Friar Lawrence's Mistakes Essay

“Most evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” This quote by T.S. Eliot can be applied in movies, television shows, and even when looking at human nature. But the quote is especially relevant in William Shakespeare's famous, Romeo and Juliet, in particular when looking at Friar Lawrence’s ignorant and foolish mistakes throughout the play. Page after page he accomplished countless errors that eventually cost the lives of young Romeo and Juliet. Friar Lawrence is the most responsible for the unfortunate, tragic death of the star-crossed lovers in William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, because of his numerous thoughtless decisions.

Various characters’ choices advance the plot throughout the first act that led to Friar

Lawrence’s irresponsible decisions which started in the second act of Romeo and Juliet. The action began in the city of Verona, Italy when Romeo, a Montague, arrives at the Capulet home for a party to which he was not invited. This may have been a harmless deed if their families weren't in an endless rivalry that ignited before any of the characters were born. Romeo was prompted to attend the party when he found out that Rosaline, his newest mistress, was going to also be present. Rosaline had broken his heart because she turned him down to become a nun, but Romeo desired to see her anyway. While he was at the party, he managed to infuriate Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, with his unwanted presence. He was also able to impress Lord and Lady Capulet’s daughter, Juliet, and he completely forgot about Rosaline’s existence. Romeo and Juliet instantly fell head over heels in love and were desperate to get married the very next day. So, Romeo paid a visit to Friar Lawrence’s cell to request Friar marry him and Juliet. While there, Friar alters the plot with his first erratic decision.
When Romeo first approaches Friar, he was very confused about what Romeo was asking of him. Throughout the conversation, it becomes very obvious that Friar Lawrence was quite the father-figure to Romeo, meaning that Romeo had gone to Friar in the past for advice. Clearly, Friar had previously advised Romeo regarding his recent acquaintance with Rosaline. So, when Romeo requested Friar to marry him to another girl, he was a bit perplexed. Friar declared to Romeo, “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 their hearts, but in their eyes…” (II,iii,65-68), and further on, “Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit Of an old tear that is not washed off yet. If e’er thou wast thyself, and these woes thine, Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline. And art thou changed? Pronounce this sentence then: Women may fall when there’s no strength in men.” (II,iii,75-80). This monologue spoken by Friar shows that he initially thought that the wedding was a radical idea. But later on Friar agreed to marry them when he said, “In one respect I’ll assistant be; For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.”(II,iii,95-97). By this, Friar was saying that he will marry them for one reason, to try to mend the feud between the households. Despite the fact that Friar knew Romeo was recently depressed and heartbroken over Rosaline and his feelings for Juliet might not have been true to his heart, he still performed the ceremony because he thought his plan would heal the families’ relationships. This may not have seemed like a terrible act because he had good intentions, but the astronomical effect later proved to be tragic.
Friar Lawrence quickly understood that his plan to fix the families’ relationships had failed due to some other complications, so as expected he came up with a new plan.

At this point Romeo had killed Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, to avenge his friend Mercutio’s death. This act resulted in Romeo being banished from Verona by the Prince. During this time, Juliet’s Father, Lord Capulet, had arranged for his daughter to be married the next day. Friar’s plan proposed that Juliet was to have faked her death with a potion that made her appear to be dead for the following forty-two hours. This was to ensure that the wedding wouldn’t happen. In the meantime, Romeo was supposed to receive a letter from Friar John explaining the irrational plan. Encased in the letter were directions for Romeo to return to Verona and reunite with Juliet when she awoke from the potion. From there, they were to speedily to commence their future together without having to worry about their families searching for them. But the plan didn’t come to fruition that way. When Friar explained this plan to Juliet, she only desired Romeo, so she followed the first idea he came up with. Friar told Juliet, “In the meantime, against thou shalt awake, And hither shall come; and he and I Will watch thy waking and that very night Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua. And this Shall free thee from this present shame,” (IV,i,113-118). With this statement, he just assumed that the letter would be delivered to Romeo with no

complications. His plan once again failed when Romeo didn’t receive the letter from Friar John. In this case, an unfortunate a plague that prevented John from traveling to Mantua to deliver the letter. Friar Lawrence couldn’t have stopped the disease, but he could have delivered the news himself to Romeo so there wouldn’t have been any miscommunication. Friar John says to Friar Lawrence, “I could not send it -here it is again- Nor get a messenger to bring it thee, So fearful were they of infection.” (V,ii,14-16). The letters with the information stating that Juliet was not dead was never delivered to Romeo. Therefore, Romeo thought that she was dead, and since he did not deliver the letter himself, Friar’s second plan had failed .
As if that were not enough, the last straw came when Friar Lawrence abandoned Juliet in the presence of her dead cousin, dead future husband, and dead husband. Once Romeo came to knowledge that Juliet was ‘dead’, he rushed to her grave to kill himself so that he could lie with his lady in the end. He got into a quarrel with Paris, Juliet’s appointed lover, and executed him . Minutes after Romeo had ended his life, Juliet aroused from the deep slumber that was to fake her death. Friar arrived simultaneously as she woke up. Realizing what had happened, he said, “I hear some noise. Lady, come from that nest Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep. At greater power than we can contradict Hath thwarted our intents. Come, come away. Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead: And Paris too. Come, I’ll dispose of thee Among a sisterhood of holy nuns. Stay not to question, for the watch is coming. Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay.” (V,iii,151-159). And then Friar immediately departed because he didn’t wish to be caught by the watchmen on duty. Juliet saw her dead lover next to her and then killed herself. Had Friar not walked out on Juliet and left her alone with the corpses, she might not have stabbed herself. Later on, he confesses his faults to the families when he says, “I am the greatest, able to do least, Yet most suspected, as the time and place Doth make against me, of this direful murder; And here I stand, both impeach and purge Myself condemnéd and myself excused.” (V,iii,223-227). Afterwards, the families agreed to make up, and the feud ends.
It has been said that there are others to blame for the deaths that occurred in the play. The nurse, for instance was the one who met with Romeo to finalize the wedding plans, and she kept the marriage a secret from Lord and Lady Capulet. But, she was trufully only doing her job which is what Juliet instructed her to do. And others could blame Romeo and Juliet for killing themselves. That is understandable, but it was Friar’s decisions that got them to the point of helplessness. It is also true that the Montagues and the Capulets as a whole could be to blame. But as it was said, the feud had been going on for an eternity, so it’s not like the living relatives were the ones who started it. All things considered, there are always fingers to point, but Friar is the most guilty.
Friar Lawrence’s commenced his faults when he married an emotionally unstable man to a young fourteen year old girl who was filled with the first stages of infatuation, which is often confused for love.

He then failed to inform Romeo of his plan, resulting in him committing suicide at the expense of his sadness. Finally, he abandoned Juliet alone in a room with three of her dead relatives. His intentions may have been pure, but he wasn’t able to devise a strong, quality plan to unite the Capulets and the Montagues. However, in the end, they did bury the hatchet over the mournful deaths of their dear family members. This shows that in human nature, some good can come from disastrous situations. That outcome wouldn’t have transpired without Friar Lawrence, but he is also by far the most guilty for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. His punishment should have been banishment from Verona and revokement of his authoritative position. Friar Lawrence is the most accountable for Romeo and Juliet’s death because he choose to make rash and thoughtless

decisions.