Lord Capulet Responsible For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the feuding families of Capulet and Montague, as well as Romeo and Juliet themselves, are responsible for their deaths. Juliet’s family, Lord and Lady Capulet, have contributed to the downfall of both Romeo and Juliet. After Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, is slain by Romeo, Juliet cries for his banishment. Lady Capulet mistakes her tears for her cousin when she weeps for Romeo’s exile and tells her that she will be married to County Paris, where Lady Capulet says, “Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn, the County Paris, at Saint Peter’s Church, shall happily make thee there a joyful bride” (3,5,113). Juliet refuses, being already married to Romeo, and Lord Capulet threatens to disown her in his anger. Because of the feud between the two families, Juliet can’t be seen with Romeo. Juliet has to hide her love for Romeo as she says untruthfully, “It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate…” (3,5,123). This is why Juliet could not tell her parents of her marriage to Romeo; leading to her death-like sleep from the Friar’s potion, to avoid marrying County Paris.

Romeo’s family, Lord and Lady Montague, are also to blame. Since Romeo and Juliet cannot be seen together, when Juliet takes the Friar’s potion, she falls into a deathlike sleep, which leads Romeo to her tomb when the Friar’s letter fails to be delivered. Romeo mistakes Juliet as dead, leading to his suicide. Romeo asks Juliet, “O, think'st thou shall ever meet again?” (3,5,51) Because he is uncertain if they are to be able to see each other again and not be caught. This shows that they cannot be seen together and leads to misfortune on both