Meyer


 * Hays Meyer **

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Hays Meyer 3/19/09 Period 4 __Who's to Blame for Romeo's Death? __  The death of Romeo in //Romeo and Juliet// can be blamed on the feud, but his death can be blamed more specifically on three characters. These three characters are Tybalt, Lord Capulet, and the Prince of Verona. These characters all helped contribute to Romeo's death in a different way, and all of their actions were because of the feud. Tybalt can be blamed for Romeo's death because his killing of Mercutio led to Romeo killing him and eventually getting banished. If Romeo was not banished, his death could have been avoided. Tybalt is a character that hates all Montagues, especially Romeo. He is also very violent and not afraid to get into a fight. His extreme hate for Romeo when he says, “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford /No other term than this: thou art a villain."(3.1.53-54).This shows how much Tybalt hates Romeo and that he would love to kill him. Another instance in the play when Tybalt shows his hate for Romeo in during the Capulet party when he says “This by his voice should be a Montague…/ To strike him dead I hold it not a sin” (1.5.53, 58). This quote shows that Tybalt would have no problem killing Romeo just because he is a Montague. In fact, he makes it sound like killing a Montague would be a good deed. This proves just how strong the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets really is. Also, this proves that Tybalt is easily angered. Just because a Montague showed up at his family’s party, he is willing to kill the intruder. The fact that Tybalt is easily angered caused him to kill Mercutio which eventually led to Romeo being banished. His banishment in turn led to his death. Although Tybalt is one character who can be held responsible for Romeo’s death, he is not the only character who can be blamed. Another character who can be blamed for Romeo's death is Lord Capulet. If he had not scheduled Juliet and Paris' wedding so soon, then Romeo would have had longer to make a plan and could have survived. Also, if the Capulets and Montagues were not such great enemies, then Lord Capulet would have allowed Romeo and Juliet to be married. In the play, Capulet is very eager to have Juliet and Paris married and he schedules their wedding as soon as possible. This eagerness is shown when he says, "A' Thursday let it be-a 'Thursday, tell her, /She shall be married to this noble earl" (3.4.20-21). This quote shows that Lord Capulet cannot wait to have Juliet and Paris married. If he had not scheduled their wedding so soon, Juliet and Friar Lawrence would have had much more time to make a plan. If they had had this extra time, they could have made a better plan and Romeo could have survived. Another reason that Lord Capulet can be blamed Romeo’s death is because of the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. If he did not hate the Montagues so much, he may have allowed Romeo and Juliet to be married. He expresses his hat for the Montagues when he says “My sword, I say! Old Montague is come,/ And flourishes his blade in spite of me.” (1.1.68-69).This quote proves just how much Lord Capulet hates Lord Montague. If he did not hate the Montagues so much, he may have allowed Romeo and Juliet to be married in the first place. Also, if he had not made Paris and Juliet’s wedding so early, Romeo may have survived. Although Tybalt and Lord Capulet may be somewhat responsible for Romeo’s death, but the character who is most responsible for Romeo’s death is the Prince of Verona. He could have put the feuding between the Montagues and Capulets to an end at any time, but he chose not to. If the feuding between the two families had been stopped, Romeo could have married Juliet and his death would have been prevented. One example of when the prince could have put the feuding to a stop is when he says “If you ever disturb our streets again, /Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.” Although this quote sounds threatening, the Prince is actually letting the families off easy. After there had been three fights in the streets, the Prince should have at least given out minor punishments to those involved. Even a small punishment would have made the families think twice before fighting in the streets again. Also, if the Prince had given a severe punishment, he could have stopped the fighting for good. This quote shows that the Prince is too weak to punish the families and this encourages to keep fighting in the future. Later in the play, the Prince realizes what he has done when he says, " And I for winking at your dicords too/Have lost a brace of kinsmen. All are punished." By the time that the Prince realizes that his actions and failure to reprimand the families for fighting has caused multiple deaths, it is too late for him to do anything. As you can see, if the Prince had had the guts to punish the Montagues and the Capulets for fighting, Romeo's death could have easily been avoided. In the play, Romeo's death can be blamed on the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. However, his death can be blamed more specifically on Tybalt, Lord Capulet, and the Prince of Verona. All of these characters helped contribute to Romeo's death in different ways, but the character who is most to blame is the Prince of Verona. If any of these characters had changed their ways, Romeo could have survived. You repeat everything multiple times. Lord Capulet is dicey. You need to focus more on the topic... at times you stray. HW You need to brush up your arguments as Harrison said. You need to cite your last quote as well. Overall its a good essay but the points need to be stronger.- Henry Quillian