Who Is Lord Capulet Responsible For The Deaths Of Romeo And Juliet

The Blamed and Responsible

Love stories usually end tragically because of a death of one of the lovers. Love stories do not always have a happy ending and sometimes other people are held responsible for the tragedy that occurs at the end of a relationship. Sometimes people will make decisions for someone that they love with good intentions that will lead to a tragic ending for them or the person they were trying to help. Other people want to help others because it will benefit them and they are not doing it for the other persons benefit. Blame is often put on the person that everyone believes is responsible for something that occurred. This applies to the two young lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who take their lives because their love was forbidden,

As the play continues to unfold, the character of Lord Capulet is partially responsible for the demise of his daughter, Juliet, and Romeo as evidenced through his dialogue. While Lord Capulet speaks with Paris about his daughter he states that the “‘earth swallowed all my hopes but she’” (Shakespeare 1.2.14) and that “‘she is the hopeful lady of my earth’” (Shakespeare 1.2.15). Lord Capulet believes that he has lost all hopes of having children except Juliet and she is the only one who can carry on his legacy. He does truly love his daughter and care about her. Him wanting the best for her he arranges a marriage for her and he explains to her that “‘you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend’” (Shakespeare 3.5.193). Lord Capulet intentions are good but they are also selfish because he only considers what the benefits will be for him and he does not consider his daughter’s feelings since she just lost her cousin. Lord Capulet treats Juliet as

After Juliet realized that Romeo was a member of the family that her family is feuding she states “‘that I must love a loathed enemy”’ (Shakespeare 31.5. 141). Juliet acted with undo haste when she instantly fell in love with Romeo. She continues to get involved with Romeo knowing her parents would not approve of their relationship. Juliet should have stopped her relationship with Romeo as soon as she knew who he was but she chose not to. Juliet agreed to keep her marriage hidden from her parents and that lead to her father setting a marriage up for her with good intentions and her having to decline lead to a conflict with her father. After the Friar gives Juliet sleeping potion to help her get out of marrying Paris, she questions whether he “‘hath ministered to have me dead’” (Shakespeare 4.4.25). Juliet pauses for a few moments before taking the potion because she wonders if the Friar is trying to kill her but she decides to drink it anyways. Later she appears as if she is dead and when her lover, Romeo, arrives and sees it makes him take his own life. After awakening and seeing that Romeo is dead, the Friar is there to escort Juliet out of the tomb but she decides that she “‘will not away”’ (Shakespeare 5.3.160) and she stays to take her own life. Juliet could have saved her own life and lived but she decided to take her own life. Despite losing