Happy summer!
I know there's still a week of school left, and the weather is dismal-- but the little world of Bigelow Theater is going on Summer Vacation.
Every couple weeks I'll post a new topic for the actors in Romeo & Juliet (as well as other interested persons) to think about and discuss.
Actors: have you lost your Summer Homework, or even your script? Perhaps you haven't yet, but you're expecting to over the summer? I put extra copies up on the Drama Website.
Now for our first conversation topic of the summer:
--In the last line of the play, the prince says "Some shall be pardoned and some punished" One fourth of the characters in the play are dead at this point: Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Juliet, Romeo and Lady Montague, and it's time to figure out who is to blame for these six dead bodies.
The question is this: ARE YOU? What are the reasons your character should be pardoned or punished? Who deserves blame, guilt or responsibility for the events of the play that ended with six dead bodies?
The answer isn't necessarily black and white. Some characters have moments where they are to blame and moments where they are innocent. Think about things that happen in the play and things that don't happen onstage, but take place in your character's life. Remember, actions are important, but you can be guilty of inaction as well.
I can't wait to read what you have to say! Have spectacular, relaxing, soul-enriching summers!
--Ezra
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Because I always thought the Capulets and the Montagues were the root of ALL the troubles in this play, I am sorely tempted to say that I am guilty for the deaths of my son, Romeo, and my wife, Lady Montague. (I believe that I am innocent in the rest.) However, In this play, I have never said in any context, "DO NOT FRATERNIZE WITH JULIET." So in a way, I am not guilty for Romeo ending his life. As for Lady Montague, I cannot but help blame Romeo for her death. (Quote, my own line, page 72: "Alas, my liege, my wife is dead tonight./Grief of my son's exile hath stopped her breath...") And so, ROMEO is guilty for her death, not I.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Tybalt is probably the most guilty of any one.He sets off the chain reaction of death, first killing Mercutio(sorry Molly) in a sword fight, in which Romeo so kindly let me win. That really ticks off Romeo (the fact that I killed his best buddy)so Romeo impulsively kills me. Thanks. Romeo is banished and the play progresses from there. See, I caused Romeo's banishment which caused the death of him and his lover, Juliet. I provoke Romeo to fight me and anyone else for that matter. Even just the sight of an enemy (Montagues or friends of the Montagues) pushes his "I shall get out my rapier an kill them" button, which is pushed quite a few times during this play. Fortunately, it's been stopped a few times but still sometimes it couldn't be stopped. It's fun being evil.
ReplyDeleteAs Friar Laurence, I believe I am responsible for the deaths of three characters: Paris, Juliet, and Romeo. I am the one who weds Romeo and Juliet in secret, and when Juliet is to marry Paris, I give her the fake-death-poison potion. When Romeo is at Juliet's 'tomb,' he runs into Paris. He and Paris fight and he kills Paris. This is my fault because Romeo never got the news that Juliet isn't actually dead, so he goes to her grave where he meets Paris. Romeo and Juliet's deaths are my fault as well, because I wed them, and I gave Juliet the potion that made her appear dead, leading Romeo to kill himself. When Juliet awakens to see Romeo dead, she then kills herself. So it's really all my fault.
ReplyDeleteI think that I should be punished, but I will get away with this deception and these secrets. I will get away with it because I was just "helping two young people in love..." or something like that. I am also a holy father, so I'm special in the eyes of God. This leads me to the conclusion that I will be pardoned, though I should be punished.
I play Samson who is a servant to Capulet. The person or people who I think should be blamed for all the dead bodies is whoever started the original fight between the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. In the prologue, it says, “from ancient grudge break to new mutiny”. Whoever started that “ancient grudge” should be punished. If that person or group of people had not started that fight we wouldn’t be asking the question of who is to blame for all these dead bodies because there probably wouldn’t be any dead bodies. But alas, someone did start a fight so there are a bunch of dead bodies; this is what I think Samson could have done to prevent this.
