Significance Of Friar Lawrence To Blame For The Death Of Romeo And Juliet

Many debate and argue the place of blame Shakespeare shows for the untimely death of Romeo and Juliet, which some push towards fate, but truly falls on the characters’ shoulders. Forces originating from inside themselves and from other roles in the play result in the piteous death of the two seemingly “star-crossed lovers”. The betrayal of Juliet by the Nurse was a great turning point in the novel along with the half-baked plan Friar Lawrence stirred up. Together with the false love Romeo and Juliet seemed to reciprocate, the unfortunate demise of the snakebitten suitors was imminent with their poor decision making.

Throughout one’s lifetime there is typically one person that they rely on, and in Romeo and Juliet, the maiden counted on her

nurse. The Nurse was the mother that Juliet could never reach and had a special bond with her like no other. Though the Nurse seems to think similarly with the young girl, she turns on her quickly when she desperately needs support. Juliet and her gossip and swoon over Romeo, but she hastily changes her comments on him from “...his face be better than any man’s...past compare” (2.5.42-5) to “...Romeo's a dishclout…” (3.5.232). This drastic change causes Juliet to seek the help of Friar Lawrence, which sows the seed for their ill-advised plan to fake her own death with a harmless potion, though it unexpectedly ends with poison on Romeo’s lips and a dagger in the torso of Juliet. Similarly, Juliet wrongly places her trust with an adult with more of a meddling status.
As a friar in Verona, one’s advice is taken seriously and to heart even if it is ill-advised, so when Friar Lawrence creates a shaky plan that would greatly benefit him in the end, Juliet barely hesitates to accept it.

This half-baked plan consists of Juliet drinking a potion to appear dead for 2 days, and Romeo being notified of her fake death so he could be inside the tomb to take her away. If these two were mixed together it would result in a sweet ending with Romeo and Juliet running off together, but if not, it would unravel and result in a sour conclusion. After Juliet drinks the concoction, the last and only step to do is to send word of the plan to Romeo which, due to disease near Mantua, does not occur. Though Friar Lawrence tells Juliet that, “...Romeo by my letters shall know our drift...bear thee hence to Mantua and this shall free thee…” (4.1.116-120) he fails to get the information to Romeo. He never gets the chance to learn of the scheme because, with the notion that his wife is gone forever and the sight of Juliet in the Capulet sepulcher, it drives him to down a bottle of poison. When Juliet awakes minutes later and finds Romeo unresponsive in her chamber, she too takes her life upon seeing her spouse dead. With this, the plan unravels and shows the grim result of Friar Lawrence sticking his nose in Montague and Capulet business. Comparably, this is not the only faulty relationship Juliet

had.
With their romance young like their age, Romeo and Juliet can’t truly fall for one another. According to South University’s article regarding The Psychology Behind Love and Romance love can be a neurochemical con job, as it has many components. It’s main components consist of intimacy, passion, and commitment but it is strongly indicated that none of this can form spontaneously. Inside the article, it is stated that “Some of us may have committed ourselves to the fantastical notion that romance is just an act of spontaneous combustion. But...it’s time to ditch the myth.” which backs the falsehood of “love at first sight”. Though study shows this immediate intense attraction to be merely fiction, this does not stop Romeo and Juliet. At the Capulet party, within minutes of seeing one another, both children of the opposing sides seem to be deeply entranced by one another as Romeo says that Juliet “...is my lady, O...is my love” (2.2.10) and she of Romeo “My only love…” (1.5.152). This mutual emotion they are feeling, at best, is lust since love can’t be the result of purely sight. These seemingly “star-crossed lovers” were never true lovers at all, simply two souls being duped by the deceiving notion of love who take their lives for a reason untrue.
Though many dispute where to place the blame for the untimely demise of the seemingly “star-crossed lovers” in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the characters are doubtlessly at fault. With the betrayal of Juliet by the Nurse, Friar Lawrence’s ill conceived plan, and the extremely questionable love that Romeo and Juliet reciprocated, there is no questioning in how the inside and outside forces resulted in their piteous deaths.