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Friar Laurence's Well-intentioned Actions
Some people make decisions for a good cause but they usually fail. This is what happens with Friar Laurence in William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet". Friar Laurence's well-intentioned actions made for Romeo and Juliet cause problems in the story's plot.
Friar Laurence marries Romeo and Juliet which tends to be a bad decision. He agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet and then keep their marriage a secret. He thinks that when Capulets and Montagues will discover their marriage, they will stop fighting and turn their rancor into friendship. So he told Romeo, "But come, young waverer, come go with me./ In one respect I'll thy assistant be;/ For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households' rancour to pure love." (2.3.92-95). If he would not have married them, Juliet would not have been Romeo's wife and she could have happily married Paris. But now, she was Romeo's wife and she did not want to marry any other man, so she decided to kill herself rather than marry Paris.
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Friar Laurence gave a potion to Juliet which was meant for Juliet's sake but later this action caused problems in story's plot.
His actual plan was to send Juliet with Romeo to Mantua after she regains her consciousness from the effect of the potion. He sent a letter to Romeo telling him about his plan but Romeo did not receive his letter. While telling about the plan Friar says, "Take thou this vial, being then in bed,/ And this distilled liquor drink thou off;/ When presently through all thy veins shall run/ A cold and drowsy humour; for no pulse" (4.1.94-97). Because Friar gave Juliet the potion and was not able to tell the plan to Romeo, Romeo thought that Juliet was dead. Eventually, this misconception leads to both Romeo and Juliet's
death. He didn't take Juliet with her after she woke up which leads to Juliet's death. When he came to take Juliet with her, he found Romeo dead. Meantime, Juliet wakes up and Friar Laurence hears some noise so he leaves the tomb leaving Juliet behind alone saying, "Stay not to question, for the watch is coming./ Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay." (5.3.163-164). If Friar would have taken Juliet with her, she would not have killed herself. If he did not just worried about his life but Juliet's life too, he could have saved her. Friar Laurence's intentions were to make things better for Romeo and Juliet but it turned out to be worse, and eventually caused Romeo and Juliet's deaths. If Friar Laurence did not take these actions then it may have changed story's plot in a positive way.
The Friar was right about what he did. The marriage of Romeo and Juliet was both good and bad, but mostly good. The marriage helped to bring peace and unity between the families. It also brought happiness to the two lovers. The bad part was that the families did not see the error of their ways fast enough to stop the feud that their children had to die for it. If they would have noticed it before everyone could have been
“A thing like death to chide away this shame,/ That cop’st with death himself to scape from it;/ And if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy.”(4.i.89-120) In short, Friar is telling Juliet what he is going to give her for her planned ‘death’. This is important because this is the main problem that leads to both Romeo and Juliet’s death. This proves that in the story, Romeo ends up seeing Juliet ‘dead’ it makes him want to kill himself. Of course he made a hasty decision at that point in time. In the story Friar tells Juliet the entire plan. “Take thou this vial being then in bed/ And this distilling liquor drink thou off;.../ And then awake as from a pleasant sleep.”(VI.ii.89-120) In other words, Friar is telling Juliet to drink the distilling liquor and she’ll be fast asleep for the plan to go as planned. This is important because the the dialogue proves that Friar planned Juliet’s ‘death’. As an educated adult, he shouldn't have made the decisions he
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 /
The Friar thought that this marriage will end an ancient grudge of two prominent families, when it will only separate them even more. Friar Laurence was helping Capulet and Lady Capulet mourn over Tybalt’s death. Paris says, "With these times of woe afford no time to woo!" . If everything was thought about clearly and not rushed through then none of this would have happened and Romeo and Juliet would not have died such a tragic death. Another example of the Friar lying is by not telling Montague and Lady Montague of Romeo and Juliet’s elopement. This only made matters worse, and now both Romeo and Juliet are dead. The Friar made this marriage a huge mistake, and he could have stopped the whole thing right there and then by just saying no.