ReplyDeleteThe 3rd line that Samson says is, “A dog of the house of Montague moves me.” I think that means that someone who is a Montague makes Samson angry. I’m not sure if “a dog” is referring to a certain kind of Montague though. What I mean is that I don’t know if “a dog of the house of Montague” is all the Montague’s or just the Montague servants, or just the men who are Montague’s, or just the ladies who are Montague’s. We never really learn why “a dog of the house of Montague” makes Samson angry. I don’t know if Samson has a good reason for being angry at the Montague’s. Even if Samson has a good reason for being angry at the Montague’s I don’t think he should have bit his thumb at them because on June 7th I learned that that is not a very nice thing to do, and I also think he shouldn’t have started violently fighting with Abraham and Balthasar because violence is not the right answer to your problems. I think that Samson starts the fight between Abraham, Gregory, Balthasar, and himself. I think this because Samson says the last line before they all start fighting. The line he says is this, “Draw, if you be men.” I think this means that if you are men, meaning if you are tough enough, you’ll draw your swords and fight me. I think that this fight is what makes Tybalt come onstage and start his own fight because of the one that just happened. Then more people come onstage and join that fight. I think that that fight makes Capulet and Lady Capulet come onstage. I think that Capulet and Lady Capulet coming onstage is what makes Montague and Lady Montague come onstage, and all this fighting and coming onstage is what makes the Prince come onstage. I think it was chain reaction and Samson started it. I think Samson is to blame for all that fighting, but no one died during all that fighting, but I think that all that fighting reminded everyone that the Montague’s and the Capulet’s hate each other.
I think that at the beginning of the play the Capulet’s and the Montague’s don’t like each other but they don’t really show it. That lasts for about half a page till they start showing it. I think that if Samson hadn’t bit his thumb at Abraham and Balthasar, there wouldn’t have been that big chain reaction of fighting. Samson could have controlled his anger and just kept walking, but he decided not to, which I think was a bad idea. I think that if Samson hadn’t been reminded that he hates the Montague’s, he wouldn’t have bit his thumb at them. I think that the reason Samson was reminded that he hates the Montague’s is because Gregory was making fun of him so Samson got angry but perhaps he didn’t want to take his anger out on Gregory because maybe he thought Capulet would be mad at him for fighting with a Capulet but he wouldn’t get mad at him for fighting with a Montague so Samson took all his anger out on Balthasar and Abraham so he gets in this big fight with them and everyone gets reminded that the Montague’s hate the Capulet’s and the Capulet’s hate the Montague’s.
(the blog told me there was a word limit, I wrote more stuff, but it’s on a separate comment)
The first reason why I think that Tybalt is responsible for his own death is this: Like I said earlier, I think that Tybalt is a violent person. Perhaps, if Tybalt wasn’t such a violent person maybe he would’ve stopped himself from coming back onstage and he wouldn’t have gotten into that fight with Romeo and he wouldn’t have gotten himself killed. The second reason why I think that Tybalt is responsible for his own death is this: If Tybalt hadn’t gotten so mad at Romeo for crashing Capulet’s party even though Romeo wasn’t doing anything bad, he might not have been so ready to start a fight with Romeo and get himself killed.
ReplyDeleteThe first reason I think that Romeo is responsible for Tybalt’s death is this: Romeo crashed Capulet’s party, and Tybalt got mad at him for that even though Romeo wasn’t doing anything bad. If Romeo hadn’t crashed Capulet’s party, I think that Tybalt wouldn’t be so ready to fight with Romeo and get himself killed. The second reason why I think that Romeo is responsible for Tybalt’s death is this: Romeo is the one who actually killed Tybalt.
