The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare seems to be a story with an inevitable ending, but the actions of a few characters led to Romeo and Juliet’s death. Friar Laurence is the main culprit for the lovers’ deaths. His role in the lives of the two teenagers made him a very influential person. With this power in their lives, the Friar led them onto a path which lead to inevitable tragedy, but he was not the only driving force. Friar Laurence himself believes he is at fault for their deaths and fits the criteria for being guilty of involuntary manslaughter; those being that his action caused death to occur, his actions were dangerous to human life, and he knew his actions were dangerous (Act V, Scene III, LIne 229-269). The Friar …show more content…
As a worker in the church, the Friar was always there for Romeo and Juliet if they needed advice (Act II, Scene II and Act III, Scene VI). From the beginning of the story, it is clear that the Friar knew many things about Romeo’s life. He was aware of Romeo’s love for and heartbreak over Rosaline and was one of the few people to know about his love for Juliet (Act II, Scene III). Friar Laurence was also close to Juliet. This is evident in his helping of Juliet to get out of her arranged marriage and how she would talk to him even after Juliet felt that she could not talk to the Nurse about Romeo (Act IV, Scene I, Line 44-126). This is significant because the Nurse had been Juliet’s only friend for the majority of her life and was like a close mother figure to her (Act I, Scene III, Line …show more content…
Before the plan was made to fake Juliet’s death, the Friar did things which brought about the circumstances that to the lovers’ deaths. He encouraged their relationship and married them in secret which he should not have done (Act II, Scene VI). Friar Laurence should have not allowed them to be together, or, if he felt they were truly in love, he should have told the two’s parents about their relationship. Juliet’s father was open to having Juliet marry whomever she wanted and Romeo’s father wanted him to be happy, so the families could probably try to set aside their differences if they felt the two were really in love (Act I, Scene II, Line 13-34 and Act I, Scene I, Line 146-156). This scenario would also have settled the families’ feud like the Friar wanted to do with Romeo and Juliet’s marriage. If these things were not done and Juliet was going to be forced to marry Paris, the Friar could have helped her escape the marriage another way. He could have helped Juliet leave the city or he could have refused to marry Juliet and
In the classic play Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence plays a major part. Romeo and Juliet trusted him entirely as he was the priest of their town. They turned to the Friar for help and advice at a few crucial points in the play. Little did these two lovers know that their decision to turn to Friar Laurence for help would eventually lead to their deaths. Friar Laurence was responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because he married Romeo and Juliet, he was afraid of committing a sin, and because of his faulty plan for saving Juliet from a marriage to Paris.
As stated in Act 2, Scene 6, Line #35-37, it states, “Come, come with me, and we’ll do the job quickly. Because if you don’t mind, I’m not leaving you two alone until you’re united in marriage.” In this scene, it is seen that Friar Laurence is going to quickly unite Romeo and Juliet to marriage and won’t leave them alone until they are married. In this scene, in the beginning, Friar Laurence thought about uniting them and hesitated first, but later on, thought about it and said that this marriage could end the feud from the families. If Friar Laurence followed his hesitation, then he may not have been most blamed for the death of Romeo and Juliet. Also because of this secretive marriage between Romeo and Juliet, other people around them did know about it, like Tybalt who was unaware that Romeo and Juliet were married, he never considered Romeo a kinsman, which is why Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel, which later on leads to Friar Laurence proposing a plan. As followed, the other reason is the plan that Friar Laurence proposed to Juliet. This plan was made due to the secretive marriage that Tybalt did know about, to Tybalt challenging Romeo for
In Conclusion, this proves that Friar Laurence is one of the main characters to blame for Romeo and Juliet death at the end of the play. Friar Laurence Marries Romeo and Juliet, Make Juliet fake her death, and Left Juliet in tomb alone. These are all strong main idea’s to put blame on Friar
He married Romeo and Juliet secretly. Friar is like a pastor, but if you are a pastor why keep the marriage a secret. The Friar also gave Juliet a potion that made Juliet appear, as she is dead. “Then gave I her (so tutored by my art) A sleeping potion; which so took effect As I intended, for it wrought on her The form of death.” Although, he wanted to tell Romeo about his plan, it is to late to avoid tragedy. Like the Friar the Nurse is also contributed a lot of crime as well.
Friar Laurence simply influenced Romeo’s decision, it was ultimately Romeo and Juliet's decision to carry on with the marriage. In addition, Friar Laurence was put under immense pressure to marry the two lovers to promote peace or to stop the marriage and not be part of such a sinful act. Friar Laurence's inability to execute the most crucial aspect of the plan puts him at fault for the death. After being banished from Verona, wedding plans for Paris and Juliet being to start. Juliet has forsaken her love to Romeo, and decides that her marriage will be done with only one person, which is Romeo. The Friar promises Juliet that he will reunite them and they can live happily by telling Juliet “Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, and hither shall hem come; and he and I shall watch thy waking, and that very night shall Romeo bear thee to Mantua” (4.1.114-117). The Friar begins to tell Juliet that his plan is foolproof, and it will help them escape safely into Mantua where they can live happily ever after. As the play continues on into act 5, Friar Laurence begins to send out his letter to Romeo. However, Friar John comes back to Verona and tells Friar Laurence “I could not send it—here it is again, nor get a messenger to bring it thee” (5.2.14-16). Friar Laurence is most to blame because he is unable to perform the most vital part of the plan. If Friar Laurence knew that the letter
Throughout the entire play, Friar Laurence helps keep Romeo and Juliet together and their relationship a secret, encouraging their unrealistic hopes, and therefore is to blame for their deaths. Friar Laurence knows both families well, and their hate for each other, yet he misleads Romeo and Juliet to believe that their love can end their family's rivalry.
