Romeo & Juliet; Whose Fault Was It? by Cindy Sanchez
The Parents
Lady and Lord Capulet; Romeo and Juliet
The parents here could be at fault because they were so strict with not getting involved with their enemies at all. Juliet felt under pressure to not be able to tell her parents about her finding her 'true love'. If she felt like she could've told them, everything would've been fine
"Capulet: Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday, Or never after look me in the face. Speak not. Reply not. Do not answer me. My fingers itch.—Wife, we scarce thought us blest That God had lent us but this only child, But now I see this one is one too much And that we have a curse in having her. Out on her, hilding!" Act 3, Scene 5
Capluet telling Juliet, she's forced to marry Paris or else she'll be shunned basically.
benvolio
Benvolio
Thinking about it also, if Benvolio never had taken Romeo to the party, he would've never met Juliet. They wouldn't have found each other and fallen in love. (I mean if they were really soulmates, I guess they would've met each other later) But because Benvolio had urged him to find someone else, other than Roseline and dragged him, it's partially his fault for 'introducing' Romeo to Juliet.
"Benvolio: Tut man, one fire burns out another’s burning. One pain is lessened by another’s anguish. Turn giddy, and be helped by backward turning. One desperate grief cures with another’s languish. Take thou some new infection to thy eye," Act 1, Scene 2
Benvolio urging Romeo to find another women other than Roseline.
Friar Laurence
Friar Laurence marrying Romeo and Juliet
Friar Laurence's part in this was that he was the one who actually gave Juliet the poison. He also promised that he would give the message to Romeo before he thinks she's actually dead. If he wasn't so clumsy in this plan and actually went to see him, himself, everything would've been better.
"Friar Laurence: Hold, then. Go home, be merry. Give consent To marry Paris. Wednesday is tomorrow. Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone. Let not the Nurse lie with thee in thy chamber. (shows her a vial) Take thou this vial, being then in bed, And this distillèd liquor drink thou off, When presently through all thy veins shall run A cold and drowsy humor, for no pulse Shall keep his native progress, but surcease. No warmth, no breath shall testify thou livest. The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade To paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall Like death when he shuts up the day of life. Each part, deprived of supple government, Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death. And in this borrowed likeness of shrunk death Thou shalt continue two and forty hours, And then awake as from a pleasant sleep. Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes To rouse thee from thy bed, there art thou dead. Then, as the manner of our country is, In thy best robes uncovered on the bier Thou shalt be borne to that same ancient vault Where all the kindred of the Capulets lie. In the meantime, against thou shalt awake, Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, And hither shall he come, and he and I Will watch thy waking, and that very night Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua. And this shall free thee from this present shame, If no inconstant toy, nor womanish fear, Abate thy valor in the acting it."Act 4, Scene 1
Friar Laurence telling Juliet the plan.
Romeo and Juliet in their death bed
In the end, after everything, they had a tragic and suspenseful death. Whose fault was this really? There's too many choices to choose from, that makes us think. It's many people's fault yet it's their faults themselves as well.
Created with images by Unsplash - "lakeside mansions mountains landscape"