So, I think that Samson is 1/3 responsible for Tybalt’s death. I think that Romeo should be punished for Tybalt’s death, and he was, he got banished. I think that Tybalt should be punished for his own death, but you can’t really punish someone if they are dead. But, maybe, getting killed is a good enough punishment for getting yourself killed. If Tybalt hadn’t gotten killed, then he wouldn’t have a reason to be punished, but he did get killed, and I think that that is a good enough punishment for getting yourself killed. It’s like both of those things happened simultaneously. The cause for punishment, and the punishment itself. Does that make sense? If it doesn’t to everyone, I’m sorry.
I think that Samson should be punished for Tybalt’s death, but I don’t think he should be punished severally. I’m not sure what an appropriate punishment for Samson is, but I don’t think that he should be killed. Maybe he should be banished, but not forever.
I think there is one reason why Tybalt is responsible for Mercutio’s death, I think there is one reason why Gregory is responsible for Mercutio’s death, and I think there is one reason why Samson is responsible for Mercutio’s death.
The reason I think that Tybalt is responsible for Mercutio’s death is because he is the one who actually killed him.
The reason I think that Gregory is responsible for Mercutio’s death is that Gregory was around when Tybalt killed Mercutio. Gregory could have stopped Tybalt from killing Mercutio, which I think would have been the right thing to do. But Gregory didn’t stop Tybalt, so Mercutio got killed.
The reason that I think that Samson is responsible for Mercutio’s death is the same as Gregory’s: Samson was there when Tybalt killed Mercutio. Samson could have stopped Tybalt from killing Mercutio, which I think would have been the right thing to do. But Samson didn’t stop Tybalt, so Mercutio got killed.
I think that Tybalt should be punished, and he does get punished. He get’s killed. I think that Samson should be punished too. Maybe he should be sent to jail for a while, but not forever.
Also, I think that the reason Tybalt started fighting with Benvolio is because he saw that a fight had already started and he wanted to be part of it. I think that Tybalt is a violent person. I think this because on page 4, Tybalt says, “What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word,” I think that if Tybalt, hates peace, he is bound to start or join fights. I don’t think this is a good thing. Peace is a good thing. Without peace we can’t have a solid government, we can’t have a warless world, and nobody can be fully happy. I think that because Tybalt is a violent man, he got mad at Romeo for crashing Capulet’s party even though Romeo wasn’t doing anything bad. I think that another reason Tybalt got mad at Romeo for crashing Capulet’s party even though Romeo wasn’t doing anything bad is that Tybalt had been reminded that he hates Romeo because Romeo is a Montague. I think that the reason Tybalt was reminded that he hates Romeo because is a Montague is because of the fight between the Capulet’s and the Montague’s that had happened earlier, and that fight, I think, was Samson’s fault.
ReplyDeleteI think there are two reasons why I think Samson is responsible for Tybalt’s death, there are two reasons why I think Tybalt is responsible for his own death, there is one reason why I think that Gregory is responsible for Tybalt’s death, and there are two reasons why I think Romeo is responsible for Tybalt’s death.
The first reason why I think Samson is responsible for Tybalt’s death is this: I think that Samson reminded everyone that the Montague’s hate the Capulet’s and the Capulet’s hate the Montague’s, “everyone” includes Tybalt. Perhaps if Samson hadn’t reminded Tybalt, and everyone else, of that fact, Tybalt might have stopped himself from fighting with Romeo and getting himself killed. The second reason why I think Samson is responsible for Tybalt’s death is this: Once Tybalt stabs Mercutio, he leaves and so does Samson. Then, when Romeo says, on page 38, “And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!”, Tybalt reenters. Perhaps, if Samson had reentered with Tybalt, the two of them against Romeo might have stopped Tybalt from getting killed. But, I don’t know if Samson had a good reason for not reentering but all I know is that if he had, Tybalt might not have died.
The reason I think that Gregory is responsible for Tybalt’s death is the same as the second reason I think that Samson is responsible for Tybalt’s death: Once Tybalt stabs Mercutio, he leaves and so does Samson and Gregory. Then, when Romeo says, on page 38, “And fire-eyed fury be my conduct now!”, Tybalt reenters. Perhaps, if Gregory had reentered with Tybalt, the two of them against Romeo might have stopped Tybalt from getting killed. But, I don’t know if Gregory had a good reason for not reentering but all I know is that if he had, Tybalt might not have died.
