Rivalry In Romeo And Juliet

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a play involving two star-crossed lovers whose family feud will not allow them to be together in Verona, Italy. In the play, the Capulets and the Montagues have been engaged in a feud for many generations that has resulted in them despising each other. One day, though, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet meet at a party and fall instantly in love. They soon get married without their parents’ knowledge but because Romeo has been banished from Verona, Juliet fakes her death in order to escape and live happily ever after though. Tragically, Romeo does not receive news of this plan in time and kills himself upon finding out that Juliet passed away. Juliet then awakens to find a dead Romeo and commits suicide as well. In the end, the deaths of the two lovers bring an end to the long-standing rivalry between the families. Friar Lawrence, the town’s spiritual leader, bears the most guilt for the kismets of the characters in Romeo and Juliet because he married the two lovers despite the fact that is has been forbidden and he assisted in the faking of Juliet’s death.

First of all, the Friar misguidedly agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet stating in the beginning of the play 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 and bringing the families together which motivates him to marry the two lovers.

However, as the play progresses, the Friar reveals that he has regrets about the marriage and thinks that their “love” is progressing too quickly. Friar Laurence rightly sees that their love is really infatuation and intense passion that will most likely end, as we see in his lines, "These violent delights have violent ends / And in their triumph die, like fire and powder" (9-10). If the Friar had thought this important decision clearly through, he may have prevented many future

tragedies.
Second of all, the Friar is also responsible for assisting Juliet in faking her death. When Romeo and Juliet realize they can’t be together, and Juliet is expected by her parents to marry someone else, she needs an escape plan. Juliet visits the Friar, who creates a plan for Juliet to fake her death with a sleeping potion which will make her appear dead saying that, “If, rather than to marry County Paris,/ Thou has the strength of will to slay thyself;/ Then it is likely thou wilt undertake/ A thing like death to elude away this shame,/ That cop'st with death himself to scrape from it;/ And, if thou darest, I'll give thee remedy” (IV i 71-76). Because Romeo cannot come in time, the Friar goes himself to get Juliet. He is there when she wakes up and plans to help her but then runs away because he is afraid. He says to Juliet, "Come, come away. Thy husband in thy bosom there lies the 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, Noise again. I dare no longer stay."(Act 5, Scene 3) Because he ran away, he is not present to stop the suicides of the lovers or the battle between Romeo and Paris which leads to Paris’s death.
In conclusion, Friar Lawrence is ultimately responsible for the characters’ outcomes in Romeo and Juliet. Not only does he marry the lovers without the parents’ consent, but he provides the plan to fake Juliet’s death which lead to the end of Romeo, Juliet, and multiple others. Without these factors, Romeo and Juliet would both probably be alive and together and the feud would have eventually come to an end.