In the tragedy Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare there are a numerous amount of events that either happened by chance or by choice that could have led to the deaths of both Romeo and Juliet. One character that perhaps played a role in the death of the two lovers was Friar Lawrence. In his speech to Romeo about growing up and becoming a man, Friar advised Romeo that if he wanted to be with Juliet he was going to need to man up. Friar Lawrence’s confrontation with Romeo in act three scene three, could be considered the climax of the story. Friar Lawrence is telling Romeo that if he really loves Juliet he is going to need to grow up and act like a man. Friar’s speech is all about manning up and chasing your dreams. He is telling Romeo that if he wants to cry and act effeminate that will not help him go anywhere forget Juliet, the family rival. Friar Lawrence is really trying to make a point and that is why there is a …show more content…
The subtext for the speech is very extensive and really shows how knowledgeable the Friar is. One of the many important lines is “Thy form cries out thou art… Thou hast amazed me. By my holy order,...” (3.3 119 + 124)The reason this is one of the most important lines in this speech is because of its subtext. What the Friar is really trying to say is that that they way Romeo looks and is acting is quite unbelievable for a grown man seeking love. Another example of the vast sub text is when the Friar inquires about his love for Juliet. He adds “since birth and heaven and earth all three do meet… which thou at once wouldst lose?” (3.3 130 - 131) The aphorism of this line is that Romeo is now saying that he is willing to lose everything he has because he was banished. The Friar is telling him that banishment is not as bad as death because he will still see Juliet but Romeo refuses to buy
Although people may believe that Romeo, Juliet, and Friar Lawrence aren’t the main people that led to their deaths in the end, they are wrong because Romeo and Juliet weren’t forced to kill themselves and Friar Lawrence’s plan is what led directly to their deaths.
But, once reading the book thoroughly and consulting several sources, it is obvious who is solely to blame- Friar Lawrence. Because of the actions of Friar Lawrence, the play ended with two grieving families instead of two happy newlyweds. Although many characters contributed to their deaths, only Friar Lawrence was solely responsible for them. Friar Lawrence’s cowardice, secrecy, and miscommunication led directly to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. The first factor that played a key part in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is the fact that Friar Lawrence was a coward.
Friar Lawrence is responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s stronger affections for each other because he married them and therefore binding their love. Friar Lawrence also came up with a risky solution to get Romeo and Juliet together for the rest of their lives without anyone knowing. However, it consisted of faking Juliet’s death and Romeo did not know she was not actually dead, but alive. Friar Lawrence’s messenger did not tell Romeo the plan in time because Romeo had already heard of Juliet’s death and had gone to her tomb to die with her. Friar Lawrence is responsible for the star-crossed lovers’ death because of his miscalculated
In Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, Friar Lawrence plays a dominate role in the eventual death of Romeo and Juliet even though he is not on stage for most of the play. There are basically three major parts that lead to the tragedy; the marriage, the plan, and the inevitable deaths in all which Friar Lawrence plays a vital role.Friar Lawrence plays an essential role in the marriage of young Romeo and Juliet. At Romeo’s request Friar Lawrence states, "In one respect I’ll thy assistant be; for this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households to pure love" (Act 2 Scene 3.) Friar Lawrence believes that this holy marriage would bring the Capulet family and Montuague family closer together, for he anticipates that the families will stop hating each other and be peaceful. His attempts to make the marriage of Romeo and Juliet are admirable but poorly planned.
His advice to Juliet to fake her own death is a result of her love for Romeo, and the fact that the Friar can’t stop her from marrying Paris, will lead her to the violent act of killing herself. Friar Lawrence’s character is a representation of the idea that love can lead to irrational decisions and violent actions. In conclusion, Friar Lawrence is obligatory to the action, character development, and themes of Romeo and Juliet. Without Friar Lawrence, the steps leading up to the tragedy at the end of the story would not have been possible, along with the strong characterization of Romeo.