(the blog told me there was a word limit, I wrote more stuff, but it’s on a separate comment)
I think that Samson is not responsible for Paris’s death. I think this for four different reasons…
ReplyDelete1. Samson didn’t kill Paris, Romeo did.
2. Paris was not a Montague or a Capulet, who hate each other, so Samson couldn’t remind anyone on either of those sides that they hate Paris for that reason.
3. Samson did not order Romeo to kill Paris.
4. Samson did not order Paris to fight with Romeo.
That is why I think that Samson is not responsible for the death of Paris.
I think that Samson is not responsible for Juliet’s death. I think this for three different reasons…
1. Juliet killed herself; that was her own decision; Samson did not tell Juliet to kill herself.
2. Samson did not make Romeo crash Capulet’s party, nor did he tell Romeo about the party in the first place (I think that was Potpan’s fault), this is the party where Romeo met, and fell in love with Juliet, which is how Juliet met Romeo and fell in love with him and because she was in love with him she killed herself because Romeo was dead, if Juliet hadn’t met Romeo in the first place, then she wouldn’t kill herself because he was dead.
3. Samson did not order Romeo to kill himself, Romeo’s death is what made Juliet kill herself.
That is why I think that Samson is not responsible for the death of Juliet.
I have one more reason why Samson is not responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet, this is it: Samson did not make Romeo fall in love with Juliet, nor did he make Juliet fall in love with Romeo. Even if Samson wanted to, it wouldn’t work. I think that you can’t make people fall in love with each other. It just happens. You might start loving someone and not even want to. It just happens. I think that you can’t decide to love someone either. And I also think you can’t decide to stop loving someone, even if you want to, you can’t. I think love happens on its own. That is why I think that Samson is not responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet.
I also think that Samson is not responsible for the death of Lady Montague. I think this for two different reasons…
1. Samson did not order Lady Montague to kill herself.
2. I think that Samson is not responsible for the death of Romeo, and the reason that Lady Montague kills herself, is because she is really sad that Romeo died. (I think this because on page 72, Montague says, “Alas, my liege, my wife is dead tonight. Greif of my son’s exile hath stopped her breath.” I think that this means that Montague’s wife, Lady Montague, killed herself, because Romeo is dead)
That is why I think that Samson is not responsible for Lady Montague’s death.
So, that is why I think that Samson is responsible for the death of Tybalt, Mercutio, and a little bit responsible for Romeo’s death. I think that Samson should be banished for all that. Also, I think that he’d like it better somewhere else because then he wouldn’t have to put up with Gregory, who is always making fun of him. But, in the real play, I think that Samson won’t get punished because I don’t think anyone will look into whose fault it really is. I think that if they had the FBI back then, maybe Samson would get punished. But I don’t think they had the FBI back, if they did, it would have been helpful. I think that its love’s fault that Romeo and Juliet are dead, but love isn’t a person, so you can’t really punish love. Love, I think, can do whatever it likes.
That is all.
The first reason I think that Romeo is responsible for his own death is because he crashed Capulet’s party and that is where he met Juliet. If he hadn’t crashed Capulet’s party and met Juliet, then he wouldn’t have fallen in love with Juliet, and he wouldn’t have to kill himself because he thinks she’s dead. The second reason why I think that Romeo is responsible for his own death is because he chose to kill himself. The third reason I think Romeo is responsible for his own death is because he killed Tybalt and this action got him banished, and if he hadn’t gotten banished, he might have gotten the news that Juliet wasn’t really dead and he wouldn’t have killed himself.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I think that Samson is responsible for Romeo’s death is because if Samson had reentered with Tybalt and helped him fight Romeo, Tybalt might not have gotten killed, and that means that Romeo wouldn’t have gotten banished, and then he might have gotten the news that Juliet wasn’t really dead. But at the same time I think that there are reasons why Samson is not responsible for Romeo’s death. These are the reasons why I think that Samson is not responsible for Romeo’s death…