Friar Laurence’s character flaws greatly impacted the end result of the play. The Friar should be punished for his poorly made decisions throughout Shakespeare’s story. His first mistake was when he initially helped Romeo and Juliet with the aid of the Nurse. Both Romeo and Juliet are children and their parents should be included in every decision made for them. The Friar married Romeo and Juliet in Act 3 of the play. “Till Holy Church incorporate two in one” (3.1.37) The marriage was the start of many issues. Such as Juliet’s inability to wed Paris, being a married lady. This led to Friar’s next choice of giving Juliet the sleeping potion—making her appear dead. “Take this vial, being then in bed,” (4.1.93) Giving Juliet the poison was the reason why so many characters had died in the end of Act 5 of the play. Paris had died fighting Romeo because he thought he was attempting to steal Juliet’s “dead” body. Romeo, ignorant of the fact that Juliet was not dead, killed himself. Juliet committed suicide because of her fiancé lying next to her lifeless. The poison given by Friar
One of the reason Friar Laurence was the blame for Romeo and Juliet death is because friar Laurence knew marrying them was a risk to them and him, and it was also a bad Idea because not too long ago Romeo was just in love with Rosaline. And friar thinks because they are both from the too fueling families that Romeo and Juliet’s marriage may bring the families together. And that’s mentioned in the play (Act2, Scene1) “But come young waverer, come go with me. In one respect, I’ll thy assistant be; For this alliance, may so happy prove to turn your households `rancor to pure love.” So basically, he knows that Romeo is young is
There is a thin line between love and hate. In the tragic play Romeo and Juliet, the two main protagonists Romeo and Juliet prove that through their love prevailing the hatred their families have for eachother. The play ends with both Romeo and Juliet dead, but the families make up as a result of the grievances felt by the loss of their children. In In the play Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is at fault for the death of Romeo and Juliet because he has ulterior motives for helping them, his warnings are not prominent enough, and he takes advantage of the trust Romeo and Juliet had in him. Friar Lawrence had ulterior motives for helping the budding relationship between Romeo and Juliet develop, this ultimately lead to their death. The love
In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence was mostly the cause for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Despite his intentions were good, a string of illogical and stupid decisions from Friar Lawrence led to the downfall of the two lovers. Throughout the play, he further shows his lack of care by constantly attempting to flee situations that seem threatening to him. Although Friar Lawrence did not physically kill Romeo and Juliet, he unwittingly contributed to their demise by marrying them without parental consent, concocting an escape plan for them, providing the means to carry out this plan, and then abandoning Juliet, while she was distraught.
As the title states the story of Romeo and Juliet was a terrible tragedy, because not all stories have a happy ending. These two lovers end up killing themselves to be together. Friar Lawrence was responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
The Faults of Romeo and Juliet’s death Friar Lawrence is one character at fault for their deaths because he continued to make plans for Romeo and Juliet to be together. In the story when Juliet is being forced to marry Paris, Friar Lawrence devises a plan. To show, “Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, And hither shall he come, and he and I Will watch thy waking, and that very night Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua.
Friar Laurence was a confidant of Romeo, this is another point pointing at the Friar and his responsibility in the demise of the young couple. The lines in Act 2, Scene 3 say
Romeo was still trying to get over his breakup with Rosaline. Upon seeing Juliet, Romeo finds love at first sight. He says, “O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear” (I, v, 44-46). They decided that they must be married as fast as they could. When Romeo and Juliet, the ”Star-cross’d lovers”(Prologue, 6), first go to Friar Laurence about their new found love for each other, Friar is hesitant to marry the couple seeing as he knew of their families feud. Although it was Romeo and Juliet that rushed into the marriage and refused to tell their parents, Friar Laurence was in a place of authority. He didn’t have to marry them, but instead he used this as a plan. A plan in hopes of bringing the Montague and Capulet families together and ending the feud. As soon as he realized that this could only make the feud worse, he tried to warn Romeo about marriage by saying, “These violent delights have violent ends, And in their triumph die” (II, vi, 9-10). Although he had good intentions at first, he himself recognized that he had made a mistake. This was one of the many stratagems that contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s death. He could have prevented the whole situation by merely saying “no” when first asked to marry
In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Friar Laurence is presented as a Franciscan friar and the sole figure of religion. He plays the role of a great friend and a good advisor to both Romeo and Juliet. Being a helper, he marries the two star crossed lovers secretly. Throughout the play, the couple goes to him for support as he is a trustworthy and respectable man. When Juliet gets forced by her parents to marry Count Paris, she goes to Friar Laurence. Always thinking of something clever, Friar Laurence instantly comes up with a plan of making Juliet fake her death. On the other hand, when Romeo gets banished from Verona, he hides Romeo in Mantua and plans to reunite the couple after everything gets out of the way. But all those