate also predicted “a pair of star-crossed lovers tak[ing] their live[s].” Out of everyone in the play, fate is at most to blame for Juliet’s death because of it’s unavoidable and destined to happen.
Frontrunners for this distinction are: The Family Feud, the star- crossed lovers were doomed from the start entirely because of their families’ hatred of one another. Fate, because the Prologue suggests this when it calls them "star-crossed lovers" and talks about "their death-mark'd love" Lack of perspective, they were young, and they could not see past their terror of living without each other to make the correct choice and go on living. If they didn’t rush into things, they probably would have ended up together in the end. Love, the love between Romeo and Juliet not only gave them happiness, but it also caused them pain and heartache, and eventually their lives. Impetuousness, if they had only waited then time would have kept them apart and alive.
In the end, it is both fate and misfortune that are driving them to their untimely deaths. Although some characters may contribute to their bad luck, no single person is held accountable. The enduring quarrel between the two families proves that Romeo and Juliet were never supposed to be together in the first place. The Capulet family is very conventional, and would want their only daughter to marry someone of who they approve. The arranged marriage between Juliet and Paris is just another obstacle hindering Romeo and Juliet from having a future together.