1. Samson did not tell Romeo to kill himself.
2. Samson did not make Romeo crash Capulet’s party, nor did he tell Romeo about the party in the first place (I think that was Potpan’s fault), this is the party where Romeo met, and fell in love with Juliet, so, when Romeo thought that Juliet was dead, he killed himself, if he hadn’t met her in the first place, then he wouldn’t kill himself because he thought she was dead.
This is why I think that Samson is not responsible for the death of Romeo.
The reason I think that Gregory is responsible for Romeo’s death is the same as Samson: If Gregory had reentered with Tybalt and helped him fight Romeo, Tybalt might not have gotten killed, and that means that Romeo wouldn’t have gotten banished, and then he might have gotten the news that Juliet wasn’t really dead.
I think that Romeo should get punished, and he does get punished, by himself, he kills himself. It’s the same thing as Tybalt: The punishment and the cause for the punishment happened simultaneously. I think that Samson should not get punished. I think that the punishment that Gregory gets should not be a severe one.
I think that I (Benvolio) am mostly innocent. Meaning that I am not DIRECTLY guilty. Does that make sense? When I am trying to break up the fight when Mercutio gets killed, I think maybe it makes the people fighting want to fight more. Oh, it's hard to explain. This all sounded better in my head..... Anyway. When I raise my sword to stop the fighting, I am not being very peaceful, so it makes the fighters want to keep fighting, thinking I Will not be able to stop them. Better? More clear? So, I think that I am partially responsible for the deaths of the fighters in that scene. Throughout the play, I am just trying to keep the peace, and encourage Romeo to get over Rosaline already. In closing, I believe that I am maybe indirectly responsible for the death of Mercutio, and maybe even Tybalt. But not directly, as Tybalt was for Mercutio's death.
ReplyDeleteAAHHH!!! TUNA! I must disagree with you, for Samson doesn't really cause anyones death. It's not about what could have happened, it's about what DID happen. No one dies in the first scene and Tybalt and Mercutio are responsible for their own deaths. A word of advice: never put two hotheads that just happened to be rivals near each other. Something that I meant to put on my earlier comment but I forgot to and in response to Tuna's Comment(s): Tybalt is not a peaceful person. There will always be those kinds of people in the world. Tybalt causes his own death by coming back to face Romeo with a little too much confidence. Oy. Is it safe for me to say that Samson and Benvolio are innocent? I think they are. I'm sorry if anyone thinks I am being opinionated.
ReplyDeleteMe as abraham I do believe that I'm not responsible. (Could be wrong). In all honesty I think that everyone is/has a part in the deaths. I find this to be true because everyone was part or worked with a specific family. But possibly tybalt is responsible? After all he/she? Did start the fight. I guess we will never know who is 100% responsible
ReplyDeleteJulia,
ReplyDeleteI love your enthusiastic defense of Sophie. Sophie does start that fight in scene one, which gets Tybalt pretty heated. The question is, do you think the fight at the beginning of the play is the start of all of the events of the story, or just there to introduce us to the conflict but doesn't affect the outcome of events...
Was it because of the morning fight that Tybalt was in a bad mood at the party, and got so riled up about Romeo being there that he went to pick a fight? What if Tybalt was in a better mood and listened to Capulet at the party and decided to calm himself down?
If so, then we can blame the instigating incident of the play on Balthasar, Abraham, Sampson and Gregory who start the first fight of the play...
Or maybe even without that spectacular fight, there would have been a different battle on a different day that got things going. But maybe the fight would have been started by the same servants. None of the characters in the play are responsible for starting the feud between the M's and C's (ancient grudge!) but many of them help it "break to NEW mutiny." That same new mutiny (violence) that leads to so many deaths.
