Q.N.
I had written this for an English assignment and thought 'why not post this on ?' We had read the play "Romeo and Juliet" in English and the assignment was to write a defense paper telling why someone (who was still alive at the end of the play) was innocent in the tragedy. She (the teacher) had said that we (the class) were to play either the role of the character or their lawyer. I wrote it, thinking that it was the worst thing I've ever written in my life and was going to be a C. Turns out, it was better than I had thought, because I had earned a 100! So, here it is; I'll let you be the judge on whether this is good or not. I would like reviews...
Later!
M.P.
COMPLETELY INNOCENT
My client, Lord Capulet, is completely innocent in this case, I assure you. He had only wanted the best for his only child, Juliet. His others had died, making her the sole heir to his fortune. He had not said why his other children had died, but it can be thought that the others had died of illness. He could have been in his stages of grieving; his nephew Tybalt had recently died after all. He was obviously upset for the loss.
The first point I would like to make clear is about the infamous feud. As Lady Capulet, his wife, had said previously, it was not Capulet's fracas to begin with. It was his ancestry's battle, not his. Lady Capulet had also mentioned the feud was for the younger men of their household, the servants. It should also be brought up that he and Lord Montague had only carried it on. Lord Capulet carried it on only to respect his family's honor.
Another point to be brought up is Count Paris's marriage proposal to Lord Capulet's daughter, Juliet. He had made it unambiguous to Paris that he was to wait until Juliet was fifteen, two years from then. The fact of that particular conversation was my client, Lord Capulet, did not want his only child to marry the count. He had wanted to make the right decision for his daughter's husband. He wished for Juliet to choose her husband by herself so she would be contented with her life. But, later on, he decided the two should marry. Why? He had thought it would take his daughter's mind off of Tybalt and his untimely death. He had discussed it with the count that morning before she had woken and had made it final.
After he had decided this, he learned Juliet didn't want to marry Paris. Needless to say, Capulet was not pleased. Here he was trying to make her happy, and she rebels against him. He had told her exactly this:
"'I tell thee what. Get thee to church o' Thursday or never look me in the face. Speak not, reply not, do not answer me (Act III, Scene 5, 162-164).'" Lord Capulet had thought by making a somewhat empty threat, she would obey. She had never rebelled against him before, why would she do it now? Then, she had mysteriously died the night before her wedding to Paris. The Capulet family had buried her and mourned elsewhere.
Oddly enough, not quite two nights after her death, Romeo, of the house of Montague, was at the Capulet tomb. Count Paris had tried to stop him, only he died in the process. Romeo had put him on a stone table next to Juliet. Juliet had woken up from what was now known as a deep sleep, seeing Romeo had died by drinking poison. She had taken his dagger from its sheath and stabbed herself with it, killing herself also. Friar Laurence explained everything to everyone after the tragic deaths had happened; he explained it quickly, but still informed everyone:
"'I'll be brief, for my short date of breath is not so long as is a tedious tale. Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet, and she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife. I married them, and their stol'n marriage day was Tybalt's doomsday, whose untimely death banished the new-made bridegroom from this city, for whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pined. You, to remove that siege of grief from her, betrothed and would have married her perforce to County Paris. Then she comes to me, and with wild looks bid me devise some mean to rid her from this second marriage, or in my cell she would kill herself. Then gave I her, so tutored by my art, a sleeping potion, which took so effect (Act V, Scene 3, 230-244)...'"
The final point I would like to make is the most important. The feud has finally ended, and part of the thanks should go to Juliet. Her death, and Romeo's, is the sole thing that had caused the feud to conclude. Also, the Capulet family began to treat the Montagues more civilized, and vice versa, as demonstrated here:
"'O brother Montague, give me thy hand. This is my daughter's jointure, for no more can I demand (Act V, Scene 3, 97-99). Therefore, Lord Capulet, my client, is completely innocent in this case because he was trying to do what he thought was best for his daughter, Juliet.