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How Does Shakespeare Present Death In Romeo And Juliet

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In the tragedy of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, death is a theme that is presented repeatedly. Shakespeare uses death as a plot device to keep the story moving. Over the course of the play, several characters die and death is often threatened. Through the perspectives of different characters, Shakespeare portrays death as the tragic consequences of hate and prejudice, love and loyalty, and the inevitability of fate. From a legal perspective, Shakespeare presents death as the punishment of disregarding the law of peace in Verona. The Prince, in this case, is the legal perspective who threatens death. Tybalt and Mercutio, two characters in the play, succumb to their disregard for the law, resulting in their death. When Mercutio is …show more content…

Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is a prime example of this irrationality. The two lovers choose to kill themselves rather than live without one another, ignoring the future consequences. Here, the reader begins to discover Romeo's willingness to die if he can not be with Juliet, “I have night’s cloak to hide me from their eyes,/ And but thou love me, let them find me here./ My life were better ended by their hate,/ Than death proroguèd,/ wanting of thy love” (2.2.80). This shows how they are prepared to risk everything, even their lives, for one another because their love is so intense. When Juliet exclaims “...Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger,/ This is thy sheath./ There rust and let me die” (5.3.174), it shows how Romeo’s death affected Juliet’s inability to think rationally, choosing to commit suicide instead. Their lack of maturity causes them to take risks and act without thinking through the consequences. Shakespeare also portrays death as a result of family feud, resulting in the couple’s tragic …show more content…

Tybalt and Mercutio’s deaths were because of their background. On every occasion the members of the feuding families meet, it always results in further bloodshed. When Mercutio is fatally wounded, he curses at the two houses, “A plague o’ both your houses!” (3.1.94), which shows that both families are to be blamed for causing his death. Furthermore, the threat of the families’ feud caused Romeo and Juliet to keep their relationship a secret. Their lies and secrets ended up killing them, and their parents played a part by not letting them be together. As both sides come to realize the cost of their hatred, Lord Capulet says, “O brother Montague, give me thy hand/ This is my daughter’s jointure, for no more/ Can I demand” (5.3.306). This supports the conclusion that it was the fault of their feud for the deaths of their beloved children. The lack of support, communication, impulsiveness and short-tempered decisions of the families are to be blamed for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare highlights the consequences that family grudges can have on individuals and

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440 Words | 2 Pages

Tybalt comes across Romeo and Mercutio and tries to pick a fight with Romeo. Mercurio steps in and fights in Romeo’s place and Tybalt kills Mercutio. Out of rage for Mercutio's death Romeo fights and kills Tybalt. Romeo is exiled from the country and his mother dies of grief because of it. Tybalt is responsible for killing Mercutio, driving Romeo to kill Tybalt, causing Romeo’s mother to die of grief and causing Romeo to be

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552 Words | 3 Pages

In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, there are many deaths. One of them being Mercutio, the cousin of Prince Escalus and the best friend of Romeo Montague. There are multiple people who could be at fault for his death, but the most responsible could be Tybalt, Mercutio, or Romeo. Mercutio was slain by Tybalt during a fight between the two. Tybalt was trying to slay Romeo, but Mercutio got involved and started to fight Tybalt instead.

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729 Words | 3 Pages

The death of both Mercutio and Tybalt resulted in the two clans reigniting their anger, eradicating any opportunity for peace. Tybalt’s fury leads to his avoidable death and Romeo’s banishment. Tybalt’s actions evoke the following events that cause the bitter end of Romeo and

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633 Words | 3 Pages

Tybalt and Mercutio want to fight, but Romeo tries to stop it. He fails, and Mercutio dies. This angers Romeo and he chases after Tybalt and kills him. “That late thou gavest me; for Mercutio’s soul/Is but a little way above our heads,/Staying for thine to keep him company./Either thou or I,or both, must go with him.”

