Juliet's nurse was her closest friend and more of a mother to her than Lady Capulet ever was. Because of this, the nurse no doubt felt guilty for how Juliet died. Juliet repeatedly said how much she was against marrying Paris because of her deep love for Romeo. Before Juliet drank the poison, Friar Lawrence said to Juliet, "If, rather than to marry Count Paris, / Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself, / then is it likely thou wilt undertake / a thing like death to chide away this shame” (Act 4, Scene 1). Juliet was so against marrying Paris that she would have rather killed herself. Although she didn't say this to the nurse directly, Juliet expressed to the nurse how she felt about the arranged marriage. She claimed how unhappy she would be and the nurse had already known how in love Juliet was with Romeo. Instead of coming up with a solution to get Juliet out of the situation, the nurse tried to encourage Juliet to marry Paris despite her feelings. These strong feelings of love are what drove Juliet over the edge in the end when she saw Romeo dead, ultimately leading to her killing herself.

Throughout the entire play, Romeo was a very impulsive person and was driven by his strong emotions. An example of this was when he killed Tybalt to avenge Mercutio's death. His killing of Tybalt, though, led to him being banished from Verona. When Friar Lawrence told Romeo about his banishment, Romeo said, "Be merciful, say 'death'; / For exile hath more terror in his look" (Act 3, Scene 3). The reason Romeo was so upset about this banishment was because "every unworthy thing, / Live here in heaven and may look on her [Juliet] / But Romeo may not" (Act 3, Scene 3). Romeo was so blinded by the fact that he wouldn't be with Juliet he didn't understand that he lucked out by not being executed. So, instead of being grateful for being alive, Romeo convinced the friar that he needed to be with Juliet. This led to Friar Lawrence coming up with a plan to help Juliet run away with Romeo, which, in the end, caused both of their deaths.

Friar Lawrence: Drink this poison, and the entire town will think you're dead. I will come wake you from your sleep and you and Romeo can run off to Mantua together.

Juliet: I'm hesitant though. What if this poison really does kill me? My heart belongs to Romeo, but I don't think I'm willing to possibly lose my life just to have the chance to run away with him.

Friar: Oh, Juliet, I understand your fears, but I swear that this will work. Don't you want to be with Romeo? This is your only chance. We can't risk any other plan for fear that someone might discover our endeavors.

Juliet: Yes, I know my own heart, and it doesn't believe that I should throw away what I have to be with a man I fell in love with just days ago.

Friar Lawrence: Very well. But I shall send Romeo your way so you can at least let him know yourself.

[Romeo comes to meet Juliet]

Romeo: My Juliet, tell me it isn't true!

Juliet: But, alas, my love, it is. I cannot do it. I love thee with all my heart but I cannot risk my own life for thee.

Romeo: My love, I don't understand. How could thou say you love me and then tear my heart by making me leave thee? If thou really did love me with all thy heart, then you would do this for me. Please, Juliet. Do this for me.

Juliet: But how could I do this for just thee? I would resent myself for the rest of our days if I left everything behind and didn't do it for myself as well. And I say no. You should leave now before someone sees thee here. Know that I am sorry to have hurt thee, but not sorry for choosing my life over yours.

Romeo: Your "sorry"s mean nothing. They only make you seem regretful, for I know thou are not. I shall leave thee knowing that I had loved thee more than what you could ever reciprocate. Just know, Juliet, that I would have done it if our roles were reversed.

If the story had played out like this, with Juliet choosing her own life instead of Romeo, then neither of them would have died unnecessarily. In Act 4, when Juliet was about to drink the poison, she started to freak out and said, "What if it be a poison which the friar / Subtly hath ministered to have me dead" (Act 4, Scene 3). Juliet had fears that drinking the poison would end her life. However, in the play, she never acted on these fears. She let her love for Romeo overpower her fear and sense of reason. If she had realized how unreasonable this decision was, she would never have drunk the poison and maybe both she and Romeo would have been alive. In my alternate ending, Romeo said that he would have done it for Juliet. I think he would have said this because he was always driven by his emotions, so he wouldn't have thought twice before drinking the poison. This impulsive behavior driven by love is what got him killed in the end and into this situation in the first place.