Friar Lawrence In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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Friar Laurence’s Lament Agatha Christie, creator of And Then There Were None, formally proclaimed, “That is why most great love stories are tragedies”. This proves correct in Shakespeare's timeless tale Romeo and Juliet, where two star-crossed lovers, both from feuding families, tragically die together. With the help of Verona’s priest, Friar Laurence, he holds the blame for the tragedy. Friar Laurence is most to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, due to allowing them to marry, continuing to support their bad decisions and his bad planning. Romeo and Juliet notably trust Friar Laurence more than their close friends and relatives. Trusting Friar Laurence with their secrets and status, the Friar marries them both and hopes, “So smile the heavens upon this holy act, that after-hours with sorrow chide us not!” (2.6.1-2). Friar Laurence was the one to marry Romeo to his Juliet without permission from either family or knowing the consequences of his actions. With this rushed decision, they did not get to know each other as well as they could have, and with society’s expectations, they can predict the city of Verona will not take their marriage lightly. Undoubtedly, Friar Laurence could have easily refused this marriage and kept their trust in how it was. …show more content…

Allowing Romeo to hide, Friar Laurence compares him to disaster, “Romeo, come forth; come forth, thou fearful man, affliction is enamored of thy parts, and thou wedded to calamity” (3.31-3). Romeo expresses that being exiled is worse than death, Friar Laurence supports Romeo’s impulsiveness by creating a secret return plan for him. He tells Romeo that everything will go back to how it was, only he will return much happier than how he left. Instead of hiding Romeo, Friar Laurence should have helped him get to Mantua

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