Question

How is Capulet to blame for Romeo and Juliet's deaths in Romeo and Juliet?

Accepted Answer

Lord Capulet is to blame for Romeo and Juliet's deaths because his insistence that Juliet marry Paris is what pushes her to take the sleeping potion. She wants to trick her family into thinking she's dead and run away with Romeo, but Romeo believes she is actually dead and kills himself. When Juliet learns of this, she commits suicide. If Juliet had not pursued her plan with the potion, she and Romeo would likely have lived.

Answer

There is plenty of blame to be spread for Romeo and Juliet's death, but Lord Capulet's role in it is his insistence that Juliet marry Paris almost immediately after Tybalt's death.
Capulet misinterprets Juliet's grief and unhappiness, which is due to Romeo's banishment, as mourning her beloved cousin Tybalt. Although he has felt before that Juliet, not quite 14, is too young to marry, now he thinks it is the proper cure for her melancholy.
Capulet's heart is the right place, as he loves his daughter and wants to do what is best for her, but once he has made up his mind, his patriarchal prerogative takes over, and he loses his temper when Juliet resists the match. Rather than listen to her, he calls her a "disobedient wretch" and threatens to disown her if she doesn't comply with his demands.
Perhaps if he had not lost his temper, Juliet might have felt safe to confide in him her secret marriage to Romeo, but at this point she fears him too much. For that reason, she turns to the friar and his much riskier plot of taking a potion that feigns death. This, of course, leads to the mishap in which Romeo thinks she really has died and returns to Verona to commit suicide.
More indirectly, Capulet, though he has the power to do so, takes no concrete steps to try to the resolve the feud, even after Tybalt is killed. He knows how destructive the feud is, but he is willing to tolerate it, which means that Romeo and Juliet have to keep their love secret.

Answer

It could be argued that Capulet is to blame for Romeo and Juliet's deaths because of his insistence that Juliet marries Paris. Although he is initially reluctant to agree to the marriage (because he feels that Juliet is too young), he soon changes his mind and realizes that Paris is an ideal suitor.
Juliet, however, does not love Paris. In fact, she meets Romeo and falls in love with him instead. When Juliet refuses to marry Paris in act 3, scene 5, Capulet becomes angry and threatens to ostracize her from the family. For a young woman, this could be disastrous:

Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!
I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday,
Or never after look me in the face.

Capulet, therefore, gives Juliet a choice: she either obeys him or loses her family. His refusal to listen to his daughter forces Juliet's hands. She knows that Capulet will not accept her marriage to Romeo, therefore she must go to extreme measures to be with him.
However, there are other factors to consider when we think about responsibility. Capulet certainly plays a role, along with his wife, but the feud between the families also plays an important role, as does Friar Lawrence's ill-conceived plan.

Answer

Romeo and Juliet’s deaths could be interpreted to be Lord Capulet’s fault because he insisted that Juliet marry Paris.
Lord Capulet is a complicated man. On the one hand, he has a fiery temper. On the other hand, he can also be reasonable. When it comes to his daughter, Capulet is very passionate. His actions unfortunately lead to Juliet’s death, and Romeo’s too.
Lord Capulet takes part in the duel in the marketplace, but he behaves more reservedly during his daughter’s party. Juliet is his prized possession. At first, he seems very reasonable. He does not want his only daughter to marry too quickly. He advises Paris to win her heart.

And too soon marr'd are those so early made.The earth hath swallow'd all my hopes but she,She is the hopeful lady of my earth:But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart,My will to her consent is but a part;An she agree, within her scope of choiceLies my consent and fair according voice. (Act 1, Scene 2)

He also seems to be mellow at Juliet’s ball. Tybalt is ready to fight Romeo then and there, but Capulet won’t let him. He says Romeo has a good reputation and argues that a fight will disturb their guests. Tybalt holds off until later, when he does try to engage Romeo. He kills Mercutio, who steps in to defend Romeo, and Romeo slays Tybalt.
It seems that Tybalt’s death changes things for Lord Capulet. He is so entrenched in grief that he reverses his position of patience on Juliet’s marriage. He insists that she marry Paris in only a few days. Juliet is horrified. After all, she is already secretly married to Romeo. Capulet just makes a lot of threats and seems to get angrier and angrier.

Hang thee, young baggage! disobedient wretch!I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday,Or never after look me in the face:Speak not, reply not, do not answer me;My fingers itch. (Act 3, Scene 5)

He threatens to throw Juliet out if she doesn’t do what he says. She is grieving too, for her cousin and for Romeo. Her new husband was banished when he killed Tybalt. Juliet does not know what to do. She can’t marry Paris. Her only choice seems to be to go to Friar Laurence and ask for help. He gives her a potion to fake her death.
Capulet’s insistence that Juliet marry Paris immediately is what leads her to take the potion, which is what leads Romeo to think she is dead. Romeo kills himself, and when Juliet wakes up she kills herself because he is dead. Thus Capulet’s actions help lead directly to the deaths of the two young people.

Romeo and Juliet

How is Capulet to blame for Romeo and Juliet's deaths in Romeo and Juliet?

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