What are reasons for the Prince's decision of banishing Romeo in the play Romeo and Juliet?

Answer 1

in act 3 scene one in Romeo and Juliet, mercutio and Tybalt start a fight then romeo tries to stop the fight. because this scene was after the marriage of Romeo and Juliet, then Tybalt would now be related to romeo. Tybalt does not know the fact that they got married, so when Romeo tries to stop the fight, he completely ignores him. to make this a bit shorter, Tybalt kills mercutio. now romeo and Tybalt now duel. and then romeo kills Tybalt. earlier the prince said whoever disturbs the streets of Verona again will be killed. so he has a very hard decision to make. you see, mercutio was the princes nephew and according to what the prince said earlier, romeo did what was going to happen anyways. but in the end romeo does not win and he is exiled from Verona.

Answer 2

He had broken the Prince's instructions that there should be no fighting in the town but on the other hand he had been provoked into the duel with Tybalt by Tybalt himself, who had in any event had just killed Mercutio, Romeo's friend and the Prince's kinsman.

If Romeo had simply killed Tybalt he may well have been executed. So manslaughter not murder; banishment not execution.

Answer 3

We must first trace the root of this punishment: Romeo killing Tybalt. However, although the death penalty for murder is death, Tybalt also killed Mercutio. This lessens the villainy of Romeo's case. Romeo avenged his friend Mercutio by slaying Tybalt. Thus, condemning Romeo to death does not seem to be rightly justified, since Tybalt was also a murderer. Another possible punishment for Romeo would be taking away his property. However, Romeo still lives under his parents' wealth and therefore does not have any property to be taken away from him. Thus, the only punishment left for Romeo is banishment.

Answer 4

Tybalt was breaking the law by fighting with Mercutio and should have been sentenced to death for doing so. Romeo was only carrying out the presumed sentence of the law by killing Tybalt which mitigated the sentence pronounced on Romeo.

Answer 5

The mitigating factor is that the life of the guy he killed was already forfeit to the law, so he was bound to die anyway. Romeo was just doing what the hangman would have to do eventually. However, he is banished for not letting the hangman do his job. Having self-appointed executioners running around is not good for the peace and good order of the state.

Answer 6

Because the guy the surviving killer killed was a killer himself, and by law was to be put to death for it. The killer only completed what the law had prescribed. But because it was vigilante justice, he was banished.

Answer 7

The prince insists on banishing Romeo because the Prince is trying to get around Verona's law saying that murderers are to be killed, but Romeo is given the "gift" of keeping his life.