Responsibility means being held accountable or to blame for an act. In many tragedies, there is one character to be held responsible for the unhappy end. In the case of the drama Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, Friar Laurence is responsible for the deaths of the titular characters. Friar Laurence’s cowardice, unreliability, and impulsivity lead to the unfortunate deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
Friar Laurence’s decisions made from cowardice ultimately lead to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Upon Juliet’s awakening from the sleeping potion, she sees Romeo and Paris dead. The Friar, afraid to be caught by the Watch and to be held accountable for his actions, runs away from the unstable Juliet. Friar Laurence’s cowardice is evident in his last words to Juliet before abandoning her: “Stay not to question, for the watch is coming; / Come, go, good Juliet, I dare no longer stay,” (5.3.158-9). The Friar, aware of Juliet’s past suicidal tendencies, should stay with Juliet in her time of need, despite the possibility of punishment from the watch. Had Friar Laurence been more courageous, the suicide and death of Juliet could have been prevented. For this reason, Friar Laurence’s decision to be a coward makes him responsible for the death of Juliet.
In addition to his cowardice, Friar Laurence’s unreliability also proves to be a factor that contributed greatly to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Friar Laurence’s plan to bring Romeo and Juliet together involves him sending the exiled Romeo a letter explaining the plan. Friar Laurence displays unreliability when he fails to execute this task. When Friar John returns to Verona, having failed his task of delivering the letter to Romeo, Friar Laurence states: “Unhappy fortune! By ...
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...ught into his decision, the deaths of Romeo and Juliet could have been prevented. Friar Laurence’s impulsivity contributed greatly to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
In conclusion, Friar Laurence is responsible for the deaths of the titular characters in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet because he makes fatal decisions involving cowardice, unreliability, and impulsivity. Friar Laurence’s decisions such as, choosing to abandon Juliet in the Capulet tomb, failing to emphasize the importance of his letter to Friar John, giving Juliet a sleeping potion, and marrying Romeo and Juliet proved to be fatal, as they lead to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. The decisions Friar Laurence makes throughout the drama make him responsible for the acts of Romeo and Juliet’s suicides.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 1999. Print.
I think that Friar Laurence was to a large extent responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. However, several other factors contributed. and we can not solely blame one person. The circumstances, time period and characters need to be taken into consideration. & nbsp
In William Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence plays a major role. He makes not just one, but three fatal mistakes; he marries Romeo and Juliet, gives the potion to Juliet, and gets caught up in their love. Romeo and Juliet knew they could trust Friar Laurence because he was a priest, and he always did what was right. Since Friar Laurence was so quick to make decisions he made these three fatal mistakes, which is why he is most to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
There are many reasons to the tragedy of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The tragedy, of Romeo and Juliet, involves a pair of ill- fated lovers who by their deaths will end the long and bitter feud that has been raging between their families for centuries. There are many incidents that occurred and many people could be blamed for the deaths of the two lovers. However, I believe that Friar Laurence is the one character most at fault for the tragedy that occurred.
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.
Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays ever written. It's a story of two star-crossed lovers whose lives end tragically because they do not understand the hatred of their older generation keeping them apart. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is the cause for the lovers' tragic death because he married the two of them, he did not go to Mantua to send his message to Romeo and he fled the scene when he realized he could not save his plan.
Friar Lawrence takes the cake when talking about who is to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet. The Friar's action of marrying Romeo and Juliet played a vital role in the outcome. Had this not occurred, Juliet would not be as free and loving towards Romeo. From the previous night, she adamantly stated they must marry in order for her to fully trust Romeo. If they never married, they would not be insanely in love because she would not be able to fully trust Romeo. Another mistake of Friar Lawrence was trusting Friar John to send a letter to debrief Romeo on the current situation. He never received the letter. Since Romeo did not read the letter, he believed his only love was dead and decided to embark on a suicide mission. Lawrence knew the immense importance of the letter and still decided against personally delivering the message. Giving the sleeping potion to Juliet was another mistake that lead to their death. Although it allowed her to avoid marrying Paris, Romeo thought his wife to be dead causing the suicide of himself and eventually of his partner. Actions of Friar Lawrence were for the benefit of the people, but ultimately they paved the road for their deaths.
Friar Laurence’s tragic flaw is being too overconfidence over his actions he planned. When Romeo comes over to friar’s cell for advice, he should’ve never tried to solve conflict between Capulet Family and Montague family. His plan was to change two families madness to love by marring Romeo, son of Montague and Juliet, daughter
Failing to uphold his end of the plan, causing the plan to fail and resulting with 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. Resulting in the death of herself, Friar Lawrence had even said, "If…thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself…take thou this vial…no warmth, no breath shall testify the livest." He should have been more careful, Friar Laurence's idea for Juliet was very risky and because of his own ignorance has ended up in tragedy. He also admits that he left the tomb and left Juliet there. The Friar knew that Juliet had previously threatened to kill herself, yet he still abandoned her with Romeo's knife. If the Friar truly cared about her safety, he would have forced her to come with him or stayed to prevent her from making any irresponsible
In Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence has a major role. As a member of the Order of St. Francis, a group of wise and generous priests, Romeo and Juliet trusted Friar Laurence completely, turning to him for advice, and solutions. He was there throughout Romeo’s and Juliet's lives; he married them, came up with a plan to keep them together, and was a friend throughout their tragedies. However, Friar Laurence’s rash action in marrying Romeo and Juliet, his shortsighted plan for rescuing Juliet from an unwanted marriage to Paris, and his fear of committing sin all contributed to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
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.
Friar Laurence’s interference in the families of Romeo and Juliet set much of the fighting, rage and death of these characters into motion. Romeo and Juliet is the title of a great tragedy. This tragedy has been caused by Friar Laurence’s involvement in the marriage of Romeo and Juliet, the Friar’s lying to Capulet and his family, and his involvement in the false death of Juliet.
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 Laurence's immature actions make him part of the tragedy. For one, he married Romeo and Juliet. When told that Romeo loves Juliet, Friar replies, "Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! /Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear, /so soon forsaken? Young men's love then lies/ not truly in the hearts, but in their eyes," (II, III, lines 66-69). In these lines, Friar admits that Romeo is only lusting for Juliet. Being the adult, Friar shouldn't have married Romeo until he found true love. However, the Friar was immature and married them anyways. Then, Friar came up with the idea for Juliet to fake death. Juliet is distressed about Romeo being banished so Friar comes up with the plan saying, "Hold, then. Go home, be merry, give consent/ to marry Paris. Wednesday is tomorrow,” Juliet is then suppose to "Take thou this vial, being then in bed/ And this distilling liquor drink thou off." After being buried and awakened, "Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua." (IV, I, Lines 90-119). This bad advise, to give a girl a drink like death and tells her to run away, is only one of many immature actions Friar takes. Finally, Friar did not stay with Juliet after she frantically woke up, in a tomb, next other diseased husband who was supposed to run away with her to Mantua. Inste...
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:
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.