A variety of things have the possibility of leading up to a tragedy, and it does not exclude the people whom one may know personally. In The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare, two characters whose names are Romeo and Juliet both succumb to the state of depression due to the actions of somebody they have known and trusted. The characters’ intense adoration for each other in the end has inevitably lead them to the worst possible fate; suicide. Friar Laurence, a man known to be trusted by both Romeo and Juliet, is the person to blame for their tragedy because of how he impetuously agreed to wed Romeo and Juliet, devised a plan that would end up taking the lives of the important characters, and ran away from Juliet instead …show more content…
of helping her regain composure. To begin with, Friar Laurence’s agreement to wedding Romeo and Juliet happened to open a door to many possibilities—one of them would most likely leave the people of Verona scarred, and ended up being the actual possibility in which the characters had unknowingly taken.
Coincidentally, during the short ceremony for Romeo and Juliet’s wedding, Friar Laurence may have accidentally foreshadowed the tragedy that would await the recently married couple when he stated, “So smile the heavens upon this holy act / That after-hours with sorrow chide us not!” (Shakespeare, 225). Through this, Laurence is asking for the heavens to bless the marriage in hopes that it does not end up resulting in regret. Friar Laurence foreshadows again by loosely mentioning to Romeo how “violent delights have violent ends” (Shakespeare, 226), which means that sudden enjoyment can also have sudden endings. Readers can take the lifespan of the marriage into account and discover that this eventually seems to be the case for Romeo and Juliet in the …show more content…
end. Secondly, after a series of dilemmas, Juliet consulted Friar Laurence shortly after the whole incident with Paris, a man who Juliet was bound to marry. This eventually lead Friar Laurence into devising a plan; one that would inevitably take away the lives of both Romeo and Juliet. Laurence conducts an experiment and manages to create a concoction which would soon be known as the sleeping potion. After telling Juliet, “And, if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy” (Shakespeare, 255), he hands over the sleeping potion and everything begins to slowly go downhill from there. Laurence gets in touch with someone whom he trusts to send a message and mentions how the “letter was not nice, but full of charge, / Of dear import, and the neglecting it / May do much danger.” (Shakespeare, 268). Basically, he is attempting to make the letter appear to be top priority and that disregarding it may result in dire consequences—which is true. Lastly, when the plan had gone down in ruins and ultimately costed the life of Romeo, Friar Laurence did not take the opportunity of helping Juliet regain composure after the sight of her love’s lifeless corpse.
After telling Juliet, “Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead; / And Paris too” (Shakespeare, 275), he neglects the fact that Juliet is especially clingy when it comes to Romeo, and so with that fact, it is not a surprise when Juliet becomes extremely attached and stubborn with Romeo’s corpse. Laurence drove the final nail in the coffin for the plan he had devised when he mentions how the “watch is coming,” and says “go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay” (Shakespeare, 274). Friar Laurence practically left Juliet alone in her tomb with Romeo’s deceased body and did not bother with taking the opportunity of helping Juliet regain her composure. Because of that, Juliet was able to decide what choice would be better for her—to be with Romeo or to escape the tomb—and in spite of love, she ultimately chose to take away her own
life. Throughout the course of William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, it is inevitable that Friar Laurence, the advisor of Romeo and Juliet, was the main reason as to why the play had ended the way it did. His poor planning, negligence of Juliet, and agreement to being the officiant for the wedding are what lead to the suicide of both Romeo and Juliet. Love is a powerful emotion that can influence a person into doing things they would not normally do, which can be seen through the actions of Romeo and Juliet; because they adored each other so much, they would go as far as to taking their own lives just to be together. When introduced to a perilous situation—as what had happened with Friar Laurence—it would probably not be a good idea to do things in an impetuous manner. Think outside the box, and take note of the consequences beforehand instead of handing over a life-changing concoction to someone.
One of the main reasons that Friar Laurence was held accountable for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet is because he married them. First of all, this marriage was done without the consent of the parents. Secondly, he could have tried to support their relationship instead of marrying them and not telling anyone. He speaks of how these two will become one in marriage; “For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone / Till holy church incorporate two in one” (Shakespeare 47).Friar Laurence thought that marrying these two lovers w...
Friar Laurence’s involvement in the marriage of Romeo and Juliet has caused a tragedy. Romeo and Juliet thought that they fell in love, but the Friar should have known that they were just kids and they were really rushing into things. In Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence says, “These violent delights have violent ends. Is loathsome in his own deliciousness, and in the taste confounds the appetite: Therefore love moderately: long love doth so, too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.” When he says this, he is giving Romeo a warnin. Also, Friar Lawrence should have known at the time, that Romeo was loving with his eyes and not with his heart. For example, Romeo was in a relationship with Rosaline, before marrying Julliet. Inonclusion , the Friar did not have the expierence to know that they were kids.
"Romeo and Juliet," a famous love story about two star-crossed lovers who take their lives in order to be together. Their deaths are at the fault of one Friar Lawrence who, being an adult, a man of God and a trusted person in the community, betrayed that trust and attempted to cover up his wrong doings with a plan that ended in tragedy.
The story people adore; Romeo falls for Juliet and they get married. They are forced into hiding which leads to Juliet pretending to be dead. The love struck Romeo kills him self, when Juliet awakes to actually kill herself, a fantasized love story. However another side to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tragedy that fans don't look at is who is responsible. The dominant male characters, Friar Laurence, Lord Capulet, and Romeo are most at blame for the story.
