A.N.: I had to write an argument for English on whether or not the fact that the star-crossed lover killed themselves was fate or their fault. I think it was their fault. This is my argument. I just turned it in, so I don't know how I did. (Crosses fingers)
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet: Flawed
Romeo and Juliet, a Capulet and a Montague from opposing families, take their lives because they can't be together. And who is to blame for their tragic demise? The deaths of Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" were nobody's fault but themselves, a flaw, for they were impulsive, stubborn, and often blew things out of proportion.
The demise of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet were nobody's fault but themselves, for they were, among other things, impulsive. Doing things at the spur of the moment often has unforeseen consequences. When Juliet learns that she is going to be forced to marry Paris, she goes to Friar Laurence and is quite ready to kill herself if he doesn't have a ready answer to her problem. The Friar conjures a plan that involves Juliet to take a sleeping potion that will make her appear dead, while the Friar will send word to Romeo in Mantua.
The young woman immediately accepts the Friar's plan, without pausing for a moment to consider the million and one things that could go wrong. "Give me, give me! O, tell me not of fear!" (679 line 121) Jumping headfirst into something is never a good idea, especially when all that Juliet can do is pray that that all will turn out okay when she is "dead". Because of this impulsive decision, Balthasar sees her "dead" and tells Romeo, who buys some poison to kill himself. Juliet isn't the only one who does things on a whim.
Romeo is equally impulsive, if not more so. As mentioned previously, when Balthasar sees Juliet "dead" and tells Romeo, the Montague immediately comes up with the brilliant plan to kill himself. Balthasar urges him to be patient, but Romeo ignores him and commences with his plan. "No matter. Get thee gone. And hire those horses. I'll be with thee straight. Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight." (690 lines 33-34) Because of this rash decision, Romeo meets his end. Not only that, but Juliet takes her life after waking up and seeing Romeo truly dead. Their deaths could have been avoided had they simply slowed down and weren't so impulsive.
The demise of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was nobody's fault except their own for they were, among other things, stubborn. When Juliet hears that Romeo has killed her cousin Tybalt, she is appalled. The moment the Nurse shames him, however, she is immediately to his defense. "Blistered be thy tongue for such a wish! He was not born to shame. Upon his brow shame is ashamed to sit, for 'tis a throne where honor may be crowned sole monarch of the universal earth. O, what a beast I was to chide him!" (659 lines 91-95) Although it is noble of Juliet to stand up for her husband, her stubbornness is doing no good. Romeo has still killed a man, no matter how you look at it, and Juliet's refusal to say that Romeo still has his honor is a lie.
Sometimes it is better just to face the facts, because Juliet is just making herself more hysterical through being stubborn. Next, Romeo has the same firmness as his wife. When he hears from Friar Laurence that he has been banished, he keeps insisting that is worse then death because he can't be with Juliet. As he works himself up, he even goes as far as trying to stab himself. "There is no world without Verona walls, but purgatory, torture, hell itself. Hence banished is banished from the world, and the world's exile is death. Then "banished" is death mistermed. Calling death "banished" thou cut'st my head off with a golden ax and smilest upon the stroke that murders me." (661 lines 17-23)
Romeo is being a bit ungrateful here, saying that life without Juliet is the same without death. If Friar Laurence and the Nurse hadn't been able to stop Romeo from stabbing himself, Juliet would have undoubtedly killed herself, which is exactly what she does when Romeo kills himself at the end of the story. Had he not been so stubborn and thought more clearly, he wouldn't have thought to suicide as a solution.
The demise of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet were nobody's fault but their own because they often blew things out of proportion. Juliet, when hearing that Romeo has been banished from Verona, completely flips out. Instead of being grateful that her husband's life has been spared, she goes on to state that the couple's deaths, as well as those of her parents and cousin, do not compare to Romeo being banished.
She says this while screaming and sobbing at the top of her lungs. "Romeo is banished-to speak that word is father mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet. All slain, all dead, Romeo is banished-." (659 lines 122-124) After crying her eyes out, the young Capulet briefly considers hanging herself with the rope ladder that Romeo was supposed to use when climbing into her bedroom that night.
There again, suicide is considered as a solution. If Juliet were to think about the problem a bit more rationally, she wouldn't be so hysterical and therefore, less suicidal. Romeo also makes a mountain out of a molehill. Although being banished is certainly not a small problem, it is way better then being executed. But Romeo, in his wisdom granted by being a teenager, moans about how all living things are luckier then he is. "'tis torture and not mercy. Heaven is here, where Juliet lives, and every cat and dog and little mouse, every unworthy thing may live here and look on her. But Romeo may not." (661 lines 29-33) Romeo takes the mercy he has been shown and blows his banishment way out of proportion. That could be why he decides to kill himself, then Juliet herself, for believing that life is no good without the other.
To conclude, the demise of Romeo and Juliet were completely, utterly, and absolutely no fault but their own. Had they not been so impulsive and a little more patient, less stubborn and a little more understanding, and thought a bit more rational instead of blowing things out of proportion, they may have seen less dramatic solutions and lived a happy life together.