Catherine Matta

Mr. Janosch
904
4/4/2014
Romeo And Juliet
Responsibility Essay
The story of Romeo and Juliet, a very dramatic story with a sad ending and a
heart-breaking plot. It has the miserable demise of Romeo and Juliet which ends
traumatically. There are many characters to blame but the most characters to blame are
the Montagues and the Capulets, and Romeo. The most character who is not to blame
is the Prince. The Montagues and the Capulets hatred causes all these horrible things
and it is the first and the main reason Romeo and Juliet die because no one is able to
express their feelings due to the hatred the two families have. Romeo is not able to
control his feelings in the first place at the very beginning of the story resulting that he
becomes too obsessed with Juliet.
First of all, the first person to blame is Romeo, the Montagues only child, since
he is extremely sensitive and naive and is not able to control his feelings. According to
William Shakespeare in Romeo And Juliet,Romeo says in Act 1 Scene 2 (2000), Ill
go along, no such sight to be shown,But to rejoice in splendor of mine own. (page 18)
Connecting the quote to the claim, he at first loves Rosaline but she rejects him so he
decides to go to the party of his enemy, but he does not go to only see Rosaline, he
also goes to find someone else he could love after listening to Benvolio's advice. Also
according to William Shakespeare in Romeo And Juliet, Romeo is never able to
overcome his problems as in Act 3 Scene 3 cites (2000), Thou canst not speak of that
thou dost not feel.Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love,An hour but married, Tybalt
murderd,Doting like me, and like me banishd,Then mightst thou speak, then mightst
thou tear thy hair And fall upon the ground, as I do now,Taking the measure of an
unmade grave. (page 78) Referring to the quote, Romeo hates being banished and
thinks it is like the end of the world since he thinks that once he does not see Juliet, he
would die. Referring to the article The Brain on Love by Diane Ackerman (2010) , the
same areas of the brain that register physical pain are active when someone feels
socially rejected. This quote from the article The Brain on Love refers to both quotes
from Act 1 Scene 2 and Act 3 Scene 3, when Romeo was rejected by Rosaline he felt
really exhausted from depression, and then when he is banished he felt like he will be
isolated forever and that the world will collapse. Briefly, Romeo is not able to control his
feelings, he makes himself fall in love with an enemy of his family by just crashing the
party just to see Rosaline who previously rejects him or find a girl that he will like.
Shakespeare makes Romeo the most sensitive person whose mind is overcontrolled by
his heart, making him the guilty one from falling in love and pouring all his heart in two
relationships while not paying attention to his life properly.
In addition to Romeo to blame, the other characters to blame are the Capulets
and the Montagues, who are loud and nosey, since their hatred resulted in all of this
trauma. After Tybalt is angry that his enemy, Romeo the Montague, crashes his party,
he decides to kill him. Juliet is also hiding her love to Romeo from her parents because
he is the son of their enemy. According to William Shakespeare in Romeo And Juliet
in Act 1 Scene 1 (2000), 'Tis true, and therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are
ever thrust to the wall. Therefore I will push Montagues men from the wall, and thrust
his aids to the wall. (page 7) Connecting that to my claim, the Capulets want to drag
the Montagues to the streets and push their women against the wall, this symbolises
real hatred. According to William Shakespeare in the book Romeo And Juliet cites in
Act 1 Scene 2,(2000) Now Ill tell you without asking. My master is the great rich
Capulet, and if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of
wine. Rest you merry!(page 17) Meaning that everyone is welcome to a Capulets party
except for the Montagues, and the fact that when Romeo crashes the party makes
Tybalt wanting to kill Romeo, this definitely emphasises selfishness. In conclusion,
connecting the evidence to the claim, the two families have a huge hatred towards each
other that they would drag each other into the streets and start fighting along with
hurting the weaker members, women. Shakespeare has makes the hatred of the two
families the main reason for this dramatic ending, making Tybalt want to kill Romeo,
which ended with Romeo killing Tybalt and being banished by the Prince. Furthermore,
Romeo did not tell his family about crashing the Capulets party, since he knows about
what happens between both families. The hatred also made Juliet to fake her death
because her family, the Capulets, would probably disown her and not make her their
daughter anymore, adding to that, the Nurse who knew everything between Juliet and
Romeo did not tell the Capulets, fearing that she might lose her job and because she
knows the whole feud in the between the families.
On the other hand, some people may suggest that the Prince is to blame,
however this is why he is not to blame; The Prince is doing his job to protect the streets
of Verona. According to William Shakespeare in Romeo And Juliet in Act 1 Scene 1,
the Prince announces,(2000) If ever you disturb our streets again,Your lives shall pay
the forfeit of the peace.(page 7) Relating this quote to the claim, the Prince is trying to
protect Verona streets by punishing anyone who disturbs the peace of Verona. Also
according to William Shakespeare in Romeo And Juliet, the Prince says in Act 5
Scene 3, (2000) Some will be pardoned, and some will be punished. (page 128)
Meaning that the Prince will be really fair when he is doing his punishment for the
people to blame. In the end, the Prince says that some will be punished and the others
will be forgiven, after the death of Romeo and Juliet and his brother, Paris, he will be fair
with his judgements. Even though that on the other side, people may argue that he
should has been protecting the streets when Tybalt is about to kill Romeo and when
Tybalt kills Mercutio, his relative. Also people might blame the Prince because he
tolerates the feud the Montagues and the Capulets have from the beginning.
Shakespeare wants to represent how fair is the Prince when he banished Romeo.
Ultimately, there are abundance characters to blame, but the most characters to
blame are Romeo, the Capulets and the Montagues. The most character who is not to
blame is the Prince. Based on the evidence that is gathered, the way Romeo was not
able to control his feelings, the hatred the Capulets and the Montagues have, causes
the dramatically traumatic ending of Romeo and Juliet, which would greatly counter
against the Princes fairness. The people to blame should be punished by being put
together in the jails cell, especially the Montagues and the Capulets.






Reference page
Ackerman, D. (2012, March). The Brain on Love. New York :The New York
Times.
Shakespeare, W. (2000). Romeo And Juliet. New York: Penguin Book.