Romeo and Juliet Essay William Goldberg 813

William Goldberg 813

                     Romeo and Juliet Essay: Who's to Blame for the Deaths of Romeo and Juliet?

        In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, two teenage lovers from rival families desperately try to find a way to be together despite the horrid conflict that has been going on for a while now between their families. However, their attempts are thwarted and both end up meeting untimely demises. At the end of the play one question remains, who's to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? I believe that in the end, it was fate that caused these lovers' deaths.
        One reason why it was fate that caused their deaths, is that from the beginning fate is shown connecting these two people. This is shown when in Act 1 Scene 2 Romeo decides to go to Capulet's party because he notices that Rosaline (a crush of his) will be there. In the end though, he ends up having his first meeting with Juliet and completely forgets about Rosaline. Fate is also shown in the beginning by having these two lovers who will give anything to be with one another be born under different families who hate each other to no extent. This shows fate playing a major role in their deaths before the play even started.
        Another reason why fate was the cause of their deaths is because in the middle of the play and later on it is shown how a number of things happen that were out of their control. This is shown when Friar Laurence's plan fails to get to Romeo because of the plague spreading around making it so that Friar John wasn't allowed to give him the letter. Fate is also shown yet again when Romeo arrives to the tomb before Juliet has awoken, if she had been awake by the time he had arrived there would not have been any trouble. Because of these things, fate is shown as a major player in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet in the middle and near the end of the play.
        Others might argue that it was another person's fault such as Capulet, Montague, or even the lovers themselves because of all of their mindless decisions as well as their ability to be quite stubborn. However, examples of fate are shown much more throughout the story as well as decisions made from other characters not mattering as much. Therefore, fate is what caused the death of Romeo and Juliet.
        In conclusion, I believe that after all is done, it was fate that these two lovers were meant to die. After all, in the prologue it is mentioned that their love is "...death-mark'd love..." meaning that they never truly had any control of their situation in the first place, it was always up to fate.