Punishment In Shakespeare's The Tragedy Of Romeo And Juliet

William Shakespeare 's play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, is about two star-crossed lovers who end their lives because of their love for one another. Romeo is a Montagues and Juliet is a Capulet, therefore these two can 't be together because they come from rivalling families. At the end of the play, the Prince says: “Some shall be pardon’d , and some punished”(V.III.307). The people who should be punished for the death of Romeo and Juliet are: Lord Capulet and Friar Laurence, and the person who should be pardoned is the Nurse.
Juliet’s parents, especially Lord Capulet, should be punished for the death of Romeo and Juliet. When Lord Capulet tells his daughter about his plans for her marriage with Paris, she refuses and he tells her,

Hoping to end the feud between the Montagues and Capulets, Friar Laurence agreed to take these children into a marriage ceremony. When Romeo asks him to marry him and Juliet, the Friar tells him,“ In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; For this alliance may so happy prove, To turn your households’ rancour to pure love”(II.III.90-92). The Friar should never have married Romeo and Juliet because they were marrying at a young age. Thus, they are not capable of making major decisions on their own and without considering their consequences to their actions. Also he, should have known that Romeo was in love with Juliet 's appearance. Instead, he should have postponed the marriage until he, himself, could get Lords Capulet and Montague to end their

Friar Lawrence 's decisions of helping Juliet fake her death, leads to her and Romeo 's death. Juliet desperately seeks help in the hands of the Friar. Friar Lawrence, an expert in the use of mystical potions and herbs, insists that Juliet should use a potion for her escape plan. He tells Juliet, “If rather than to marry Paris, I’ll give thee remedy” (VI.I. 71-72). In this plan she would drink the potion to fall into a coma and pretend to be dead. After she drank the potion the Friar would send a letter to Romeo letting him know about the plan. Unfortunately, he is not able to send the letter. Therefore Romeo kills himself when he sees Juliet’s dead body. When he is about to drink the potion he says, “O my love, my wife! Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath”(V. lll.80-81). Romeo then gives up, kisses Juliet’s lips and drinks the poison. As Juliet wakes up she sees the body of her dead husband and commits suicide by pulling out her dagger and stabbing