Romantic love stories are often ended with a tragedy, because of loss of passion or a loved one. These tragedies are often the result of one person’s actions that ended someone’s life or love. In the Romeo and Juliet play written by William Shakespeare, two citizens of Verona come together and fall deeply in love. 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.
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.
Shakespeare's play of “Romeo and Juliet” is well known, and leaves the audience asking: Who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? Most of the play’s characters closely related to Romeo and Juliet carry some responsibility, but there are three characters or groups who had the greatest influence on the story’s outcome. Friar Laurence could be blamed for marrying them and keeping it secret. Juliet’s nurse encouraged Romeo’s pursuit of Juliet, even helping Juliet sneak out to marry. Last and most deserving of blame, however, are the parents, Lord and Lady Capulet and Lord and Lady Montague. If not for the family feud and hatred, Romeo and Juliet would’ve lived, not tasting the bittersweetness of death.
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?
The forbidden wedding of Romeo and Juliet could not have happened without the Friar. First of all, the Friar unwisely agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet, even though he knows it will cause later problems. In the beginning, the Friar thinks that "...this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households' rancor to pure love." (II iv 91-92) This shows that the Friar has a slight hope of their marriage possibly working. Therefore, he decides to marry the two lovers. However, as time moves on, the Friar lets on that he has regrets about the marriage. The Friar feels that "too swift arrives as tardy as too slow." (II vi 15) In other words, the Friar means that he senses that this whole wedding is happening too fast and starts to have second thoughts. If the Friar had thought this important decision clearly through, he may have prevented many future tragedies. Therefore, the Friar knows all along that, "These violent delights have violent ends." (II vi 9) The Friar knew that this is an impossible situation, which if made possible by himself will without a doubt end up in tragedy in one way or another. Under these conditions, as the Friar predicts, Romeo sinks into a deep depression; as a result of the fact that he cannot see his wife. Similarly, Juliet becomes depressed and is grieving over the truth of her and Romeo's separation. Without the Friar the two lovers would not have been married, which would have prevented both depressions and future problems to come.
First of all, the dishonesty of Friar Lawrence, who married Romeo and Juliet, foreshadows the probability of his continuity to take even more insincere measures in manipulating the consequences faced by the young lovers. The Friar carries out an erroneous act of secretly marrying them under the church’s license without manifesting it in the public and encourages them to deceive their parents by keeping their relationship to themselves. He then agrees to marry Juliet and Paris, a county, and plans on faking her death, in order to avoid the marriage instead of revealing the truth about Romeo and Juliet right away. “I hear thou must, and nothing may prorogue it,/On Thursday next be married to this County.” (4.1.49-50) In short, various incidents in the lives of Romeo and Juliet, controlled by Friar Lawrence’s cowardice result in undesirable circumstances.
Then Juliet awakes in the tomb and finds Romeo dead next to her. Friar Lawrence rushes into the tomb to find both Paris and Romeo dead along with Juliet sobbing over Romeo. He insists of Juliet coming with him to leave because the watch is coming, but she is too depressed to move. Friar Lawrence leaves Juliet alone in the tomb while knowing about her state of mind. “I dare not stay longer,” (Shakespeare 869). Knowing the love of Juliet's life is dead right in front of her, he still abandons her. She then also kills herself with Romeo's dagger to be with him.
With all the conflict arising between Juliet’s family, Friar Lawrence creates a plan that unfortunately does not succeed. His plan for Juliet is to tell her father she will marry Paris, then go to bed with no one, not even the nurse. After, she will drink a potion to make her seem dead for forty two hours and then have a messenger tell Romeo about it. He will have her put in a vault to wait for Friar to bring her out so she and Romeo can elope. The plan was perfect until tragedy occurs, Benvolio sees Juliet dead and immediately tells Romeo about it.
This statement is important as it shows the Friar does not truly believe in the affection between the two lovers and that he believes Romeo cares only about the looks of Juliet. The Friar claims, "…this alliance may so happy prove/To turn [their] households' rancour to pure love"(2.4.90-93) yet he denies his responsibilities by failing to notify anyone of the large secret he holds. It is obvious that Friar Laurence is not simply ignorant of the potential disaster being created but plainly disregarding it when he states, "These violent delights have violent ends/And in their triumphs die, like fire and powder"(2.6.9-10). The Friar's willingness to ignore such strong predictions of death for the mere possibility of a good outcome, for which he will be recognized, shows his appalling judgement as well as his distorted morals.
Friar Laurence, through his lack of good judgment, is largely responsible for the deaths of both Romeo and Juliet. Rather than being supportive of them and helping them disclose their loving situation, Friar Laurence took the “easy” way out. He succumbed to their desire to elope. He secretly married Romeo and Juliet instead of standing behind them and encouraging them to confront their families with the facts about their commitment to and love for each other. As a result, an even stronger bond between them was created through marriage: "For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone / Till holy church incorporate two in one" (2.6.36-37). Friar Laurence married Romeo and Juliet, hoping that their union would bring an end to the constant feuding between their two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Though the friar’s intentions were good and above reproach, they were certainly missteps along a pathway to tragedy. None of the tragedies would have occurred if Romeo and Juliet were not married. When Tybalt challenged Romeo...
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy- but it did not have to be. Romeo and Juliet is the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, who are the son and daughter of two feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Written by the famed playwright Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet take place in the 14-15 century in the cities of Verona and Mantua, cities in northern Italy. After a series of events that involves Romeo getting banished from Verona and Juliet getting forced to marry a count, Paris, they kill themselves. It has been argued for centuries about who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. 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.