Romeo and Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, two young lovers cannot be together because of a historic family feud, which eventually leads to the deaths of the lovers themselves and the people around them. Their deaths have finally brought the long family feud to an end, but that leaves the question who is to be punished and pardoned. When all's said and done, Friar Laurence and Capulet deserve to be behind bars, and Benvolio and the nurse should live in peace.

The two main contributors to this “massacre” is Friar Laurence and Capulet. Friar Laurence carried out his plan to marry Romeo and Juliet to ultimately end the feud between the two families. Despite the good intentions behind the Friar’s actions, how he followed up his ideas, which were executed terribly, created a domino effect that led to the deaths of the lovers and the many people around them. Not only did he marry the lovers, the Friar married them in secret. The consequence of his action led to Paris being chosen as Juliet’s betrothed since her parents did not know about her marriage with Romeo; because of their authority, Juliet can do nothing; since desperate times call for desperate measures, Juliet resorted to faking her death with the potion, which eventually led to her demise. Another person responsible for the deaths is Capulet, the father of Juliet. In those time periods, the husband’s word demanded attention, as he is the man of the house. Although this is the case, his daughter Juliet did not agree with his choice to marry her with Paris, yet Capulet continued on with the marriage without taking into account her opinion, which made her feel underappreciated and seek help from outside sources. Capulet also slapped Juliet and threatened to kick her out of the house. His actions created tension in the family and indirectly caused the death of his only daughter.

The world is not all bad, and Benvolio and the nurse were innocent victims in the midst of this drama. Benvolio of the Montagues is best described as a peacemaker and tried to break up meaningless fights between the two feuding families. Then, when Romeo killed Tybalt, instead of fleeing, Benvolio stays and tells the prince what had unfolded; this displays his pure intentions and shows that all he wants is peace. A peacemaker ultimately does not deserve life behind bars. The nurse is also caught up in this mess. When Capulet threatened and scolded his daughter, the nurse came to Juliet’s aid and protected her; there is no need to punish someone who protects someone else who cannot defend herself. Also, the nurse tells Romeo to not hurt Juliet; this reveals the kind nature of the nurse and shows that she does not deserve punishment.

Many lives that were lost could have been easily saved if only the Friar and Capulet had acted differently and thought things through in the long-term. The punishment for their actions ought to be imprisonment until death. All in