Sukhman Singh Grewal
Ms. Abdulle
ENG2D
13 June 2016
Filicide
“False friends are worse than bitter enemies”
Unknown.
Imagine your father as the most loving and caring person you know. He always asks you before making decisions about your life. He has never shown a bit of distaste for you. He is the person that respects you the most. However, one day, he feels like making a decision crucial to the rest of your life without consulting you. This decision is a decision you could not be unhappier with. What do you do? In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Juliet finds herself in the same situation, and decides to go against her father’s decision. Little did she know that her loving and caring father was the complete opposite of what he seemed: a false friend. Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, was a friend to his daughter as long as she obeyed him. The second Juliet didn’t do as her father pleased, Lord Capulet became her mortal enemy. In the end of the play, Juliet and her lover Romeo try to escape from Lord Capulet and his wicked plans, seeking help from a close friend; Friar Laurence. The Friar makes a plan to help Romeo and Juliet escape from Verona and give them a happy life in a city by the name of Mantua. The plan is to give Juliet a potion which makes her appear to be dead. Once Juliet is placed in a casket and left in memorial grounds, Romeo is to come in the night steal her away to Mantua. The plan is not properly executed, and Romeo is not properly informed about the specifics of the plan. Because of this confusion, Romeo and Juliet end up taking their own lives. Though this was an act of suicide, Lord Capulet is entirely responsible for the deaths of the two lovers. Romeo and Juliet’s pitiful and tragic end was a product of Lord Capulet’s actions such as forcing Juliet to marry Paris, throwing a party, and his ongoing feud with the Montagues.