What could possibly cause the death of three young lives? Within the past five days, the fate was sealed for Count Paris, Juliet Capulet, and Romeo Montague. Paris was murdered and Romeo and Juliet committed double suicide. Who’s to blame for this tragic event? The Verona Tattler has uncovered the culprit in this dastardly plot.

Two enemy families, the Montagues and the Capulets, have been in a bitter family feud for generations. No one can remember who or what started it, but pride and arrogance have kept the feud fired. The fate of Romeo, Juliet, and Paris started in the streets of Verona, where members of each family were fighting. The Prince of Verona declared that if he saw any more fighting between the families, the punishment would be death. Later, Count Paris, a young nobleman, spoke to LordCapulet about marrying Juliet. Lord Capulet invited Paris to try to attract Juliet’s attention at an upcoming Capulet ball, despite her young age. At the Capulet ball, Romeo Montague and his friends sneaked in with masks. Romeo saw Juliet Capulet and they fell in love with each other. Later, after sneaking into Capulet grounds, Romeo heard a private confession by Juliet that she loved him despite her family. Friar Lawrence married the two the next day. Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin purused Romeo the next day for appearing at the ball in disguise, but Romeo refused to fight him since he was now part of the Capulet family. Romeo’s friend Mercutio decided to fight Tybalt, but was fatally wounded when Romeo stepped in to stop the fighting. Romeo then slayed Tybalt in anger over his friend’s death, and runs away. Despite the murder, the Prince decided that Romeo should be banished, not killed, since Tybalt’s killing Mercutio provoked Romeo. Juliet grieved her husband’s absence.

Thinking that she was upset by Tybalt’s death Lord Capulet arranged to her engagement to Paris, and threatened to disown her if she didn’t agree to marry Paris. Even Juliet’s nurse, once her confidant, said that Juliet should forget Romeo and marry Paris. Desperatyeahely, Juliet visited Friar Lawrence for help. Friar Lawrence offered Juliet a potion that would leave her in a death-like trance for 24 hours. He said he would send a message to Romeo to come in the crypt, save Juliet, and run away together. Unfortunately, the message didn’t reach Romeo, and he learned of Juliet’s “death” from a servant. He illegally bought poison from an apothecary, and visited the Capulet crypt. It appears that while Romeo was mourning, Paris came in and confronted him, and a battle resulted. Romeo killed Paris, and went back to Juliet. He drank the poison, committing suicide, when Juliet began to wake up. Friar Lawrence then arrived, saw Romeo dead, and tried to convince Juliet to leave. But Juliet refused to leave Romeo. Instead, she grabbed Romeo’s dagger and stabbed herselv. In grief, the two families agreed to end their feud in honor of their children.

Where does the blame lie? Verona Tattler has looked into the story and believes that Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin and Lord Capulet’s nephew, is responsible. Tybalt was notoriously hot-blooded and proud of his family status. Recently, Benvolio, Romeo’s cousin, had been seen trying to stop a fight between Capulet and Montague servants, when Tybalt drew his sword and claimed his loathing for the Montagues. At the ball, Tybalt saw the masked Romeo and wanted to kill him for reasons beyond wanting to protect the Capulets. Tybalt would have dueled Romeo but Lord Capulet forbade him to. Tybalt wouldn’t forget Romeo’s intrusion, and it now appears, planned on revenge. The rest you know. As reported yesterday, Tybalt came across Mercutio and slayed him when Romeo tried to separate them. Then Romeokilled Tybalt. If Tybalt hadn’t pursued Romeo and initiated the arguments, neither Mercutio nor Tybalt would have died, and Romeo wouldn’t have been banished. If Romeo hadn’t been banished, Juliet wouldn’t have gone to such drastic measures to evade her marriage with Paris. And if Juliet hadn’t taken Friar Lawrence’s potion, Romeo wouldn’t have killed Paris in the crypt, or consumed the poison, and Juliet wouldn’t have committed suicide. Tybalt ignored the Prince and his Lord Capulet’s orders, and went overboard with his family pride. If Tybalt had thought out his actions, he could have saved his own life and three others.

To confirm our suspicion, the Verona Tattler interviewed Juliet’s nurse and Lord Capulet, two members of Tybalt’s house.

Verona Tattler: Why was Tybalt so determined to get revenge on Romeo?

Lord Capulet: Tybalt always was proud of his background. He probably was trying to right Romeo’s wrong of sneaking into our ball. I knew Tybalt wouldn’t disobey my orders on Capulet grounds, but I was hoping he would understand the importance of keeping peace in Verona.

VT:Was he always like this?

Capulet: Yes. When he was younger, he would always stop the other Capulet children from interacting with Montague children. He made enemies fast and disliked all Montagues, no matter their personality.

VT:Was it just family pride that made him want to go after Romeo?

Capulet: If I remember correctly, he always seemed jealous of Romeo. Romeo was an exceptional swordsman and always had a lot of friends. I suppose Tybalt was always looking for a fault in Romeo.

VT:Did you understand the family feud?

Capulet: I don’t think anyone did. Tybalt was raised with his family always against the Montagues. From when he was little, he was taught that the Montagues were sworn enemies.

VT: Do you think he’s ultimately to blame for your daughter’s death, along with Romeo and Paris?

Capulet: To be honest, yes, I do. He never thought before he acted, and in the end it cost him his life, along with my daughter’s. He was a great person though, and I will still grieve for him.

Verona Tattler:What do you know about Tybalt?

Juliet’s Nurse: He was very vengeful, but a great friend of the Capulets and Juliet especially. He seemed to always want to protect her from harms’ way. He’d always try to get back at those that harmed him or his companions.

VT: So do you think that Tybalt thought of Romeo as someone harmful to Juliet?

Nurse: Probably not anyone especially harmful, but he seemed to think that all Montagues were dangerous.

VT: Did you ever know of his plan to get revenge on Romeo?

Nurse: He often spoke in mutters of Romeo. I overheard him talking to one of his companions that he was going to try to get Romeo alone and battle him one-on-one. Oftentimes, I tried to convince him to obey the Prince, but he’d always ignore me and walk away.

VT:What did he think of Mercutio?

Nurse: He always said that Mercutio was a jokester who was all talk but no action.

VT:Would you have ever guessed the outcome of Tybalt’s need for revenge?

Nurse: No. I knew Tybalt was going to get himself in trouble eventually, since he would disobey the Prince’s order of peace, but I never envisioned him bringing three others with him.

VT:Was Tybalt friendly with Paris?

Nurse: Tybalt was cautious around Paris, since Tybalt was so protective of Juliet. I think they would’ve become friends because they had some similarities. I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted to harm Paris.

As you can tell, because of the long-lasting family feud, Tybalt seemed born to battle the Montagues. It was only nature that put him against Romeo and urged him to seek revenge on the enemy house. Even though he was trying to do the best, he led himself, Juliet, Romeo, and Paris to their untimely deaths. The Verona Tattler believes that Tybalt was unintentionally responsible for the tragic ending to this love story.