With Friar Laurence being so quick with his thoughts, he married Romeo and Juliet. This was a mistake and is the main reason for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. In Act 2 Scene 6 when Romeo takes Juliet to see Friar Laurence to get married, Friar Laurence
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:
Friar Laurence was once looked up to by both Romeo and Juliet, constantly telling them to act with more caution and restraint. Despite this, he doesn't wait long to marry these lovebirds. It has broken many hearts of the citizens of Verona and left many others in shock. At one point, Friar Laurence admitted to agreeing to marry the couple, knowing Romeo only loves Juliet due to her appearance. "
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
(Act 2 Shakespeare) He wanted the Capulets and Montagues to reconcile, and believed Romeo and Juliet’s marriage would solve this. The Friar’s intentions were good, but other events were out of his control. He did not foresee Tybalt killing Mercutio and Romeo avenging Mercutio’s death resulting in Romeo’s banishment. When Lord Capulet decided Juliet was to marry Paris, the Friar complicated things more by devising a plan for Juliet to be with Romeo. Again, his plan failed. Romeo acted rashly, killing himself moments before Juliet wakes. When Juliet discovered Romeo, Friar Laurence made another error by leaving her in a suicidal state. Even though many may find fault with the Friar, he is really only guilty of trying to make things better for everyone and bring peace to Verona.
When he says "Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, / and hither shall he come; and he and I/ shall watch thy waking, and that very night/ shall Romeo bear thee to Mantua" (IV.i.116-119), his intention is clearly to comfort and reassure Juliet. Unfortunately, for all his good intentions, the play still ends in tragedy. Friar Lawrence is a man who is not afraid to take risks to help someone; as, in Act 2, Scene 6, when he marries Romeo and Juliet, he is risking his reputation as a Friar, so he can help the two lovers. Also, when he says, "Take thou this vial, being then in bed, / and this distilled liquor drink thou off" (IV.i.95-96), he is suggesting that Juliet drink a potion so that she might feign her own death and avoid marrying Paris.
After Juliet freaks out after knowing that Romeo has been exiled from Verona, so she ends up going to the friar for advice therefore when she reaches the friar in sadness he has a plan to give Juliet a potion that will make her sleep for 3 days like she is ¨Dead” and by the time of her awaking Romeo will be there waiting for here to awake, in this he says, “Take thou this vial, being in bed and this distilled liquor drink thou off,when presently through ull veins shall run a cold and drowsy humour: for no pulse.” Without know what could happen or if the letter will ever reach romeo juliet agrees to do it as the friar clams “I'll send a friar with speed to Mantua, with my letters to thy lord.” And Juliet agrees, believing that Romeo will actually receive the letter and be waiting for by the time of her awaking, These all concluding personal choice, Questioning should've Juliet actually taken this potion or just moved on?
“Take this vial, being then in bed,/ And this distilling liquor thou off,/ When presently through all thy veins shall run/ A cold drowsy humour” (4.1.90-91). Friar gave Juliet the potion because she said she would rather kill herself than marry Paris and after saying that Friar came up with the idea to give her the potion and put her into a fake death, while he contacted Romeo to come and rescue her. The idea that they had in their minds did not go according to plan because Romeo got the news that Juliet actually died, not that she was put in a fake death. As Juliet fell in love with Romeo, The Nurse went behind the backs of Juliet’s parents and was sending messages between the two.
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.
He tried to please everyone so nobody would point a finger towards him. He gave Juliet the potion even when he knew it could kill her, either way he would be safe. If Juliet died there would be no sign that is was his fault… nobody would find out about how he secretly married Romeo and Juliet. Also, if the plan worked Juliet and Romeo would be happy and thankful for the Friar. He let Juliet take the potion even when he knew the risk, “Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself, Then is it likely thou wilt undertake A thing like death to chide away this shame, That cop’st with death himself to scape from it; And, if thou darest, I’ll give thee remedy,” (Shakespeare 452). He was only ever out for himself in the
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...