I believe that the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Because of the feud, Romeo and Juliet could not be together as the two families despised one another. In the prologue Shakespeare wrote: “from ancient grudge”, this hyperbole implies that this feud has been going on for generations and opens the audiences’ eyes to the history and length of these two families’ grudge. In addition, Romeo and Juliet were desperately trying to get together but could not succeed as their feuding families were keeping them apart.
When Juliet exclaims “wherefore art thou Romeo” she is asking why he has to be Romeo, why he has to be a Montague. This rhetorical question highlights the frustration and hopelessness Juliet feels towards her situation as she knows the only reason she cannot be with Romeo is because he is a Montague, and if only that were not his name they would not be in this situation. Moreover, as Juliet is simmering in her own self-pity as she asks herself: “…what is in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…”.
This quote shows that she has come to the realisation of how pointless the feud is and if only Romeo wasn’t a Montague they would be free to have a public relationship. Additionally, the audience also comes to realise the foolishness of this feud and sympathises with Juliet. Ultimately, it is undeniable that the feuding families were a very big factor that lead to the downfall of Romeo and Juliet as they stopped the lovers from being together.
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Moreover, due to this feud Tybalt kills Mercutio which leads to Romeo killing Tybalt in revenge, being banished and ultimately committing suicide to be with Juliet. From the beginning of the play, Tybalt is characterised as angry and full of hate which is demonstrated when he exclaims: “…peace? I hate the word…”. As you can see, the inflammatory language Tybalt uses here shows the audience how he thrives off his anger and fierce hatred towards the Montagues.
Furthermore, his opinion of Romeo is made very clear when he exclaims: “thou art a villain”. This offensive accusation shocks the audience and helps them understand how deep Tybalt’s hatred and anger goes for the Montagues, and Romeo in particular. In addition, when Tybalt tries to confront Romeo his first option is to “turn and draw”, this imperative command shows that Tybalt’s only way to resolve issues is through violence and fights which results in him killing Mercutio as Romeo refuses to fight him.
Therefore, as said before, if Tybalt had just tried to discuss the issue at hand with Romeo peacefully instead of demanding they fight, Romeo would have never killed Tybalt to avenge Mercutio’s death. Ultimately, without the hateful and aggressive character of Tybalt, as a result of the feud, the ending of Romeo and Juliet would have been a very different story.
