Blog Post #6 : Act V

           At the end of a book, you usually know the fate of the main characters, but, you don't always know what happened to the "minor" characters. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the fates of some of the characters are unclear and unexplained. Do you really know what happened to Friar Lawrence, Nurse, or Lord Capulet? You can make guesses, but it is up to the author to determine what really happened. And that's what I am going to do. I am going to make guesses. What I think happened to each of these characters with untold fates.


Just like you don't
know what happens
behind closed doors,
you don't always
know the fate
of all the characters
in a book.



           So what did happen to Friar Lawrence? He wasn't killed. Prince Escalus could not kill a man when he had helped an end the biggest feud in Verona. But, he was punished. While he himself neither killed anyone, nor meant to kill anyone, his actions led to the deaths of many including Paris, Juliet, and Romeo. Plus, was the potion Friar Lawrence gave Juliet legal? It shouldn't be, given the effects it had on all that thought Juliet was truly dead. And about marriages, Friar Lawrence should have had the consent of the parents or the law. He knew that he was doing something that he could get in serious trouble by doing, and yet he did it anyway. We also must consider Paris, who didn't even get a chance of being loved by Juliet. His heart was destined to be broken from the start. Friar Lawrence knows he is to be punished. He even says, "If aught in this miscarried by my fault, let my old life be scrific'd, some hour before him time, unto the rigour of severest law (300). So his punishment was settled. He would not be killed, but he would be banished. But not banished to Mantua, for he knows people who live there. He would be banished to a land far north of Verona. Maybe that will remind him to think twice before interferring in people's personal business.

            Nurse was involved in this plot too. Prince Escalus knows this to be true because Friar Lawrence said to him in his confession, "and to the marriage, her nurse is privy" (300). There is no escaping punishment when someone has said you are involved right to the prince's face. Not to mention Lady Capulet, who "employs" Nurse was there as well. Nurse would be punished, although not as much by the law as by Lady Capulet. Lady Capulet trusted Nurse, and Nurse went behind her back. The fact that is was for Juliet doesn't help the matter either. A betrayal is a betrayal, and this one ended in the death of Lady Capulet's only child. Nurse was fired. Then when she tried to find another job in Verona, the grief-stricken, and very angry Capulet family spread rumors and news all over the city. These were so bad that Nurse couldn't find another job. She was forced to leave Verona and go to a distant city. 

            Last but not least, we discuss the fate of Lord Capulet. As promised, Lord Capulet built a statue of Romeo in pure gold to be placed in Verona. Beside that statue stood a statue of Juliet, the contribution of the Montagues. Even though Lord Capulet had not paid much attention to Juliet in her childhood, he was devastated over her death. Especially considering that some of his last words to her were, "An you be mine, I'll give you to a friend; an 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 foresworn" (216). These were horrible insults that no doubt hurt Juliet. If only Lord Capulet knew that was one of the last times he would ever see her. If only that was the only death he'd have to deal with. For not too long after Juliet's death, Lady Capulet, his wife commited suicide. She told Lord Capulet before she died, that even though she had been angry with Juliet for snooping behind her back, she considered herself responsible for putting Juliet through that stress and agony. This was too much pain and regret for Lady Capulet too feel, so she took her own life. Lord Capulet was distraught, but somehow managed to continue life. He became friends with Lord Montague, they were able to comfort each other, for they had both lost at least two members of their family that were very dear to them. They had both lost a wife and a child. While at times, there were moments of tension between the two, for the most part, they had a peaceful and friendly relationship with one another.