History Headscratchers / RomeoAndJuliet

** It's always been taken that as the Friar saying "Um, Juliet, there's been a change of plans. People will be here and they will be ''angry'', Romeo's not going to be here, and you should probably come with me ''without looking in that direction''! ''Hurry''!" and Juliet telling him "Screw you, if I don't get rescued by Romeo, I don't get rescued at all," and Friar Laurence assuming either that she was being thickheaded and would be kept care of by her family while he would be killed, or she had already seen the body and wasn't going to be helped.

*** Yes, even if Shakespeare himself did the research, he knew full well that most of his audience ''couldn't''. Trying to play ShownTheirWork straight would only have befuddled the peasants, so Shakespeare didn't bother. (And that's assuming that he actually did the research himself - there's no reason to believe that he did.)

** To answer some of this, in the era when the play is set (the Rennaissance, about 14th-15th century, towards the end of Medieval times), the bride had to be virginal, so while, Romeo and Juliet did marry in secret and could have backed out of it, they consummated their marriage by a certain act, so, if Juliet confessed, she'd likely be cast out of house, made to live in a convent (not ''all'' nuns were virginal back then, i.e "get the to a nunnery") or there would a scandal.

* And the story is not a manual on how to have a healthy relationship. The whole point of the feuding families plot is that things are so heightened that Romeo and Juliet have to hide and do extreme things because of the environment they've grown up in - Romeo is probably used to not knowing if he's going to be killed in the streets that day and while Juliet is probably somewhat safer, anyone growing up in an environment where people are fighting so openly in public all the time is going to develop a similar attitude. The two fall in love and figure they should act on it immediately, in case it's all taken away by tomorrow. There's likely no long term planning in Verona because of the high risk of getting killed in one of these brawls. The Aesop here is that these two children couldn't just ''be'' kids because of the feud their elders have allowed to continue.

* The plan was for Romeo to hang out in Mantua until the Montagues and Friar Lawrence could convince the Prince to pardon him, at which point he would have been reunited with Juliet. Juliet running off with him immediately would have ruined that. As to the sex...come on, this was their wedding night. It's not like even the most prudish would object to them wanting to get one night together.
** He was in no danger at Mantua. If they'd gone there together, they could have had all the nights/days/afternoons they pleased with nobody to bother them.
*** Yes, but if Juliet had run away with him to Mantua, that would have completely ruined any chance of their marriage ending the feud and instead become yet another reason for Montagues and Capulets to kill each other. Friar Lawrence was still hopeful that once tempers cooled over the latest incident, he would be able to get Romeo a pardon and find a way to get the Capulets to accept the marriage.
** Nobody heard them because the Nurse is on their side - a la ''Film/ShakespeareInLove''. She could come up with something.

* That's the point - Paris was a good guy who just wanted to marry Juliet and in no way deserved his fate. Romeo himself realizes this and grieves over his body. It's like the death of Paris as symbolic of how crazy and out of control the entire situation had gotten.
** Agree with that, but perhaps it has an additional, important dramatic purpose. Paris is in the play to explain why they can't get Lord Capulet's permission to marry and end the feud: he's promised her to his friend, and a noble friend at that, and can't lose honor by going back on his promise. If Paris is alive after the children die, then Capulet is at least half worried about the loss of honor, since he couldn't control his daughter and now can't giver her to him the way he said he would. With Paris dead, there is no room for wounded pride (of the kind that leads to "honor killings" even today) but only grief. And that grief is what makes the warring families finally end the feud.
* Paris is a creep who wants to marry a thirteen year old girl and [[PaedoHunt implies he likes them even younger.]] I'd hardly call him a sympathetic character.

** Not just banished; banished specifically on pain of death. Romeo already had a manhunt after him when he entered the tomb - if by some miracle Juliet could have gotten him some help, he'd be sentenced to death as soon as he was better. Speaking of that, ''they're in a tomb''. If no one heard her crying when he died or the gunshot from her shooting herself, they'd certainly not hear screams for help. And it wouldn't bet the phone reception would be great in there either. Not to mention, ''she's a young girl who has basically just woken up from a coma''!
*** In addition, the reception in the tomb was irrelevant. In 1996, cell phones were not ubiquitous, and it would have been unlikely for a teenage girl, even a rich one like Juliet, to have one. Even if Juliet did have one, her parents wouldn't have buried her with it. Romeo wouldn't be expected to have one she could use either. We know he doesn't, because Lawrence tries to send him a letter instead. Juliet instead would have had to leave the tomb to look for a pay phone to call an ambulance (or to find someone to hunt for a phone on her behalf). This would have been tricky because of the 'just woken up from a coma' part.

