In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the deaths of the two young lovers leads to end of an ancient grudge. Is the ‘star crossed’ lovers death really fate, or could it have been avoided? Who’s really to blame? While everyone involved must share some of the guilt, one party stands out from the rest. The parents are the most responsible for the death of, their children, Romeo and Juliet.
With just a little research, it becomes clear that Juliet comes from an emotionally abusive household. The American Humane Association defines emotional abuse as,”Parental behaviors consider to be emotional child maltreatment include: Ignoring, Rejecting, and verbally assaulting”(Emotional Abuse). This type of behavior is consistently shown throughout the play. One scene in particular Juliet is ignored by her mother and rejected and verbally assaulted by her father. The National Research Council studied how this type of treatment affects children. In their research they found,” Maternal detachment and lack of availability… affects, problem solving, social relationships, and the ability to cope with new or stressful situations”(Understanding Child Abuse 213). Every skill that they found to be affected by emotional
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As the head of the households, the Lords and Ladies have the power to end the grudge. The feud is at the very center of the play. It is part of the reason why Romeo is banished and is the reason why Romeo and Juliet must hide their relationship in the first place. Without the feud, Tybalt would have never killed Mercutio, and Romeo would have never killed Tybalt. According to Dr. Jennifer Minter,”If Mercutio and Tybalt act as catalysts, Shakespeare also depicts Lord Capulet as a contributing partner to the tragedy owing to the misuse of his power and authority”(Minter). In the play Lord Capulet is able to stop fight from breaking out, at his party. Why couldn’t he do the same for the streets of