exam essay

gave juliet the sleeping potion

failed to give romeo the letter

caused romeo to rush to juliet and kill himself

friar laurence

gave paris juliet’s hand in marriage

despite juliets clear opposition

caused juliet to search for other options

Lord capulet

antagonized romeo

refused to back down and killed mercutio

romeo killed tybalt and was exhiled

Tybalt

Friar Laurence

recognizes Juliet’s determination, and offers a risky remedy

a potion that puts her in a catatonic state and later explains his plan of faking her death and hoping romeo gets his letter

“thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself,/ then is it likely thou wilt undertake/ a thing like death to chide away this shame,/ that cop’st with death himself to ‘scape from it;/ and, if thou dar’st, I’ll give thee remedy”

Lord Capulet

backs Juliet into a corner, saying how he will disown her if she does not marry paris.

“graze where you will, you shall not house with me./ Look to’t, think on’t; I do not use to jest./ Thursday is near. lay hand on heart; advise./ and you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend/ and you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets/ for, by my soul, I’ll ne’er acknowledge thee,/ nor what is mine shall never do thee good,/ trust to’t, bethink you. I’ll not be forsworn”

Tybalt

he calls Romeo boy to antagonize him to get him to fight. instead, he and Mercutio fight, Mercutio dies, and Romeo kills Tybalt

“boy, this shall not excuse the injuries/ that thou hast done to me. Therefore, turn and draw”

Out of all the minor characters who had a play in Romeo and Juliet’s death, the three most notable were Tybalt, Lord Capulet, and Friar Laurence.

Thesis

The blood of Romeo and Juliet is on the hands of many people, some hands are covered, and others have just been splashed.

Hook