Monifa Charles-Osubu

Mr Janosch
904
09.04.14
Whos really to blame?

Romeo and Juliet ended in a terrible tragedy with lots of people to blame. Shakespeares
Romeo and Juliet (2000 edition) Some shall be pardoned, and some punished, but who is truly
to blame?

Romeo and Friar Lawrence are the characters the most to blame. Romeo is the one to kill
Tybalt and Friar Lawrence gives the loved up couple bad ideas. Romeo broke into the Capulet
party and angered Tybalt which ends in the latter dying, and The Friar gave them the poison
that got the couple killed in the end.

Romeo is at large to blame because if he didnt crashed the party, he wouldnt meet Tybalt and
get banished. Romeo liquidates Tybalt in Act three, scene one and gets banished, meaning he
has to leave Juliet and doesnt know of the plan.Tybalt provokes Romeo and threatens his
death. Then Romeo says This shall determined that, and kills Tybalt. This shows that Romeo
acted irrationally and was easily provoked. It was his own fault that he was banished. This
irrational behaviour is shown later in the play when Romeo buys poison because he hears a
rumor of Juliets death. From both their actions throughout the play we can tell that they do not
think of the most sensible solutions. Juliet saw the flaws in the Friar's plan and then still
continued to go along with it, and Romeo heard that Juliet was dead and thought the best idea
was to kill himself over some girl he met at a party.

Friar Lawrence is also partly to blame because he is the one who provided Juliet with the
dreaded poison and gave her the plan of faking her death. In Act four, Scene one, of
shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, he gives a vial of potion to her and tells her Take thou this
vial, being then in bed, And this distilled liquor drink thou off. This quote shows that Friar was
the mastermind behind the plan, and if Juliet hadnt been persuaded to take the poison, the play
could have had a happier ending. To be honest, The Friar shouldnt of gotten involved in their
relationship because it was none of his business.

Some people may suggest Paris is to blame, however this is why they are wrong. He was
unaware of Romeo and juliets togetherness, and didnt force her to be with him, her father did.
In Act one, Scene two, Capulet tells Paris, But woo her gentle Paris, get her heart. My will to
her consent is but a part. An she agreed within her scope of choice, lies my consent and fair
according voice. This quote shows that Capulet gave Paris permission to marry his daughter
and that Juliet must agree first, but later changes his mind. Paris didnt know of Romeos
involvement with Juliet.

Romeo and The Friar were to blame because they got the cogs turning. Romeo kills Tybalt and
gets banished, The Friar gave Juliet the poison that starts a lot of mess and Paris was the naive
bystander with no clue of what was going on. Romeo shouldnt be prosecuted because as said
in Diane Ackermans article, The Brain on Love, All relationships change the brain. Romeo
changed for better and for worst when he met Juliet. He became more tolerant of Capulets and
even tried to stop his cousin fighting one. But being with love with Juliet also made him act more
irrationally, and drank poison because he thought a girl hed met less than two weeks ago was
dead. Another reason he cant be punished is because hes dead. Thats punishment enough.
Friar Lawrence cant be fairly punished because so many people (such as the Nurse, Capulet
and bad timing) are also to blame. If you were to blame The Friar, you would have to blame
everybody who had even the slightest connection with the plan.









Reference

Ackerman, D. (2012, March). The Brain on Love. The New York Times. New York.
Shakespeare, W. (2000). Romeo and Juliet. Penguin Books. New York.