Did the deception carried out by both romeo and Juliet lead to their deaths?

Answer 1

It is so difficult to say what might have happened if Romeo and Juliet had been more open about the state of their affections. If they had disclosed them up front right after the balcony scene, their parents might simply have forbidden them to see each other, which might have led to their suicides anyway. Had they disclosed the fact that they were married before they had slept together, their parents would have arranged for their marriage to have been annulled and have forbidden them to see each other, with the same result. Once the marriage was consummated, there was no divorcing them (given Catholic policy then) but unfortunately by that time Romeo was an outlaw banished from Verona, who could not come in to Verona. Had the marriage been disclosed at that point, they would not have been able to live together, and Mrs. Capulet, already mad enough at Romeo for killing Tybalt, would have certainly carried through with her plan to poison him. So they would end up dead anyway.

In other words, being less secretive might not have made any difference. Once you know that both Romeo and Juliet would rather die than not be together, the possibility of their parents keeping them apart is a death sentence.

It is interesting to speculate on what might have happened if Romeo had, instead of buying poisons from dodgy apothecaries, decided to turn himself in, making a clean breast of his marriage to Juliet. What's the worst that could happen? They could kill him. Well, he was prepared to die anyway. And this way he would not go to Hell as a suicide and so might see Juliet in the afterlife. But the disclosure at this point might well have got him more sympathy than at any other time, and possibly a remission of his sentence. In that case both he and Juliet might have lived.

Answer 2

Yes, deception played a significant role in Romeo and Juliet's deaths. Their decision to keep their love and marriage a secret led to misunderstandings and a series of tragic events, ultimately resulting in their untimely deaths.