Romeo and Juliet’s Tragedy: Who is to blame?
“Morality is the judgement to distinguish right and wrong, vision to see the truth, courage to act upon it … and integrity to stand by the good at any price” (Ayn Rand) In Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, misjudgements lead characters to be blinded by a false reality, negatively impacting the lives of two star-crossed lovers. To start, the Nurse and Friar Lawrence's (Friar L’s) “parental” role in Romeo and Juliet's (R and J’s) life lead them to try to fix the feud between the families which hurt R and J. Next, the lack of understanding of how deep R and J’s love is lead them to give bad advice. Lastly, though they loved R and J, some of their choices are made based on fear. Overall, Friar
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When Juliet is talking to the nurse about love, she never takes her seriously, as in her mind love is only physical. When talking to Juliet before the marriage she cackles “I am the drudge and toil in your delight, but you shall bear the burden soon at night.” (2.5.68-69) Her loose views on marriage misguide Juliet’s views because she trusts her Nurse showing the character foil between them both. Instead of making this sexual joke the Nurse could have been more nurturing. Comparing Nurse’s understanding of R and J’s love to Friar L’s we see that though her ideas are not always the best, Friar L takes his bad advice to a whole other level. After Romeo is banished he is so sad he becomes suicidal. When Friar L tries to soothe Romeo’s grief with arguments, he speaks about looking at things philosophically. Friar L wisely says, “I’ll give thee armor to keep off that word - adversity’s sweet milk, philosophy - to comprt thee though thou art banished” (3.3.54-56) Friar L uses a metaphor to compare philosophy to sweet milk because in the end it helps adversity. Due to the Nurse and Friar L’s lack of understanding they both make wrong decisions which need covering up, therefore ending the play making choices on the basis of
Youth and Age: Should Friar Lawrence and the Nurse have been more careful about the way they encouraged Romeo and Juliet’s love? To what extent does Shakespeare present them as being to blame? Throughout the play, Romeo and Juliet were aided in their love. It was according to Romeo and Juliet love at first sight and with the help of Juliet’s closest companion the nurse and Friar Lawrence it was made possible for the lovers to exchange vows and continue their relationship behind the two houses. The nurse plays a role in Juliet’s life ‘when it did taste the wormwood on the nipple’ we find out that Juliet’s and the nurse have had a close and long term friendship with Juliet.
She always wanted to keep Juliet happy. As Juliet fell in love with Romeo The Nurse went behind the backs of Juliet’s parents and was sending messages between the two. “By my troth, it is well said. “For himself to mar,”/ Quoth he? Gentlemen, can any of you tell me where I/ May find the young Romeo?” (2.4.60). The Nurse was someone Juliet went to whenever she needed help, and The Nurse always delivered, but this time The Nurse helped her do something that was never thought about in the house of a Capulet, to marry a Montague. Furthermore, Juliet’s actions were very childish, but the person that was supposed to guide her did not do anything to stop her. Instead of going to Juliet’s parents and telling them what was going on between the two, The Nurse helped them get married. “Then hei you hence to Friar Lawrence's cell./ There stays a husband waiting to make you his wife.”(2.5. 60-65) She could have put it to a stop by telling Juliet she was not allowed to get married. Instead The Nurse gave Juliet her blessing and was helping her get married. By the time The Nurse realized she should not have been helping Juliet it was already too late. All in all, The Nurse failed as a God Teacher because she had the power to stop all of this, but instead she put Juliet's happiness before her best interest and that did not end well resulting in the death of Juliet
The Nurse disregards Juliet’s feelings for Romeo and takes the easy option, telling her to marry Paris, “I think you are happy in this second match, for it excels your first”. Juliet despises the Nurse for saying this.
The Nurse and Friar Laurence both try to protect Romeo and Juliet. When Juliet’s father, Capulet was outraged with Juliet not wanting to marry Paris, he said many awful things to Juliet and the Nurse instantly acted to Juliet’s defense and said ‘God in heaven bless her! You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.’ As for Friar Laurence, he shows fatherly acts towards Romeo by protecting him when he was banished. Friar Laurence said to Romeo ‘I’ll give thee armor to keep off that word— Adversity’s sweet milk, philosophy— to comfort thee though thou art banished.’ The Nurse protecting Juliet from her own father and Friar Laurence hiding Romeo when he was banished shows their deep concern for the children, the protectiveness they possess for Romeo and Juliet and it also shows the importance of the Nurse and Friar
The loving, compassionate, and wise Nurse in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is not at all the one expressed in Brooke's The Tragical History of Romeo and Juliet. In this version, the Nurse's motive behind her involvement is not due to a wish to see Juliet happy but rather a result of Juliet's offer to pay for her aid (629-630).... ... middle of paper ... ...
v. 38-39; 43-45). From the context of this scene, the audience can tell that Nurse is being sarcastic. In reality, she actually enjoys Romeo and thinks he is a suitable match for Juliet. Another instance where Nurse’s wit is presented is when she says, “Yes, madam. Yet I cannot choose but to laugh, to think it should leave me crying and saying ‘Ay’.