** Let's not forget that Friar Laurence (who is the only one actively helping Juliet at this point) has an ulterior motive: to get the two families to reconcile. Juliet running off with Romeo would have done exactly nothing to help that. If anything, it would just make things worse - the Capulets could have a narrative that Romeo abducted her or something and the Montagues could say she convinced him to kill Tybalt and both would probably immediately execute plans to bring back their child and/or kill the other. There's also the fact that, as a daughter, Juliet was an extremely precious commodity to her parents. How precious? Paris is a kinsman of the Prince and he wants to marry Juliet, thus guaranteeing great social standing for the Capulets as a family. [[SarcasmMode But of course pretty sure her mother would be all too happy to send her 13 year old daughter unescorted to a foreign city and completely ignore her not returning]]...

** And Juliet has just been betrothed to Paris. She is the Capulets' only daughter, and the marriage with Paris is supposed to secure an alliance. Sure these things fell through all the time, but because the bride to be married someone else behind her family's back is not the ideal reason.

** Juliet has been promised to Paris. You have to realise that a marriage was a sacred thing back in Shakespeare's day. Promising a child in marriage was forming an alliance with someone powerful, to gain them as an ally. This kind of thing gets lots of preparation and planning. So if Juliet comes out and says she married someone else, it not only means those plans go to waste, but the entire family looks bad from a political point of view. Lord Capulet especially suddenly looks like a fool who can't control his daughter - who went off and got married behind his back. Her parents were probably hoping to gain power or favour by betrothing her to Paris, so her marrying Romeo means they won't get either.

[[WMG: Why Is Friar Lawrence Such An Idiot?]]

[[WMG: What was Friar Lawrence's plan?]]

** Romeo was to stay in Mantua, where Juliet would eventually join him. He was going to persuade the Pope to pardon Romeo after the heat had died down. Then presumably he would return, with Juliet seemingly restored to life. Perhaps Romeo would have told a story of having found medicine that healed her sickness, thereby gaining favour with the Capulets. Or Lawrence would have them wait until their parents have died, and then they come back to unite the families.
** Before the fights with Tybalt caused everything to go completely off the rails, Friar Lawrence was probably hoping to marry them secretly (so there could be no possibility of any objections) and then, at a suitable moment some point in the not-too-distant future, present them as a wedded couple to their families. The Prince had already declared an end (on pain of death - Romeo's punishment was only lessened by the fact that Tybalt had killed Mercutio) to public feuding between the families so, from the Friar's perspective, no one would be able to get angry. He was pretty much banking on a "love conquers all" type scenario. As it is, it's implied that the marriage itself and Tybalt and Mercutio's death with Romeo's subsequent banishment all take place at best within one day of each other and most adaptations have the events occur within a few hours of each other.

** Because Juliet was Lord Capulet's daughter. Being in love with her carries slightly more weight than Rosaline. With Rosaline, a relationship would be tricky. With Juliet - nigh impossible.

There's the impression over the years that Tybalt was Lord Capulet's heir do to him having no (natural) and legal male heirs.
** He would be yes. Given the patriarchal laws at the time, when a woman married, she would no longer be counted as part of her biological family and would instead be seen as her husband's. So any property or wealth she owned would now be part of that family. So what's likely is that Tybalt was the closest male relative, as Juliet's first cousin, and would be the first to inherit the Capulets' property once Lord Capulet dies - and Lady Capulet would be dependent on his charity for remaining years, as would Juliet until she was married off.

* In several of the sources Shakespeare used, such as Matteo Bandello's story and Arthur Brooke's poem, Juliet does plead with Romeo to flee with him in disguise, but he dissuades her...he fears that it would only inflame the feud even worse, and the Capulets would be sure to track her down, have him killed, and God knows what would happen to Juliet since this culture probably wouldn't be above honor-killing a daughter who'd disgraced them.

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*** To answer some of this, in the era when the play is set (the Rennaissance, about 14th-15th century, towards the end of Medieval times), the bride had to be virginal, so while, Romeo and Juliet did marry in secret and could have backed out of it, they consummated their marriage by a certain act, so, if Juliet confessed, she'd likely be cast out of house, made to live in a convent (not ''all'' nuns were virginal back then, i.e "get the to a nunnery") or there would a scandal.