Romeo And Juliet Responsible

“For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo” (Shakespeare, Act 5, Scene 3, Lines 325-326). These are the famous last lines of Shakespeare’s timeless play, “Romeo and Juliet.” The story follows two teenagers, young and in love, and shows play-watchers what the power of love can drive people to do. In the play, both Romeo and Juliet take their own lives; they cannot be together, but they cannot be without each other. After reading this beautiful tragedy, one of the questions on the forefront of readers’ minds is: Should Romeo and Juliet be held accountable for their actions? The answer isn’t so simple. On one hand, yes, they are responsible. They took their own lives; they died at their own hand. Their circumstances,

Lots of responses to the play express how Romeo and Juliet must have been extremely disturbed children, and how their behavior was impulsive and sickening. These conclusions were drawn from the “constant suicide threats” made during the story. Stanton Peele says, “Whenever either lover is thwarted, throughout the play, he or she immediately contemplates - threatens to commit - suicide” (Peele). This, however, is not true. When the Nurse tells Juliet that her beloved Romeo has been exiled from Verona, she says, “Come, Nurse. I’ll to my wedding bed. / And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!” (Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 138-139) She does mention death, but she is not threatening to take her own life. The scene is better interpreted as Juliet telling the Nurse that she will die alone, without her Romeo, and will never be with anyone else ever again. That is not a suicide threat. Peele would like to believe that the famous lovers are ignorant children who can’t deal with problems, but this quote contradicts his logic. In fact, many people would find bravery in Juliet’s words, as they are showing a deep devotion to the man she loves- at such a young age- even though she knows that their relationship has just been put under more