This quote shows how Shakespeare handled an emotion, then translating it into something that gave Juliet strength to continue the Friar’s plan to be with Romeo. The love between Romeo and Juliet makes them forget about their commitments to the world and everyone around them, they both get consumed in a self-centered world of their own, overlooking their commitments to everyone else. The nurse acts as a parental figure to Juliet, where she cares for her as if Juliet is her own child, and gives advice and help whenever she is in need for it. The nurse believes that Juliet is still gentle and young, therefore is always on the look out for Juliet, making sure she doesn't get hurt.
In act III, scene III, Friar lets nurse in and let her meet Romeo and talks with him. After nurse claims that Juliet sent her, he let her come inside the cell as saying, “Welcome than” (Shakespeare 797). He should’ve sent her back or at least welcome her after Romeo hide someplace other so he doesn’t meet her, because after Romeo talks with her he realize that Juliet is still in love with him and finds hope to meet her again and continues the love. If friar did not allow Romeo from meeting nurse, he would’ve lost all hopes and would have banished from the town alone. Friar Laurence reveals his tragic flaw again after giving Juliet a sleep potion. He promised to send a friar to let Romeo know about the plan. Friar says,”…I’ll send a friar with speed to Mantua, with my letter to thy lord” (Shakespeare 819). His overconfidence make him let go of the tension down and to make a mistake. First, he should’ve sent a men with more speed, not the friar with a donkey. Second, he should’ve warned Romeo beforehand to make sure message does get to
The suicides of Romeo and Juliet reflect their hasty and impulsive decisions as well as the dishonesty of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse. Romeo’s haste in drinking the venomous poison, Friar’s cowardice in handling the consequences as well as the Nurse’s choice of standing against the relationship of Romeo and Juliet contribute equally to their fatal end. Therefore, dishonesty and haste can result in undesirable circumstances to any individual.
Throughout time, there have been many tragedies caused by romance. For example, the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is known for its romantic tragedy between two star-crossed lovers. With all the deaths, who is truly to blame for Romeo and Juliet's deaths? Friar Laurence is most to blame for many obvious, yet overlooked, reasons. The forbidden wedding of Romeo and Juliet could not have happened without the Friar.
The story Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of two kids who regardless of their family feud, fall in love. Romeo and Juliet is a play by William Shakespeare which takes us back to the Renaissance era and tells of a tragic love story. Because of the love both Romeo and Juliet had for each other, they suffered tragic consequences. In the end of the play both characters die because of their love. There are many characters that are to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet such as, Lord Capulet, the Prince, and Friar John. Although some may argue about who could be blamed, the person that would mostly be blamed is the nurse. The nurse is the character that is responsible for their deaths, because she encourages Juliet to fall in love with Romeo, she does not prevent Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, and she keeps secrets from everyone.
Unlike the Nurse, Friar Laurence displays wisdom, but contradicts it through rash guidance: “Take thou this vial, being then in bed/And this distilled liquor drink thou off.” (4.1.193-194) Terrorized by a suicidal Juliet, Friar Laurence devised a plan through an illusory ploy of a sleeping potion. His hasteful consolation through a thoughtless scheme contribute to misunderstandings that lead to a tragic end. In similar fashion, the Nurse betrays Juliet’s trust by rashly advocating Lord Capulet’s proposal of marriage: “I think you are happy in this second match/For it excels your first; or if it did not/Your first is dead…” (3.5.223-225) Beforehand, Nurse’s maternal instinct toward Juliet buoys her meddling. However, Lord Capulet’s rage led her retreat submissively, driving Juliet to adhere to the friar's shortsighted plan. Although rich in heart, the parental figures display hasteful judgements that led to the lovers’
Most movies portray friars as wise mentors, or strict religion-followers, that lead lawful, moral, and virtuous lives. But this tragic play of Romeo and Juliet begs to differ, as the friar does nothing but help achieve the forbidden plans of two star-crossed lovers. As Friar Lawrence gets involved more deeply into the schemes of Romeo and Juliet, he too begins to warp sly plans out of his head, such as the potion plan.
In the story “ The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet “ the main characters get themselves in a pickle by falling in love knowing that their families are sworn enemies. Soon Romeo kills Juliet's cousin by accident, Juliet drinks a potion, some words get twisted and at the end both of the lovebirds end up dead. At the end of the story both families are devastated that both of their children pass away, but there are also many unanswered questions. The most asked question in the story is “ Who's to blame? ” and overall I believe everyone has a little part in influencing their death, but I believe that one person is to blame for most of this and I believe that it is the mother and father of Juliet.
WHO IS THE BLAME? Good afternoon, my fellow audience. I am here today to persuade you on who I believe to be the character most responsible for the death of the two main characters in the play, Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is almost an ironic play because of its open and easily known ending, but yet its ending raises the controversial question, WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE DEATH OF ROMEO AND JULIET? I believe every character in the book contributed to their deaths, even Romeo and Juliet themselves, but Friar Lawrence bears a monumental deal of the blame because he was the principle and most reliable adult that could have steered the ‘inexperienced’ couple, but his incompetency led Romeo and Juliet to a violent death.