Juliet is more innocent than nearly any of the characters in Romeo and Juliet. Romeo kills two men, Tybalt incites Romeo by killing Mercutio, and Mercutio starts the fight with Tybalt. Lord Capulet and Lord Montague perpetuate the feud, and Friar Lawrence’s plan completely falls apart. Juliet only stabs herself.
Of course, Juliet’s passion for Romeo drives the plot forward and contributes to the tragic conclusion. She is supposed to marry Paris, a man of her father’s choosing, but she falls in love with Romeo. Finding out that he is a Montague does not dull her love: “My only love sprung from my only hate! / Too early seen unknown, and known too late!”
Two adults know about their relationship: Romeo tells Friar Lawrence and Juliet informs her nurse. Juliet speaks to both, and both the friar and the nurse approve of and arrange their marriage. When Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished, Juliet mourns for her cousin and her husband. However, she still refuses to marry Paris.
At the friar’s behest, Juliet pretends to die by drinking a potion. Because the nurse suggests Juliet finally relent and marry Paris, she does not let the nurse in on her plans. Romeo then slays Paris who stands by Juliet’s tomb. Juliet wakes to find Romeo’s dead body, and thus kills herself. Her existence as an object of love, her adoration of Romeo, and her feigned death contribute to the deaths of herself and Paris. Otherwise, she is hardly guilty of contributing to the other murders.
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