Mercutio Is To Blame In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the characters, Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Romeo, Juliet and Lady Montague all die, and Mercutio is to blame.

Act 1, Scene 4 of Romeo and Juliet, is about Mercutio convincing Romeo to go the party being held by the Capulet family. Romeo does not want to go, because he is a Montague and not welcome into the house of Capulet. After some convincing, Romeo agrees and goes to the party, where he is spotted by Tybalt. Tybalt hates the idea of a Montague in his family home, and searches for romeo in the square the next day. While Romeo does not want to fight Tybalt, that does not stop him because “...this shall not excuse the injuries/ That thou hast done me; therefore, turn and draw!” (3.1, 156/157) This of course leads to the death of

Some might argue that because of Tybalt’s violent nature would lead him to blame, and that if he had just chilled out, then nobody would have died. Which is correct, but it is not at all like Tybalt to chill out. Both Mercutio and Romeo knew this, and they decided to go to the party anyway. After the death of Tybalt and Mercutio, the Prince calls for the banishment of Romeo because he is the only one who is still alive that had caused a disturbance. Earlier, how ever, the Prince says that anyone who causes a disturbance in the streets of verona shall be put to death. The Prince only banished Romeo because “...he was Mercutio’s friend./ His fault concludes but what the law should end,/ The life of Tybalt” (3.1,176/178) Since Romeo carries out what the law says, but is also breaking said law, the Prince decides that he does not deserve to die, but that he can no longer stay in Verona. If Mercutio had never bullied Romeo into going to the party, Tybalt would have never tried to pick a fight with Romeo. Then Mercutio would never had to stand up for Romeo and die. Juliet, of course, is devastated about Romeo's banishment because she would never be able to see her husband again, and never