Blame in Romeo and Juliet Essay

In the play â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† a series of unfortunate the circumstances and illogical decisions force the protagonists into an impossible position ultimately resulting in their death. As Il-fated as the two â€Å"star-crossed lover’s† may have been the root of all their problems can be traced back to rash decisions by characters and circumstances placed unfairly on characters by warped societal expectations. While the Friar had nothing but the best intentions his illogical and somewhat naive decisions contributed greatly to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo’s impulsive, dangerous and irrational behavior is also to blame. Societal expectations and outside influences can be partly to blame for many of the characters irrational decisions. Although these expectations could be to blame for two lovers parents behavior it does not justify them completely, thus they are also to blame. None of these reasons can be blamed in isolation but all contributed to the ultimate outcome of Romeo and Juliets relationship. The Friar was very mush to blame for the tragic outcome of Romeo and Juliet. He was continuously relied on for advice from Romeo and Juliet and failed to acknowledge his mistakes after their deaths. The Friar is blame because he married the two with their parents consent and thought that Romeo’s love lied â€Å" not truly in [his] heart, but in [his] eyes†. Instead he foolishly chose to marry the two, purely â€Å"to turn [their] households’ rancor to pure love† despite being unknowing of the true nature of their dispute as a priest. Not only this, but he also expressed that things were moving too fast and that â€Å"violent delights (such as Romeo’s and Juliet’s love) have violent ends† but continued with the wedding anyway. He failed to listen to his own wisdom and take things â€Å"wisely and slowly†. Despite prolonging the lives of two suicidal teenagers, they placed their trust in him when he promised to â€Å"blaze [their] marriage†¦beg pardon to the Prince, and call thee back†. Because he made no attempt at doing so, he instilled false hope into the couple, which also contributed to their deaths. Furthermore he failed to personally deliver the letter explaining Juliet’s faked death to Romeo, instead outsourcing it to another Friar without telling him of its urgency. This lack of responsibility repeats itself when he gives an unstable, teenage girl a fake-death poison, a risky idea he should have known better not to do. Furthermore, he leaves Juliet when she is at her most vulnerable,  alone together with her dead husband. Because he was the only adult Romeo could trust, the Friar’s naive, rash and immature decisions that neglected to look after Romeo and Juliet properly were at the epicenter for why their deaths occurred. The melodramatic character of Romeo is also very much to blame for his fate because of his impulsive decisions and his inability to control his emotions. Mature enough to show genuine love for Juliet he is unable to make logical decisions. Although he showed enough common sense to avoid a fight with Tybalt it is clear that when misfortune swallows Romeo he becomes an impulsive and somewhat selfish person, valuing his own pride over a life together with Juliet. His immaturity is illustrated when he describes himself as â€Å"fortunes fool† or saying that Juliet made him weak, as he is merely passing the blame along rather than accepting full responsibility. It is obvious that because of Romeo’s weakness, Juliet suffers too. Whether it is taking a potion or killing herself she continuously risks her neck to help undo her husband’s wrongdoings. In Friar Laurence’s words Romeo â€Å"is set afire by thine own ignorance†¦ like powder in a skill-less soldiers flask.† By climbing the Capulet’s walls, marrying Juliet within days, killing Tybalt and himself, his lack of foresight and awareness of how his actions affected others ultimately lead to Juliet’s and his own death. The pressures and expectations formed and enforced by society, forced the characters, into impossible situations, which forced difficult and risky decisions. The Patriarchal society meant women such as Juliet had no voice in things such as their own marriage. This, coupled with the unjustified conflict in Verona meant that Juliet was unable to Marry in public, which set off a chain of events ultimately leading to her death. These same values forced Romeo into conflict with the malevolent Tybalt. At first he eludes fighting, telling Tybalt that he â€Å"loves thee better than thou cant devise† but despite being loving person at heart the patriarchal society which promoted masculinity acted as a catalyst for Romeos impulsive character. The corrupting influence of this societal value forced Romeo to maintain honor and revenge Tybalt because Juliet â€Å"made him effeminate† or weak like a women. Furthermore the societal values of loyalty to one family meant pride  alone kept the futile conflict a part of everyone’s lives. Because of this and the need to respect ones elders unconditionally it meant that Romeo and Juliet were not able to stand up to their parents and declare the marriage public. When Juliet showed any sort of rebellion toward her parent regarding marriage she was abused and practically disown. Even after this loyalty to her family influenced Juliet to use â€Å" a thing like death† in order to be with Romeo and â€Å"to ‘scape from (the shame)† that would come with running away from her family. The Parents of Romeo and Juliet are also to blame because as adults they should have showed maturity and put away their pride like the youthful Romeo and Juliet and put an end to the unjustified conflict. Firstly Capulet directly influences the outcome by forcing the marriage between Juliet and Paris despite Juliet’s obvious discomfort. But as adults they had the greater responsibility of putting an end to the conflict but quite to the contrary they were seen encouraging and wanting to actively engage in it when the fight broke out between rival servants. The reason for the tragedy cannot be blamed on fate because the environment that the parents created meant that their whole love affair was doomed from the beginning. There was no-way their marriage in secret could last forever because enviably Juliet would be forced to marry somebody else. The hope, which the youthfulness of Romeo and Juliet embodied, was foiled by the reality created by their parents. Without this mutual ha ted the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio would not have occurred, and there would be no issue marrying Romeo thus the outcome of the play can be directly attributed to the conflict instilled in society by the parents of Romeo and Juliet. In the play a series of unfortunate situations and illogical decisions by characters create a downhill spiral, which escalates ultimately to the death of Romeo and Juliet. The Friar can be regarded as the character that should have and did know better but failed to act accordingly. While Romeo blinded by emotions failed to make logical decisions or take into account the impact they had on others. These characters were put under unnecessary pressure by social expectations that existed primly because the parents of Romeo and Juliet failed to stop the unjustified conflict in Verona. None of these  factors can be blamed in isolation they all were pivotal causes of the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.