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825 Words | 4 Pages

While Mercutio is dying Romeo is deciding what he wants to do to Tybalt for killing his friend. After Mercutio dies Romeo realizes that Tybalt must pay for what he has done, Romeo kills Tybalt in a duel. This killing spree upsets the families. Romeo did not want his friend to die on the count of his family’s feud with the Capulets. Mercutio knew that the two families did not get along and tried to stay neutral with the conflict, but because he let his feelings about Tybalt get in the way, he unfortunately paid for it with his

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1232 Words | 5 Pages

In the wide known play and book ‘Romeo and Juliet’ written by William Shakespeare, many topics are addressed, the book is a romantic tragedy to which cause may be of many thing. However, some important topics to consider would be, how Shakespeare addresses the question who or what is most to blame for the tragic events in Romeo and Juliet. The three main causes to tragedies (all the deaths) to consider would be, the conflicts between the two families, Friar Lawrence and Mercutio. The first and main cause to all tragedies in Romeo and Juliet was the two families feuds which were responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio, Tybalt lastly Romeo's mother.

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470 Words | 2 Pages

Mercutio can be blamed for the death of Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio... Tybalt picked a fight with Mercutio, and in the end Mercutio was killed. Romeo decides to get revenge for Mercutio’s death and chases after Tybalt, but in the end accidentally kills Tybalt. Romeo feels guilty for killing Tybalt because he was now Romeo’s family and when he sees Juliet in the tomb along with Tybalt, he breaks down.

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837 Words | 4 Pages

"O brother Montague, give me thy hand. " - Act 5, Scene 3 These words are spoken by Lord Capulet to Lord Montague at the end of the play, as the two fathers the loss of their children. The fact that the two families are able to reconcile only after the deaths of their children highlights the senselessness of the feud. Feud between two families played a role in the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet, but can be

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645 Words | 3 Pages

In the middle of the play, Romeo kills Tybalt after Tybalt kills Mercutio. This leads to the family's feud becoming more hostile and even leading to the banishment of Romeo. “Immediately we do exile him hence” (III.i.183). This reveals that Romeo’s decision to kill Tybalt not only escalates the feud between the two families but also leads to his own banishment, and this reckless decision highlights Romeo’s inability to control his emotions and think about the consequences for his actions. Therefore, Romeo’s impulsive and reckless decision to kill Tybalt ultimately sets off a tragic chain of events that leads to the deaths of the pair of star-crossed

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643 Words | 3 Pages

Tybalt has a temper and is strongly involved in the feud, which causes him to kill Mercutio and lose his own life to Romeo. All these character’s fatal flaws greatly impact the story and lead to their own demise. Mercutio’s

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980 Words | 4 Pages

Tybalt is trying to get Romeo to fight him to restore his family's pride. In an act of good faith Romeo refuses to fight him even when Tybalt is insulting him. Mercutio feels sorryl for his friend and attacks Tybalt. This results in Tybalt killing Mercutio and fleeing the scene. Secondly, Tybalt purposely goes back to further insult Romeo after he kills his best friend: “Thou wretched boy, that didst consort him here,Shalt with him hence”.

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938 Words | 4 Pages

He tells Lord Capulet that he will have a gold stature of Juliet put up to praise her. This further proves that it was possible for the families to put aside their rivalry. I believe that the Montagues should also take blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. While they didn’t have as large of an impact as the Capulets, they still made one half of the

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132 Words | 1 Pages

In Romeo and Juliet Act III, Romeo and Juliet use parallels to connect love and death. Between Romeo’s banishment from Verona and the feud between the families, Romeo and Juliet see it better off to be dead than to be apart from one another. Romeo declares, “Ha, banishment! Be merciful, say ‘death:’ For exile hath more terror in his look.”

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391 Words | 2 Pages

The long standing-family feuding and fate is ultimately to blame for Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. Some people may think that Romeo and Juliet are ultimately to blame for their own deaths, because they both killed themselves. They are wrong, the

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884 Words | 4 Pages

In the infamous tragedy of the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare, the theme and influence of death are poignantly prevalent through the course of the play. The use of death in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is portrayed through 3 instances of the deaths of 4 major characters, Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio and Tybalt, in which the context of each death, are relative to the cause and development of their demise. Shakespeare capitalizes on the sophistication and complexity of death along with its varying impacts in relation to the context in which guides their tragedies. The death of Romeo is the result of his intense love and passion for Juliet as he refuses to exist in a world without his true love, “ The lean abhorrèd monster keeps thee here in dark to be his paramour? For fear of that, I still will stay with thee, And never from this palace of dim night depart again.”

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