Romeo and Juliet Q&A

Who was ultimately responsible for all of the death that occurred in the play? Why?
The one that was ultimately responsible for all of the death that occurred in the play could have been Friar Laurence or Prince Escalus. The Friar could have been ultimately responsible for all of the death that occurred in the play, because he was the one that agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet to each other and then carried that plan out. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing to marry Romeo and Juliet it just caused many problems. He agreed to do the marriage with good intentions, though. He hoped that Romeo and Juliet’s marriage might bring the two family rivals together and stop their on-going feud between each other. On the other hand, the Prince could have been ultimately responsible for all of the death that occurred in the play, because he didn’t enforce his warnings very well. He also should have disciplined the Montagues and the Capulets more completely after earlier situations between them. The Prince even recognizes this at the end of the play. If in fact the Prince had disciplined the two families more fully, then he wouldn’t have lost Mercutio and Paris, his kinsmen, and maybe Romeo and Juliet would have been saved.

Why does Juliet kill herself when she could be free?
Juliet kills herself when she could be free, because she couldn’t be free without Romeo alive. He is her one and only true love and she cannot live without him. So, in her eyes, the only way that she could be with Romeo was if she was dead. So, she did the only thing that seemed logical and killed herself. To her, the only way she could live was if she was with Romeo. And because Romeo is dead, the only way she could live was if she was dead as well, because life without Romeo is nothing.

Do you think that The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is really a tragedy? Explain your response.
I think that it is and it isn’t a tragedy. I think it is a tragedy, because there are many deaths involved in the play. Some people died and were killed for silly or stupid reasons. There were many deaths that probably should not have happened. If some of the characters had done different things there would probably be a very different outcome. If the Prince had enforced his rules more and disciplined the two families more completely, a lot of the deaths could have been prevented. The way that is wasn’t a tragedy is, because the deaths were in a way necessary for the story to work. Even though these tragedies could have been prevented if some characters did things differently, it would have changed this famous story entirely. And when Juliet died, some people may view it as a tragedy, but I think of it as a good thing. I think of it as a good thing, because Romeo and Juliet can finally be together in peace.