So-- how guilty are people who were part of a fight, that leads to an argument, which causes a fight, that ends up with someone dead, which results in the death of several others?
I(Potpan)think that overall most of that blame for the deaths of Romeo, Juliet, and a few others should be on me. I think that because I was the one in the fist place to invite Romeo to a party at the Capulets. If that had not happened(I'm not saying that Rome and Juliet would have never meet)Romeo and Juliet might have not met. Maybe if they met another way(not at the party) things would have been better. I agree with Ethan that we don't know 100% who to blame. Mostly everybody has a little blame.
ReplyDeleteI think that I am responsible for quite a few deaths, starting with my own. I killed myself out of my own will and though Romeo could also be partially responsible ( I kill myself because he killed himself) he killed himself because of me in the first place. It could also be somewhat the friars fault because he did not reach Romeo in time. I feel I could also be partially responsible for the death of lady Montague. I kill myself, Romeo kills himself because of me and then lady Montague kills herself because of Romeo. More to come..
ReplyDeleteI (as the nurse) feel that I was not directly responsible for any deaths, though I think that I maybe could have prevented Juliet's. I feel that the nurse would want to die in the end, because she has a soft spot for Tybalt, and she was serving Juliet. If I were to die then the nurse could reunite with them in the afterlife. Also I feel that I have guilt for allowing what happened between Romeo and Juliet to happen. I could have told Lady Capulet or Capulet himself what was happening, but I kept it to myself. Like Ethan and Westly said, no one is completely sure of anything at the end. We know who killed who, and why they were killed, but we don't know every little backstory detail that led to their deaths.
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell, it's all Romeo's fault. Why? Because he fell in love. Falling in love with Juliet was the biggest mistake the poor kid could make. The feud between the Capulet and Montague families was always heated and full of hatred. Did Romeo honestly think that he would live a peaceful and loving life with his beautiful Juliet and their families would meet up for brunch on Sundays and chat happily about theater and sip tea? Maybe not, but either way, he wasn't really thinking at all. So Romeo killed Tybalt, then later Paris, so that's two of the six already. Also, after being banished for killing Tybalt, he sent his mother into a state of depression causing her to "die of sadness." And so another one bites the dust. And of course, Romeo kills himself, then causing Juliet to commit suicide. But I guess we can't blame Romeo for EVERYTHING. It's not entirely his fault he fell in love, right? Like Westly said, everyone can be blamed at least a little. So, why not share the blame?
ReplyDeleteI belive that the ancient grudge killed the six characters in the play, without the grudge Verona Italy would be a safe place. I, Gregory did not kill anyone, but i did egg Sampson on to start the fight in scene one act one, but no one died.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading the script I also noticed that Romeo was the reason that the six people died. Romeo killed Tybalt because Tybalt killed his best friend Mercutio. Romeo killed Paris.Lastly Romeo kills himself when he thinks that Juliet is dead. Then Juliet wakes up with the dead Romeo next to her and stabs herself. Without this ancient grudge none of this would of happen, but then we have to ponder of what Verona would look without it.
I, as Lord Capulet, belive I am to blame. I was foolish enough to continue holding a grudge against the Montagues, and because of that, my own daughter didn't trust me enough to think I could understand her love. In a way, she was right. Had she told me about her and Romeo, I would have been furious! Instead of facing my fury, she attempted to have a secret love with Romeo, and ended up getting herself killed. My own emotions got in the way of being a good father, and many died because of it. After all the tragic deaths I realize my error, and become allies with Lord Montague, but I can't help to imagine how good life may have been if I just hadn't been so stubborn.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Natalie T. that its Romeo’s fault for falling in love, but then couldn’t I, (Juliet) be equally as guilty? I easily could have ignored Romeo at the party, and then my death (as well as several others) would have never happened. Romeo and I could never be living in happily in Verona (with our fighting families next door) but if we had run away, the fighting between the families would get worse, for they would obviously blame each other for our disappearence. Our relationship was ultimately a trap, and we should have seen it from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI believe that I, Prince Escalus of Verona, played no role in the deaths of the young Romeo and Juliet. If anything, I tried to prevent it. I was always telling the Montagues and the Capulets to stop fighting. Oh, if only they had listened, we would have been saved of this terrible tragedy, that is, as Robin said, the fault of those two family's ancient grudge. If they had not hated each other, than their love would have been of no fault, and they would not be ashamed to share their marriage. Oh well, we cannot change what has already been done, but what horrible reputation this has given to my fair city of Verona.
