The animosity between the Capulets and the Montagues
is only part of what contributes to Romeo and Juliet's becoming "star-crossed" lovers,
doomed from the beginning. Even the light/dark imagery employed by Shakespeare in
Romeo and Juliet conveys this idea. For, in the daytime, the
lovers are not safe together; only in the darkness can they love. Thus, their secrecy,
forced by the conditions of the feud, leads to the complications that turn
to tragedy.
Since Romeo cannot ask Lord Capulet for
permission to marry Juliet and secretly weds her instead, Paris unknowingly asks for the
hand of the young maiden. The complication of this marriage proposal to Juliet's life
cannot be resolved because Juliet dare not reveal to her mother that she has married one
of their enemies. Thus, she panics and flees to Friar Laurence, who unwittingly sets in
motion the tragic events at her tomb.
When Tybalt, who has
become enraged by Romeo's presence at the party for Juliet, walks the streets of Verona,
his enmity causes him to engage in conflict with the loyal friend of Romeo, Mercutio,
who is fatally wounded during Romeo's well-meaning intervention. Without this enmity
between the two families, Romeo and Mercutio would not conflict with Tybalt,
and neither would be placed in danger. Romeo's resulting banishment has resulted from
this conflict, a banishment that has caused him to remain ignorant of what transpires
with Juliet's supposed death.
Because of the feud and its
ramifications, Romeo is unable to defy the stars as he avows, in several circumstances.
However, it is yet his impulsive behavior and rash judgment that leads to his tragic
end, not the feud itself. Likewise, Juliet places herself in precarious situations
because of the secrecy she becomes involved in as a result of marrying a Montage; but,
again, she, too, dies from impetuosity, not hatred as she remains in the tomb instead of
accompanying Friar Laurence out of it. There, she rashly decides to join Romeo in
death.
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