The Consequences Of Friar Lawrence In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet literary essay

All young people need guidance and advice when facing hardships, but often times adolescents tend to favor finding another source other than their parents to revere as a mentor. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the titular characters have troubled relationships with their families, and look instead to Friar Lawrence and the Nurse as confidants. The lovers decision to look to Friar Lawrence and the Nurse as advisers is troublesome, as Friar Lawrence acts hastily when dealing with Romeo and Juliet’s predicaments, giving them dangerous advice that demonstrates the preacher’s inability to be an adequate mentor. Likewise, though the Nurse cares deeply for Juliet she does not take future consequences into

consideration when helping Juliet get what she wants, making her a poor mentor. Together, Friar Lawrence and the Nurse endorse erroneous decisions, abusing the trust given to them from Romeo & Juliet, creating problems throughout the story. Ultimately, Friar Lawrence and The Nurse fail to fulfill their roles as Romeo and Juliet’s mentors. Hence, both are to blame for central events that occur throughout the story, leading to the young couple’s untimely death.
Friar Lawrence is a key contributor of the decisions that Romeo and Juliet make.

In many instances Friar Lawrence acts with haste rendering Romeo and Juliet to make the wrong decision. Henceforth when Juliet goes to Friar Lawrence seeking advice and support on how to avoid a marriage with Paris, Friar Lawrence suggests lying to escape her problem rather than encouraging Juliet to confront her parents with the truth, by creating a plan that even he acknowledges is dangerous; “Hold, daughter, I do spy a kind of hope, which craves as desperate an execution as that is desperate which we would prevent” (4.1.68-70). Despite knowing the dangers of his plan, Friar Lawrence still offers it to Juliet. When using a word like, ‘execution’, Friar Lawrence is suggesting the nature of the plan involves death. Being Juliet’s only current source of support, Juliet listens to him, therefore the Friar should consider the possible consequences before mentioning such a risky plan. By acting hastily and giving Juliet this risky plan, Friar Lawrence immediately affects Juliet’s state of mind, as many things about his plan could easily go wrong, “What if this mixture do not work at all? Shall I be married then tomorrow morning… What if it be a poison?” (4.3.21-24). Juliet begins to question Friar Lawrence’s plan and considers all the different scenarios that could awry, but she still eventually goes along with the plan, as she has no one to guide her and tell her that there is another way out of

this problem. As Friar Lawrence's plan sets to play out, Romeo arrives at the tomb but a secondary presence brings chaos and death occurs: “O give me thy hand, One writ with me in sour misfortune’s book! I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave” (5.3.70). After Romeo kills Paris, he enters a state of sorrow and guilt. Since Friar Lawrence creates this plan, Paris’s innocent death occurs. This is one of many negative contributions the Friar makes, which greatly affects the end result of the story.
Similarly, the Nurse forgets to think before giving Juliet advice and she acts without taking into consideration what her decisions could cause in the future.

Upon Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting, the Nurse fails to guide Juliet towards a good moral decision, instead she heeds Juliet’s requests, “And there she shall at Friar Lawrence’s cell Be shrived and married… This afternoon, sir? well, she shall be there” (2.4.86-91). The Nurse’s fixation with Juliet’s happiness hinders her role as an effective role model. Losing her common sense through this fixation directs her towards giving Juliet poor advice. Thus, the Nurse’s initial choice to bring Romeo and Juliet together results in several subsequent conflicts. Based on the support from the Nurse, Romeo and Juliet meet in secret to be wed so that they can be together and embrace their love for one another, “but come what sorrow can, It cannot counterveil the exchange of joy that one short minute gives me in her sight” (2.6.3-5) Due to a lack of moral grounding, Romeo and Juliet become too distracted by their love and therefore become very vulnerable. By giving Romeo and Juliet her approval, the Nurse greatly influences their decision to immediately be wed. The Nurse does not act morally and in this case does guide Romeo and Juliet towards the correct decision. Furthermore, lacking the guidance Romeo is need of from an adult, he meets Tybalt, Mercutio and Benvolio, which results in a major conflict: “Romeo, away, be gone!

The citizens are up, Tybalt slain. Stand not amazed, the Prince will doom thee death If thou art taken” (3.1.123-125). These deaths lead to Romeo’s banishment, introducing a new problem as Friar Lawrence creates the plan resulting in Romeo and Juliet’s death. Had the Nurse acted promptly as a good mentor and gave Romeo and Juliet better guidance, all conflicts would have been avoided.
Yet, Romeo and Juliet maintain their trust in the Nurse and Friar Lawrence to give them the support they need. Romeo and Juliet do so because Friar Lawrence and the Nurse are Romeo and Juliet’s sole source of authority. They earn Romeo and Juliet’s trust this way and become their main advisors when facing problems and making crucial decisions: “Father, what news? What is the Prince’s doom? What sorrow craves acquaintance at my hand, that I yet know not?” (3.3.4-6). Despite Romeo’s parents having knowledge of his punishment, Romeo prefers to stay in Friar Lawrence’s cell to await the news. Romeo would rather face the punishment with the Friar than anyone else since Romeo trusts and sees Friar Lawrence as his mentor. Romeo and Juliet don’t think about the morals of their decisions, and rarely ever question what the Nurse and the Friar have to say, assuming they always know what is best for them: “Give me, give me! O tell me not of fear” (4.1.121). After hearing Friar Lawrence’s plan, Juliet eagerly conspires to the plan with no thought of how badly the Friar’s plan could go. Juliet does not take into consideration how badly the plan could end and how it will affect her family and loved ones. As a result of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse giving Romeo and Juliet poor moral guidance, they are largely at fault for the major conflicts that occur in the play and ultimately the death of Romeo and Juliet: “O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die” (5.3.119-120). As expected, Friar Lawrence’s flaw filled plan turned out to be unsuccessful. Romeo finds Juliet under the impression she is dead causing him to no longer want to live subsequently resulting in Juliet’s death.
In conclusion, Friar Lawrence and the Nurse neglect to satisfy their parts as Romeo and Juliet's advisors. Therefore, both are at fault for numerous focal occasions that happen throughout the story, causing the eventual death of the lovers. By acting without thought when dealing with Romeo and Juliet’s problems, Friar Lawrence acts unacceptably as a mentor Though the Nurse cares deeply for Juliet she does not act any better than the Friar as a mentor, due to the fact that her support is influenced by her love for Juliet. The two adults abuse the trust given to them from Romeo & Juliet by acting hastily, henceforth creating numerous conflicts throughout the story. The role of the mentor is crucial for all youth and greatly affects the development of the story. Depending on the quality of the mentors, certain events changing the outcome of the story.