Deaths of Characters
Mercutio's death:
Mercutio is the one who adds humor to this play of tragedy. He livens up the play with all his lewd and bawdy sexual puns. His witty and vivacious nature also helps to lighten up the ominous sense of foreboding of this tragic play.
Thus, when Mercutio dies, all the elements of comedy in this play have disappeared together with his body into the earth. Mercutio, a quick talker who has deep feelings and the power to look at himself critically, make his death even more moving when his time has come.
The play, takes on a drastic turn, and the ominous sense of foreboding resurfaces following Mercutio's death. Though Shakespeare constantly reminded us with quotes hinting of the tragic end, Mercutio, when alive, has been lightening this sense of foreboding with his bawdiness and wit. Once dead, this ominous sense of foreboding, like a monster that cannot be held back, comes alive, and attacks the two lovers - Romeo and Juliet.
Tybalt's death:
Tybalt is an insulting, discourteous, quarrelsome, vindictive and vengeful person in this play. He adds nothing but hate to this tragic play. Though his death should signal the end to all these negative feelings, all his death has done was to get Romeo into more trouble - his banishment to Mantua.
By killing Mercutio, it was almost fated for Tybalt to die. This we say, as we all know from the book that judging by Romeo's nature, he is sure to avenge Mercutio - his best friend, and kill Tybalt. Therefore, once Mercutio is dead, the next person to die is Tybalt.
Deaths of Romeo and Juliet
Right from the beginning, the lovers are destined to die as they were said to be "star-crossed" and that their love is "death-marked". However, we can be sure that other factors do contribute to their deaths.
One of the factors, unmistakably, is the feud between the two families. The family rivalry between the Montagues and the Capulets made it impossible for the lovers to be together. Tybalt killed Mercutio because of hatred, resulting in the events that follow. The feud was an embodiment of the immaturity of the parents. Five of their loved ones died before the realization occurred. The fact remains that none of these circumstances would have occurred had it not been for the senseless feud; nor would a case of bad luck result in death had there been no feud.
The characters themselves have a part to play for causing their own deaths. Romeo and Juliet fell in love, and their love for each other, is so deep that they are willing to die for each other, and they would rather die than be without each other. Romeo, instead of curbing his anger, killed Tybalt in order to avenge Mercutio. This proved to be a wrong step, as it led to Romeo's banishment.
Fate is also responsible for the lovers' deaths. The two lovers are thwarted by destiny right from the beginning. The first instance of ill fate occurs when the lovers realized that, because of their respective heritage, they cannot possibly expect to have a happy romance despite the fact that they have fallen in love at first sight. Fate tests their devotion to each other by unmasking their identities. It is probably destiny that Romeo is unable to receive Friar Lawrence's letter in time. Coincidentally, there happened to be an apothecary available when Romeo intended to kill himself after hearing about Juliet's "death". Lastly, Juliet awoke moments after Romeo killed himself. The same goes for Friar who only arrived after Romeo has committed suicide. Fate seems to be the factor that manipulated the whole series of events.
One thing positive about the lovers' deaths is that their deaths ended the feud between the two families. The older generation finally realized that it was their foolishness in the past, and that the feud between the two families has resulted in the loss of their loved ones.