“A thing like death to chide away this shame,/ That cop’st with death himself to scape from it;/ And if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.”(4.i.89-120) In short, Friar is telling Juliet what he is going to give her for her planned ‘death’. This is important because this is the main problem that leads to both Romeo and Juliet’s death. This proves that in the story, Romeo ends up seeing Juliet ‘dead’ it makes him want to kill himself. Of course he made a hasty decision at that point in time. In the story Friar tells Juliet the entire plan. “Take thou this vial being then in bed/ And this distilling liquor drink thou off;.../ And then awake as from a pleasant sleep.”(VI.ii.89-120) In other words, Friar is telling Juliet to drink the distilling liquor and she’ll be fast asleep for the plan to go as planned. This is important because the the dialogue proves that Friar planned Juliet’s ‘death’. As an educated adult, he shouldn't have made the decisions he
"For this alliance may so prove, to turn your households' rancor to pure love," he states. Failing to uphold his end of the plan, causing the plan to fail and resulting in both Romeo and Juliet dying. Friar Laurence admits to being responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence made a huge mistake that he could have avoided himself, if only he had thought out his plan better. He trusted Juliet, an unstable fourteen-year-old, with a potion to make her appear dead just so she would not have to marry Paris.
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.
Friar Lawrence felt an internal conflict within him – the conflict of self against self. He knew in his mind that it was wrong to help a teen run away with her lover, who happened to be a murderer. But he also felt himself reach out to them, as he had known them as his own children for a very long time. He knew what a desperate situation Juliet and Romeo were in, and knew that he could prevent their lives from being ruined. But the problem was that the only way to solve everything, was to take a ‘wrong path’, that everyone opposed. In the end, he ends up helping his fellow children. But by this decision, he affected the whole plot of the play, and caused it to turn greatly. This plan would have turned out marvelously, but he made a few mistakes.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is one of the most well known love tragedies of all time. Within four days they meet, fall in love, get married, and kill themselves. One bad thing after another, and Friar Lawrence is to blame. He married Juliet even when he knew about the feud, he even married them when he knew that Romeo was head over heels for a completely different girl just a few hours prior. Friar Lawrence is also the reason for their death...he gave Juliet the potion, as well as failed to get the letter to Romeo in time. Friar Lawrence was selfish, he’s to blame for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
Unfortunately, their love comes to an end, along with their lives, because of a misunderstanding and a persistent feud between their families. Although there are many characters in this play that have contributed to Romeo and Juliet’s death, Friar Laurence is the person most to blame. Friar Laurence’s actions throughout the play resulted in the two star crossed lovers’ death. He assisted the two when they wanted to get married, which began the disastrous events in the play. Friar Laurence says to Romeo:
The attempt that Friar Lawrence had made to fix up his wrong doings was a mistake and took a huge role in leading up to the two deaths. He had a second chance to come clean and tell the families the truth, but he chose to ignore that opportunity and came up with a plan that resulted in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. After Romeo had been banished, the plan that the Friar conjured up was for Juliet to take a potion which would make her appear dead.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is the antagonist as seen in his “mistakes” of marrying children from two feuding, noble households, giving the desperate Juliet the sleeping potion, and leaving Juliet at her tomb to kill herself. He schemes and has the characters believe it is out of his love for Romeo and Juliet; as in their eyes, he is a fatherly figure. He is an older man who should be out to help the citizenry of Verona, but being egotistical, he uses Romeo and Juliet for his personal desires to end the feud between the families. Being egocentric has the Friar make rash decisions in situations that he had not planned for. When the Capulets and the Montagues come together after the death of their children, Friar Lawrence says, “Her nurse is privy; and if aught in this/ Miscarried by my fault, let my old life/ Be sacrificed some hour before his time/
Throughout the next few lines spoken, is where I believe the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is initiated, for if Romeo had not trusted and spoken of his love with an enemy; saying “I have been feasting with mine enemy “Juliet, Romeo also explains that Juliet feels the same for him. Then Friar Lawrence would not have felt the responsibility to try and reunite and mend the strife between the Montague’s and Capulet’s. In the final scene of this act Romeo, then asks the priest to bless their love and join them in marriage. Friar Lawrence, does question the true feelings of Romeo and doesn’t light -heartedly make a quick conclusion to marry them, asking Romeo” Holy Saint Francis what change is here?... ...
The Friar has almost contributed to every major subplot that then leads to the death of Romeo and Juliet. As if that was not enough, he ran away from the responsibility which he created, which was the death of Romeo and Juliet. He asserts, “Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay.”(5.3.164) Here in this scene Juliet had just found Romeo’s pale body lying with a dagger pierced in his heart. But what did the Friar say….? He asserted trying to run away from the tomb that they should leave. {What more is there I ask?.... T-o-…[fidgeting] watch one’s love one die and yet hear someone callously rip you apart from them on their death