ReplyDeleteI believe that my character, Paris, is partially to blame for the deaths of two of the deceased characters, Romeo and Juliet, along with dying alongside the two of them. He did nothing specifically wrong, unless one considers love a sin. He loved Juliet and wanted to marry her, and she was exceptionally inconsistent when it came to her feelings for him. At points, she expressed to him that her full heart was for Romeo and Romeo alone, whereas at other times, although she knew she was lying, she made Paris feel as though there was a small yet existent place in her heart for him, even with it being quite tiny. This led him to be, understandably so, convinced that he had a shot with Juliet. This led him to make special arrangements with the parents of Juliet that he would become her husband, yet, against her parents wishes, Juliet secretly married Juliet. Paris, angry about the fact that his agreement fell through, challenged Romeo to a sword fight, and in doing so lost his life. But before this, Juliet had faked her own death in order to not marry Paris, and Romeo, believing she was actually dead, killed himself. Juliet, learning about his death upon waking up from her faked death, committed suicide. If Paris had not wanted to marry Juliet, she would never have had a false suicide leading to Romeo's taking of his own life, which led to Juliet killing herself, thus deceasing to characters.
ReplyDeleteAs the mother of Juliet, my character, Lady Capulet did have some influence over her (Juliet's) actions. Since she refuses to marry Paris, I cast her out of the house of Capulet (Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word./Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee.) Juliet then goes to Friar Lawrence for counseling (encounters Paris) and receives the "distilled liquor" (poison) and Romeo, hearing of her "death" would not have killed Paris or himself. Juliet kills herself when she sees Romeo dead. That makes Lady Capulet responsible for three deaths.
ReplyDeleteI know I am super duper late to respond to this, but I had a busy and forgetful summer...trust me i know that is a terrible excuse. Anyway I always would remember the blog on vacation or at a friends house and then get home and forget. But I finally remembered! Also I confused Topics one and two and whatever so I responded to Blog two in July or early august and this one now! I feel so terrible but I cant just skip it all together!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, my personal opinion is that it was all the fault of Friar Lawrence. He wasn't very responsible and let naive little Juliet drink a potion that would convince everyone that she was dead. Then again Juliet was also quite guilty at least for the death of Romeo because she sent a message without knowing when it would arrive or IF it would arrive. Also Friar Lawrence (after seeing Romeos dead body) left Juliet in the tomb because he is avoiding blame! He also secretly marries Juliet and Romeo so he starts off a sneaky and irresponsible character. or maybe he just understands their love, that cannot be publicized due to their family feud.it also could be the fault of Tybalt because he is such a wild and temperamental character. He starts by killing Mercutio and that causes Romeo to kill Tybalt. That starts the story off nicely! Lots of death which only makes the plot more intense! Anyway you really CANT put the blame on just one person, Shakespeare probably meant for the twisted and confusing plot to be deciphered in your own way. There are characters that some may side with in the first act and hold on to their siding through the end leading them to believe the character they side with is completely innocent, or guilty depending on whether you like protagonists or antagonists, and depending on their characteristics! Anyway, without realizing it even people could have just sided with a character and made their conclusion, I'm not saying anyone was wrong to side with a character because honestly it is just natural to like or dislike a character in a piece of literature by Shakespeare! He makes the characters come to life and so that helps confuse the plots and create the questions WHO CAUSED THE DEATHS??? There, I have given my opinion!