in the deaths of his friend and Juliet. Enraged at Romeo's passive resistance to fight his wife's hot-tempered cousin, Tybalt, Mercutio fights Tybalt himself and is killed as a result. His death sets off a chain reaction of events that contribute to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Upon seeing his best friend killed, Romeo is overcome by grief and rage and kills Tybalt, for which he is later banished from Verona. Romeo's banishment is the reason Juliet fakes her death—a plan which goes awry and ends with both Romeo and Juliet taking their own lives.

Friar Laurence is a trusted friend and advisor of Romeo and Juliet, but his well-meaning poor judgment contributes to the deaths of the young lovers. Romeo asks Friar Laurence to marry him and Juliet. Even though the two are young, naive, and members of rival families and barely know each other, Friar Laurence agrees to marry them in hopes of quelling the feud between their families. Although he means well and warns Romeo of the dangers of his hasty marriage, Friar Laurence shows poor judgment in marrying Romeo and Juliet. They are too young and overcome by passion to see clearly and fully understand the consequences of their actions. Friar Laurence contributes to the lovers' deaths again when Romeo is banished. He helps Juliet fake her death by giving her a potion that puts her into a death-like sleep. He sends a message to Romeo informing him of the plan, but the message does not reach him. Romeo believes Juliet to be truly dead and kills himself. Juliet awakens to find Romeo dead and kills herself.

When the play opens, tensions are already high between the Capulets and Montagues. Tybalt is a Capulet and Juliet's cousin. He hates the Montagues in general, Romeo in particular. He recognizes Romeo through his disguise at the Capulet ball and is enraged. He challenges Romeo to a duel. Romeo refuses, and Mercutio fights Tybalt instead. Tybalt kills Mercutio, which causes Romeo to become enraged and kill him. Romeo is then banished for killing Tybalt. The fight between Tybalt and Mercutio and Mercutio's death at Tybalt's hands sets in motion a series of events that lead to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet (see second paragraph above).

However, Mercutio intervenes on Romeo's behalf and Tybalt kills Mercutio, which incites Romeo's rage. Romeo avenges Mercutio's death by killing Tybalt, which results in his exile. If Tybalt never challenged Romeo to a duel or killed Mercutio, Romeo would have never been banished from Verona. The complications arising from Romeo's banishment would have never taken place, and the young lovers would still be alive.

Friar Laurence is also primarily responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Laurence not only marries the young lovers in secret with the hope of ending their families' long-standing feud but also formulates a flawed plan, which directly leads to Romeo's suicide. Friar Laurence's plan is extremely risky and he does not take into consideration the plague outside of Verona that prevents his message from reaching Romeo. Tragically, Friar Laurence's letter does not get delivered, Romeo believes that Juliet is actually dead, and he commits suicide next to her tomb.

Lord Capulet also bears some responsibility for Romeo and Juliet's deaths. Lord Capulet's family feud is the reason the two lovers must get married in secret. Lord Capulet's decision to have Juliet marry Paris shortly after Tybalt's death influences his daughter to follow through with Friar Laurence's dangerous plan. Instead of respecting his daughter's personal decisions and romantic interests, Lord Capulet plans a wedding against Juliet's wishes, which motivates her to seek Friar Laurence's assistance and drink the sleeping potion.